revitalization of rainfed farming in india (rrf)

Revitalization of Rainfed Farming in India (RRF)

Annual Report 2006 - 07

W at ersh ed Su pp ort Serv ices and C en tre fo r Su st ain ab le Agricu ltu re (C SA) Act ivit ies N et wo rk (W ASSAN) www.csa- ind ia.o rg

www. wassan .o rg VIKASA Timbaktu Collective SWEET CROPS MMS Visakhapatnam Anantapur Nalgonda Warangal Mahaboobnagar

Revitalising Rainfed Farming- Annual Report 2006-07 2

I N D E X

Partnerships...............................................................................................3

A Brief Overview of Activities: .........................................................................3

1. Field work.........................................................................................3

2. Cadre building on Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture: ......................................4

3. Policy Analysis and Advocacy:................................................................4

Detailed Report - Field Work- Partners’ Initiatives ................................................6

Activities and Experiences............................................................................11

VIKASA................................................................................................11

Timbaktu Collective.................................................................................15

Implementing agencies - CSA & SWEET........................................................26

Implementing Agencies - WASSAN & MMS.....................................................31

Cadre Building Course on RRA.......................................................................35


Revitalization of Rainfed Farming in India (RRF)

Annual Report 2006-07

In the first year, selection of partners, selection of villages and orientation to partners on the programme about its basic premises were completed. Operational frame-work for field initiatives was evolved through internal brainstorming and several thematic areas were identified to explore successful practices. Some of these initiatives started during the first year have been taken forward during the current year. Partnerships CROPS was taken as a new partner substituting CEAD, which was dropped.1 The present partnership in RRF extends to the following NGOs/ CBOs.

Partner/Place Selected villages VIKASA, Visakhapatnam Doodavalasa and Gowli , Dumbriguda mandal Timbaktu Collective, Anantapur Obulampalli and Prasannayapeta in

Chennekothapally manadal WASSAN, Mahbubnagar Bogaram, Kosgi mandal CSA, CRIDA and SWEET in Nalgonda Dist

Gujja Village, Samsthanarayanpur mandal

CROPS .. CROPS, an NGO working on sustainable agriculture in Warangal district has been taken as a partner in place of CEAD. As the partner selection was delayed, time was just sufficient to identify villages and do situation analysis and preparations for next season in CROPS’s villages. In all the project areas, situation analysis was done. Successful experiences in alternatives from various institutes were identified and tried to converge them in our project villages. In the annual review meetings it was decided that the scope of field work should expand to other villages where the partner organisation is working (including those where they have collaboration with the government programs) considering the needs of scaling up. A Brief Overview of Activities: 1. Field work After a thorough situation analysis, various actions have been initiated in the partners’ field areas.

• VIKASA in tribal areas of Visakapatnam district has focused on the components of tribal farming systems. This includes larger s cale community based composting methods integrated into the institutional and cultural mode of tribal life. An initiative to increase the fruit / other useful trees in the degraded forest areas and shifting cultivation areas has also succeeded. These two initiatives

1 This was reported during the first year’s report


evolved as two festivals Gobar Parva & Dongar parva respectively. The team has also taken up introducing System of Rice Cultivation and establishing community seed banks.

• Timbaktu Collective in Anantapur has focused its efforts in promoting organic farmers’ groups and also on expanding millet crop area and production; and evolving appropriate market incentives for the same. A major effort is to evolve mechanisms for ensuring availability of alternate agriculture inputs such as cow urine used in several practices. They are standardizing the support systems required for collection of cow-urine (an important component in several alternatives) and aggregation of this at the group level.

• CSA- SWEET in Nalgonda district started working with the mainstream institutions established under the watershed development program i.e. the village level federation of SHGs. As a predominantly Bt cotton area, the organisation has taken up initiatives to introduce non-Bt Cotton hybrids and to introduce green manure crops in paddy.

• CROPS has selected its field area and has taken up situation analysis. It would focus on identifying/ testing the drivers for large-scale expansion of chemical pesticide & fertilizer free villages.

• WASSAN- MMS: The focus of work has been expanded to 6 mandals to test scaling up of some of the initiatives. The initiatives focus on establishing alternative support systems for rainfed agriculture. These initiatives include, promoting ‘NPM Shops’ where all necessary non-chemical inputs for pest-management, soil fertility enhancement including bio-control agents are available within the village. Labour groups taking up non-chemical pest management under an NPM Contract is also attempted. Initiatives for increasing soil organic carbon / soil fertility through biomass composting, generating examples of integrating this activity into employment guarantee scheme, streamlining livestock vaccination services and developing inland fisheries.

2. Cadre building on Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture:

A 6 months course has been completed with 24 participants (+ 5 drop-outs) on sustainable rainfed farming anchored by CSA. The course was for duration of 6 months with one-week module each month. The thematic coverage includes soil fertility management, NPM, seeds, livestock, water and community based organisations. The participants were drawn from several districts across the state from NGOs mainly working on mainstream programs. The modules are also prepared. Some of these persons are also used for trainings in the mainstream NPM programs.

3. Policy Analysis and Advocacy:

Research Priorities in Rainfed Agriculture: The emerging alternatives in rainfed farming are throwing up considerable research challenges. It is important that the mainstream research establishments engage with this research agenda. A one-day workshop was organised on the theme to identify research priorities in rainfed agriculture. Scientists and learned persons from various di sciplines participated in this small group-workshop. The emerging agenda has also been informally shared with a committee on this subject commissioned by ICAR. Browse http://www.wassan.org/Revitalizing_Rainfed_Agriculture/document/RRA_Oct_2006.pdf


NRM-Sub-Group of the Planning Commission: An opening came up when two of us were invited to be the members of the NRM-Working Group of the Planning Commission and both were inducted into the drafting committee of the working group. This gave an opportunity to articulate the need for a paradigm shift in rainfed areas policies and investments. The broad contours of the policy were also worked out. The Working Group accepted these propositions and formally included them in the report. Proposed National Workshop on Rainfed Farming: It is proposed to Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) that a national workshop be organised around this theme. ICAR accepted this proposal and a committee was constituted for this purpose. A mutually convenient date would be fixed up. This workshop was expected to be a major milestone in the advocacy process.

Initiatives at the State Level: At the state level, CSA has been actively engaged with the scaling up of NPM program. The program has taken the shape of Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA) program. It is reached a coverage of about 200,000 acres during the year. Efforts are made to expand the scope of the program from NPM alone to include soil fertility and other aspects. This program is now well poised to shape into a flagship program of the government. The experiences emerging from the field programs are also shared with the mainstream program. Documenting Indigenous Buffalo Breeds: A small study has been commissioned on documenting and analysing the indegenous buffalo breeds, which are also well adatped to the rainfed areas. Dr. Shaheen Gias has taken up this task. This study would also compare these breeds with others and make an assessment of the potential to promote them within the dairy enterprises. Some Observations on the Progress: It took some time for the program to get grounded mainly owing to the complexity of its framework. Working on experimenting with the support systems as against the conventional implementation of projects by NGOs is particularly taking time for organisations to internalize conceptually and operationalising. This year went mostly in grounding the program in the field areas as it is the first complete annual cycle. This years’ experience in operatioalising the programs in the villages is important for the partners NGOs to get to the next stage of work on support systems. With more clarity coming on the agenda and that the program is well grounded, it is poised to take off. As the process of operationalising the project in the field took some time, the progress in expenditure is also slow (over the last two years). The change of partner (from CEAD to CROPS) also caused some delay. There is a need to extend the project time-period to cover another full-year cycle (2008-9) within the existing budgets. A formal request would be made to Ford Foundation in this regard after discussing the subject at the Project Implementation Committee meeting to be held in early December. The original design of establishing the processes in selected villages is revisited in the review meetings. It was felt by all that while working on support systems, we need to work across several villages instead of focusing on one village. Subsequently, it was decided that partners can tryout some of the innovations across several villages, while continuing the existing work in few villages. In the next year much of the focus would be on upscaling the initiatives and working on policy initiatives.


Detailed Report - Field Work- Partners’ Initiatives VIKASA: Geographical Focus: Tribal areas in Visakhapatnam district with high rainfall, undulating/ hilly terrain and predominantly tribal population. Under RRF programme, VIKASA is working in 9 villages in Dumbriguda manadal of Visakhapatnam district. It is working with 195 farmers from 92 households under Jamaguda Village Organisation. Objective: To develop support systems for rainfed farming and make policy brief under rainfed farming for high rainfall hilly tribal zones in Andhra Pradesh. Area: The rainfed farming in this region is characterized by high rainfall, undulating / hilly terrain and shifting cultivation (podu). Paddy, millets, ginger, turmeric, and cabbage crops and podu cultivation are predominant. Rajmah beans are mainly grown on podu. Paddy is mainly grown on terraced stream beds and also as dry crop on the levelled lands. Coffee and pepper plantations are seen on the hill slopes under the shade of silver-oak trees. Analysis of local situation: • During the interactions with the Assistant Director of Agriculture Sri Mallikarjuna Rao, it

came out that government is thinking to declare this area as default organic zone as the agrochemicals’ reach is almost nil here. But in reality there is an increasing use of chemical pesticides especially on crops like cabbage and cauliflower. Fertilizers’ use is also seen but on a lower side. This is due to the cost of the fertilizers. But for crops like cabbage, they apply both fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers purchase these chemicals from various sources like a regular shop at Araku (the nearest town) or in the daily fairs. During the interaction with the vendors at the fair, they said they get the pesticides from Orissa, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. There are about 10 such vendors and each one sells around Rs.1000 a day in each fair.

• Vegetable seeds like Cabbage, Cauliflower, Knohl kohl, Coriander, Carrot, Chilli and Tomato are purchased. For other crops like Paddy, Ragi, Sama etc. they use their own seed. Turmeric and ginger were earlier grown by most of the farmers but due to decline in yields they are shifting to other cash crops like cabbage.

• Farmers rear cattle, goat, sheep and poultry. Milk is not used by the farmers and is left for calves. Cattle are mainly used for draught purpose. During crop season guarded grazing is observed to avoid damage to crops but after crop season they are left unguarded. They browse on fields and on hills too.

• During rainy season, washing away of seedlings or sand deposition are quite common in paddy fields that are grown on the spring beds. Paddy yields are low (16q/ac)

• Every household prepares manure by piling the household waste, cattle dung and leaves. But nutrient losses are common in those piles due to water run-off during rains and desiccation during hot periods. The quantities are not sufficient for their landholdings. Once in 2 years they apply manures to the same field if it is dry land and for garden land (where they grow vegetables, turmeric, ginger, fruit trees etc) they apply every year. This garden land is small in area. There is a wider realization that application of manure increases yields. The pit method of composting introduced during an earlier watershed development program has improved the process of composting, but has not resulted in increasing the quantity of manure available.

• Village federation of SHGs is functional but not active.


• Monoculture of Silver-Oak as shade plant on the hills for providing shade to coffee plantations

• March April and May months are critical months for some farm families in terms of food scarcity.

Activities planned based on the analysis: Support Systems identified:

Knowledge Support Awareness meetings: Before starting the project initial works were carried. Preparatory meetings were conducted to bring awareness about the project and the objective of it. To improve soil fertility, to make use of natural manure, for better agricultural practices and also to improve green, cover awareness was brought among the villagers. Micro Level Planning: This activity was completed in all the 9 villages to have a brief knowledge about the present situation and information regarding the kinds of crops and its yield, agriculture practices, problem analysis, availability and marketing of NTFP was collected and made documented. Service Support

De-worming: As the veterinary hospital is situated farther and due to less staff members the services couldn’t reach villagers which drives to the death of number of cattle. So the de-worming was done in November 2006 for three days to the animals by the veterinary assistant in Billaputt, Beejumara, Jamaguda, Amalaguda and Godasarla. NPM Training: Two NPM trainings were conducted in RRA and operational areas of comprehensive land development project (of government) with the participants 55 and 56 members respectively. In this training people were made aware on using pesticides prepared with local available resources and also addressed the disadvantages of using chemical fertilizers. By using chemical fertilizers farmer friendly insects will die which lead to decrease in the crop yield, due to persistent pollutants they remain on the fruits for long time and by the intake of them, they enter and harm the human body. Villagers were made aware of preparing decoctions by using local resources.

1. Panchapatra Kashyam (a concoction with 5 locally available herbs) 2. Garlic and ginger decoction 3. Cow dung and cow urine decoction

Awareness camps on NPM: Several meetings and awareness camps were conducted to make the villagers understand about the usage of natural manures as well as local prepared decoctions and for better understanding documentary films were displayed. In Beejumaravalasa village an audio visual show on NPM was exhibited to discourage the use of chemical fertilizer. The same program was enacted in Velugu training center to sensitize the farmers the hazards that occur due to the usage of chemical fertilizer in Dumbriguda.


‘System of Rice Intensification’: In this method, 10 villages were selected for the paddy cultivation among which 55 farmers were

identified. These farmers came up to cultivate paddy using ‘SRI’ method in 13.60 acres. However, the farmers could not estimate the land area due to the absence of documents and measuring methods. Initially at the starting point 5 members from 3 villages have raised nurseries, unfortunately due to continuous rains nurseries were washed away and sand casting took place. Which lead the farmers to take a back step but after thorough motivation 13 farmers came up from 3 villages.

SRI experience in 2006 by Buridi Jaggu: Buridi Jaggu is a farmer of Billaput village of Pothangi Panchayat of Dumbriguda Mandal. He is the only person who cultivated paddy with SRI method in 15 cents of land last year (2006). Against the normal yield in this 15 cents of 35 kgs of paddy, he got 55 kgs under SRI. He says each plant get 18 tillers, ‘Kanki (ear head)’ is longer with more seeds and grain-filling and grain weight are also higher. He used weeder for three times and he says we will get more yield by using weeder for 5 to 6 times. He is continuing with the SRI method during this year also. With this initial experience established in the area, scaling up of SRI in the niche areas will be planned during the next year. It is also envisaged to interface with other NGOs involved in promoting SRI and work on its upscaling at the regional level. Material Support Distribution of Ginger and Turmeric: Ginger and Turmeric are traditionally grown in the project areas, but owing to decline in productivity there is a gradual shift to other commercial crops, which in turn, brining in fertilizers and pesticides. Seed material for ginger and turmeric are in short supply. In 6 villages ginger and turmeric seeds are distributed to 26 farmers and 18 farmers respectively. These farmers return the seeds after harvest and the same would be distributed to other farmers.

Ginger Turmeric


Vegetable seeds distribution: Government as a subsidiary scheme released different variety of seeds and among those Vikasa has taken 600 units of 10 varieties of vegetable seeds. Each unit cost is Rs.60 and with government subsidy it costs only Rs.30. Vikasa paid Rs.15 and the remaining Rs.15 was paid by the community. Vegetable seeds would Gliricidia: Shortage of biomass for extensive preparation of manures was observed. An initiative to promote Glyricidia plantations along the bunds and adjoining lands was planned. Seeds were collected from various locations in Visakapatnam and a nursery was planned to distribute plant material among the farmers. This initiative would ease the shortage of biomass, reduces distance of transport of biomass for composting and also reduces pressure on commons/ forests for biomass. Green Manure seeds (Pilli pesara) 500 kgs of ‘Pilli Pesara’ that was conventionally used as manure was obtained from Agricultural Department under 50% subsidy and 447 kg were distributed to farmers. Some of the farmers have already sown them in their fields. Two main results are expected by sowing these seeds: These ‘pilli pesara’ plants in their flowering stage can be used as manure in the fields. Seeds for the next year can be obtained from the plants without any external aid. This year the initiative did not succeed due to continuous rains. Next year the plan was to start the programme in the month of April to yield good green-manure biomass. 53 kg of seeds would be sown in dry lands for seed multiplication for the next year. Pots for seed storage: Ranginivalasa, Bheejamaravalasa and Gowlivalasa were supplied with 30 pots 10 per each village to preserve cereals, pulses as well as seed material. The stored material is used for seed and consumption. The concept of seed / grain banks are evolving. Double the quantity of seeds taken would be returned while one-and-half times the grain would be returned if taken for consumption purposes. Soil and Moisture Conservation works: In Amala guda, Bheejamaravalasa, Jamaguda and Dudavalasa villages RAP programme with the support of Forest department was taken up. The SMC works are going on in Santhavalasa, Erukuvalasa and Kusumguda. As apart of RRA SMC works were carried out in two villages of 13 acres. Earthen and stone bunding, gully treatment and staggered trenches were taken up; Rs.13,200 worth of work was done by 52 persons in 330 person days. Benefits from the smc works according to the farmers

• Top soil is preserved • Moisture will be stored for more days than

earlier • Seeds are not washed out by the heavy rains • Crop grows high and healthy.

Pots used in seed/ grain banks


The table shows difference of yield in between before and after smc works Sl no Crop Yield before SMC measures

(per acre) Yield after SMC (per

acre) 1 Ragi 140 kgs

(2bags each 70kgs) 175 kgs

2 Samalu 150 kgs (3 bags each 50kgs)

200 kgs

3 Niger 30 kgs 40 kgs 4 Pulses 50kgs 70 kgs

Compost pits: Villagers have followed heap method only which is not sufficient for them to get proper yield, more demand less supply so they were trained on compost pits and the usage of it. The size of the compost pit consists of 3metres length, 1 ½ meters width and 1 ½ meter depth. Total 34 compost pits were dug in 5 villages namely Ranginivalasa-11, Gudasarru-6, Pamurai-8, Jamuguda-8 and in Amalaguda-1.This is to produce more organic manure to minimize the usage of chemicals fertilizers. The farmers are more enthusiastic in preparation of natural manure. Farmers get 450 kgs of manure from each pit and the manure get ready in 6 months. In Jamaguda VO the villages under watershed management namely Bheejumaravalasa, Dudavalasa and Billaput were made aware on the utilization of compost pits in their village and also practical session was conducted on how to prepare more organic manure. Fallow up process is going on, to utilize the compost pits in villages and accordingly they have dug 2 compost pits by their own. Farmers have used this manure in only two crops viz. Ragi and Samalu. The data taken on yield differences by applying the manure and non-application of it are as follows:

Sl no Variety of crop Normal yield in kgs Yield by using manure in kgs 1 Ragi 140 kgs (2 bags each bag 70 kgs) 190 kgs 2 Samalu 150 kgs (3 bags each bag 50 kgs) 180 kgs

Based on this realization a community initiative to improve the quantity of manure available was taken up called “Gobar Parbo” (The Festival of Manure), which is described later.

Institutional Support Systems at Community Level: Self Help Groups (SHG’s): In Amalaguda, Dudavalasa and Pamurai villages the SHG groups which were not functioning were restarted by Velugu C.C, C.F. and Vikasa. By conducting awareness meetings the members of the SHG groups were motivated to save their earnings. In addition to that two groups were formed in Godasarala and Billaput with the members 7 and 12 respectively.

Sl. No. Name of the village Date Members 1 Godasarala 27.9.2006 7 2 Billaput 28.11.2006 12


Activities and Experiences

VIKASA Improving Soil Fertility - Integrating With The Tribal Culture Discussions with the community subsequent to the initial realisation that manure application would improve yields resulted into the concept of a community festival on manures – called Gobar Parbo. The concept was built around a shift in the following ways:

• From the normal household based farm-yard-manure to aerobic composting where large quantities of degradable biomass will be composted

• From individual household based composting to group based initiative & back-yard to farm-based composting (reducing costs of transport of compost)

• From composting (mostly) dung to using it to catalyse composting of biomass (higher biomass to dung ratio) as dung is in short supply.

• Application of whatever manure is available to setting an objective of meeting manurial requirements of every plot.

• Integration of ‘manure’ production into the cultural context of the tribal communities. The objective was to meet the manurial requirements of all rainfed lands. The concept evolved over discussion with the community, where the proposal for a festival generated greater enthusiasm. The festival was set on an auspicious day, where all the households will start in the morning and collect as much biomass as possible. They heap them into aerobic compost units using the depressions on road side etc., where moisture is available, followed by cooking together and eating and the festival ends with dhimsa dance in the evening. Cattle dung was collected during the previous day and stocked near the compost sites. The compost sites could be individual / group based.


Gobor Probor was piloted in one village initially and seeing the enthusiasm it has generated, it has been extended to 10 more tribal villages. The following were the dates of the Gobor Probor GOBOR PROBOR DATES: • Ranginavalasa 20-05-2007 • Jamiguda 22-05-2007 • Gowli 24-05-2007 • Billaput 25-05-2007 • Bejumaravalasa 26-05-2007 • Amalaguda 27-05-2007 • Dodavalasa 28-05-2007 • Gondigunda 29-05-2007 • Godasarla 29-05-2007 • Pamurai 31-05-2007 Commencement of Gobar-Probor This festival started in the village ‘Ranginavalasa’ and later celebrated in Jamiguda village. From the experiences gained in these villages it was learnt that this festival could not be completed within a day. It was difficult to achieve the planned targets and hence the farmers in other villagers were informed to dig the compost pit on a day prior to the festival. When the festival was over in four villages, it was found that the piling of biomass in layers could not be completed by some farmers within two days owing to their ill health while few were away on other works. For such farmers, the compost beds were filled on the third day. Though the festival was for a day, farmers worked for it a day before and after. Except in two villages namely Amalaguda and Bejumaralavalasa, the response in other villages was quite overwhelming. The response was poor in Amalaguda because of ongoing house construction activity, while the other village consensus could not be arrived at between two groups. Men dug pits and cut the branches of trees on the hills, while women and children carried the cut biomass to the compost sites. Women brought cow dung and water to sprinkle over the pit beds intermittently. The farmers were given certain precautions like in case if it doesn’t rain, daily two pots of water need to be sprinkled over the beds along with cow’s urine. Biomass of about 26 types of plants was put into the compost pits. The local names of plants are- - Gurumanu - Gumpena - Taadi - Boosi - Jilledu - Datthon - Karvepaaku - Panasa - Paalu

- Kaanuga (Pongamia)

- Germany (communist weed)

- Vegisa - Marri - Raavi - Maavidi - Sikkini - Kasavinda - Tagaranchi

- Saema - Kumbi - Madi - Sirimanu - Rella - Karaka - Pittarodda - Dolla(Jatropha)


This is our new festival : Korru Jagannatham of Billaput Village: “In our agency, we celebrate 10 festivals that include bricks festival, pus porbo, magh porbo, aashad jatara, gummadi kotta, dasara, diwali. This will be our eleventh festival. While the remaining festivals are for pleasure and marking the commencement of new activities, this one is to improve the fertility of our soil. With this we hope to get better crop yield and food in surplus”. Details of the compost heaps:

Date Village Finished Working days/ human days

No. Of participants

20-5-07 Ranginavalasa 14 52 44 22-5-07 Gowli 08 37 29 24-5-07 Jamiguda 08 36 25 25-5-07 Billaput 20 172 73 26-5-07 Bejumaravalasa 20 33 23 27-5-07 Amalaguda 12 27 17 28-5-07 Dodavalasa 08 27 19 29-5-07 Gondigunda 06 23 15 29-5-07 Godasarla 15 70 40 31-5-07 Pamurai 10 37 24 Total 121 514 309 On the whole 309 persons contributed 514 human days of voluntary effort for the Gobar Parobo. There is every chance that the festival becoming part of the annual cycle of tribal festivals. The next course of action includes planting trees for compostable biomass on a large scale withint the agriculture season so that the pressure on forests would be minimal. The festival would also be upscaled in the region once the results become visible. Dongor Porbo: (Regenerating Hillocks) (Hill / Forest festival) Tribal households depend substantially on forest areas in the hillocks. The issue of shifting cultivation and livelihood rights over forests have been major areas of contention in the tribal regions of A.P and Orissa. Land slides induced by forest clearance and substantial loss of paddy land and the crops due to sand deposition also are problems observed. In the background of Gobor Porbo, in which deliberate clearing of road side plants and other biomass for composting, a sense of responsibility to restore the vegetation was also felt. There is also an issue of continuous supply of biomass for their manurial needs. The concept of Dongor Parbo (hills festival) also emerged during the di scussions with the community and Vikasa team. The proposal is to seed the hillocks under forest department’s control and shifting cultivation land with large number of fruit, fodder and biomass yielding trees. Once they establish, the seed material can be improved by in situ grafting. The purpose is to intensify the livelihoods yielding biomass in the forests.


The community made an action plan immediately for Dongor Porbo. They decided to dibble seeds in the Podu and Reserve Forest lands. Mango, Jack, Tamarind, Pongamia and Jamun plants’ seeds were identified to dibble as they are locally available. Farmers said they would organize the seed material and VIKASA supported them by providing the food on that festival day. On the following dates the ‘Dongor Porbo’ was observed in the respective villages. Farmers have collected 2000 seeds per plant variety (total 10,000 seeds per village) and planted them on the podu and reserve forest area. Village wise Dongor Porbo details

Sl. No. Date Name of the village Number of Participants Number of seeds 1. 17.7.2007 Dodavalasa 21 10,000 2. 21.7.2007 Bheejamaravalsa 20 10,000 3. 22.7.2007 Amala guda 19 10,000 4. 23.7.2007 Godasarla 12 10,000 5. 24.7.2007 Musiri Gondiguda 29 10,000 6. 26.7.2007 Pamu rai 17 10,000 7. 26.7.2007 Jamiguda 16 10,000 8. 29.7.2007 Ranginivalasa 18 10,000 9. 29.7.2007 Billaput 19 10,000

TOTAL 171 90,000 In total 171 villagers participated from 9 villages and dibbled 90,000 seeds. The contribution of each village is 10,000 seeds and each variety consists of 2000. After the completion of their work they gathered together and prepared lunch. Later discussions were carried to protect the plants. They felt free grazing after the crop season is the main problem. A resolution was made by them that till December there would be crops in the fields and cattle would not be allowed to graze freely. Though there was an agreement in the village on restricted grazing, appropriate measures need to be established post-kharif season for protection. And also the farmers have said that they will take up planting every year. Dongar Porbo and Gobar Porbo are emerging ways of integrating the farming needs into the culture. As they are catching the broader imagination of the community, they would be upscaled in the next year to other villages within the region. Convergence with other government programmes - Comprehensive Land Development Programme (CLDP): Under CLDP programme, VIKASA is working in 6 blocks in Dumbriguda mandal. In these villages also VIKASA is promoting NPM, composting, biomass plantation etc.


Activities and Experiences of

Timbaktu Collective The work in this project commenced in February ’06. The purpose of this project is to evolve and advocate a relevant policy framework for revitalizing rain fed agriculture. Objective: Timbaktu collective is working on three themes as part of this project:

1. Enhancing soil fertility through organic methods. 2. Moving towards pesticide free village. 3. Promotion of production, marketing and consumption of millets.

Area: Anantapur falls under rain shadow zone. The villages chosen for work are Obulampalli and Prasannayapeta in Chennekothapally manadal. Very few farmers have borewell irrigation, under which they cultivate paddy in Kharif and Groundnut in rabi. Groundnut is the major crop. Millets are also cultivated. Analysis of local situation: • Normal rainfall is 400mm and last year it was 240mm only. • Soils are red sandy soils to red sandy loams. • Biomass availability is very less and application of organic manures is substantially reduced. • Monoculture of groundnut is prevalent and while harvesting none of the plant part is left in

the field. Plants are uprooted and taken away. Pods are separated and the remaining plant is fed to cattle. Complete shift to chemical fertilizers and meager levels of application of organic matter is the trend.

• Serious ground water depletion with excessive extraction. • Food crops (like millets) replaced by commercial crops (like Groundnut, Sunflower etc.) • SHGs are strong and federated at mandal level Timabktu Collective in Anantapur has focused its efforts in promoting organic farmers’ groups and also on expanding millet crop area and production; and evolving appropriate market incentives for the same. A major effort is to evolve mechanisms for ensuring availability of alternate agriculture inputs such as cow urine used in several practices. They are standardizing the support systems required for collection of cow-urine (an important component in several alternatives) and aggregation of this at the group level. Work in 2006-07: In the year 2006-07 RRA Programme was implemented in two adjacent villages Obulampalli and Prasannayapeta in Chennekothapalli mandal with 40 farmers in 90 acres. All the farmers are members of Adishakti MACTS, a coperative thrift society promoted by Timbaktu Collective. One farmers’ group was formed in each village. At the end of the season, 15 farmers grew crops organically without using any chemical fertilisers or pesticides, 5 farmers used fertilisers during cultivation and 20 farmers used chemical pesticides towards the last stages of the crop. In all, Groundnut, Redgram, Jowar, Bajra, Horsegram and Foxtail millet cultivation was attempted. Millet cultivation was taken up after 2 decades by 20 farmers over 15 acres and all the farmers attempted millet cultivation as intercrops and border crops.


Methodology Adopted: Village level meetings and formation of sanghas and they taking up the works. Process adopted for selection of villages: The RRA project has to be implemented in two villages out of which one should be a main stream village. As a result Obulampally village was selected where Timbaktu is implementing Watershed project with the support from Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project (APRLP). Hariyancheruvu was the second village initially selected because of availability of good resources for organic cultivation. But the villagers were not so cooperative because the Tank Renovation work was pending at that time and the villagers wanted it to be taken first. As a result the organization has to withdraw from the village and has selected Prasannayapeta village since it is an adjacent village to Obulampally and Adishakthi Thrift programme has been successfully running since long and a women volunteer from the same village was readily available who was also a Thrift cadre previously. Formation of Sanghas : After the selection of villages the regular meetings were held in villages and created awareness on organic cultivation through discussions, Millet food demonstrations, film shows and experience sharing. Importance was given to the BC and SC communities. The criterion in selecting a farmer was that she should be a thrift member in Adishakti MACTS. After a series of meetings, interested farmers have come forward and formed two sangas by paying membership amount of Rs 30 per head. One important feature is that one male and female representative from each family should be a member.The farmer group i s called as “Sendriya Vyavasaya Sangham” (organic farming group). Each sangha had a men leader and a women leader. After the selection of farmers and formation of sanga a joint account was opened with the Sangha leader and the mandal coordinator. The registration and contribution amounts collected from the farmers and the fund provided to the sangha by the organization was maintained through this account.Both sanghas have sangha offices in the respective villages. Village wise farmers and land details practicing organic farming in 2006-07 Sl. No. Village Name of Sanga No of families Area under organic

farming (in acres) 1 Obulampally Sri Rama Sendriya Vyavasaya

Sangam 21 52

2 Prasannayapeta Sri Satya Sai Sendriya Sangam 19 39 Total 40 91 Sanga Meetings: The sangha members meet twice in a month and discuss on organic farming practices, work to be done, activities to be taken up and other agriculture related issues. These meetings are conducted mostly in the evenings. Cadre is the responsible person to conduct these meetings. These meetings start with a song and later the agenda is put forward by the farmers themselves. The discussions in these meetings are based on relevant issues. The volunteers and cadre of this project attend these meetings. These meetings dealt with socio, economic, and farming related discussions to carry forward the programme and sorting out the issues and problems when emerged.


Brindams(small group): The farmers fields identified in contiguous patches of lands and the concerned farmers grouped as brindams (sub groups). The number of farmers in a brindam ranges 4 to 6 to implement the organic farming activities in effective manner. This brindam formation helped the farmers to disseminate the knowledge on organic farming and helped to carryout close monitoring of the farmers on organic practices and to control any deviations. The details of the organic farming sanghas are given below, Sl. No.

Village Name of the sanghas No. of Brindams Sangha meeting dates

1. Obulampalli Sri Rama Sendriya Vyavasaya sangham 4 1, 15

2. Prasannayapeta Sri Satya Sai sendriya Vyavasaya sangham 4 3, 17 Baseline survey and 2005 crop economics data collection: To get a better understanding of the farmer, base line data of the farmers is collected. This helped the farmer to identify the available resources to carry out organic farming. Family details, land details, water sources, cattle availability, labour availability etc are the some important components of this survey. This is carried out in proper manner through appropriate trainings to the team members. These baseline surveys are utilized in the crop planning and research studies. Assets, Records: The organization has purchased various assets to each sangha which are useful in maintaining the office and are used in preparing various pest control solutions and manures. The following assets were given to each sangha

1. Drums (200 litres) - 2 2. Cement Troughs - 2 3. Sprayers - 4 4. Carpets - 2 5. Records (Minutes book, Asset and stock registers, Attendance register, Cash book,

Voucher, Receipt books…) 6. Iron box to store the records 7. Stationery 8. One Diary to each farmer 9. Cans, buckets and pots used for solution preparations 10. Dappu a musical instrument that is played while singing songs

All these assets were kept at the sangha office at the village level. The office is used for conducting meetings, trainings, film shows, for displaying the posters and charts. The troughs, drums etc are used for demonstrations. An individual farmer can hire these drums, troughs etc from the sangha by paying a nominal rent to the sangha.

Books Maintained : Records, posters, Organic farming books and information are kept in sangha office at village level. Volunteers appointed by the sanghas facilitated the sangha members to implement the programme in appropriate manner by maintaining the sangha office, writing sangha records on


time, organising sangha meetings, supporting farmers in organic farming, collecting data related to the programme etc., The following are the books maintained

• Cash book • Attendance register • Stock and Asset Register • Minutes book • Voucher and Receipt books. • Farmers Dairy • Information sheets

These are helpful in certifying the products under Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Trainings and exposures for farmers: Central level : - In year 2006, 3 trainings and 3 exposure visits were conducted for farmers in Obulampalli 2

trainings were conducted for farmers in Prasannayapeta. These provided all the needed knowledge in carrying out organic farming.

- Immediately after selection of farmers orientation training was given to them at the Timbaktu office (Chintavanam). 2 awareness creation trainings were conducted for 2 sanghas. In these trainings, soil fertility improvement, pest and diseases control measures are discussed. Total 40 farmers participated.

- Farmers visited Venkatampalli sangha and learnt about the organic farming practices from the experienced farmers.

- In the middle of the crop season farmers from both sanghas visited Kondapuram, Shyapuram and Rachuru sanghas to understand the healthy practices on crop management and sangha activities.

Village level: Sanga meetings are a source of knowledge as lot of experts keep on visiting. 4 Film show programmes are conducted in two villages and films on organic farming, ill effects of chemicals and NPM are shown to farmers. One Farmer field school was conducted. Food Demonstrations: Food Demonstrations were conducted thrice in each village with various food preparations from millets. The various recipes included were

• Korra Idly, korra Dosa, Korra biscuit, Korra Laddu, Korra Payasam, Ragi upma, Mudda, Rice, Ragi Roti, Bajra Roti, Bajra Vada, Jowar Roti, Arika Idly, Jowar nippattu.

For the first food demonstration the cooking team themselves prepared all the above things and served to the farmers and the response was very positive. Some of the old farmers reminded their past times when they used to take this food. The young men and women were very much satisfied with the taste and exhibited interest to include these items in their regular food consumption. As a result for the later demonstrations farmers have come forward to prepare the food with millets.


Farmers field visits : During cropping period the sangha members organised field visits to check the status of the crop. This also helped the farmers observe the cropping patterns followed by other farmers. Farmers made group visits twice and observed all fields and identified problems and acted collectively. Brindam field visits are regularly conducted and issues are discussed in meetings. Crop planning with farmers sanghas: Cropping plan was prepared with the farmers sangha members. 20% of the farmers did not take up cultivation as per plan during the kharif due to prolonged dry spell. The farmers who took up cultivation as planned in the kharif have responded positively about organic practices. The cropping plan was prepared with both the sangha members before the beginning of the season. All farmers have cultivated intercropping, border cropping and trap cropping patterns. Seed Support In the initial meetings the farmers expressed that they are interested in millets cultivation but non availability of seed is a problem. So the each sanga has procured 100 kg of Sama, Bajra, Jowar, Korra, Ragi, Red gram and Horse gram seed.. It was decided that the farmers should repay seed in terms of seed only. For ex. For every 1 Kg of seed farmer should repay 2 Kg of seed. Most of the farmers have not repaid the seed because of crop failure. The reasons for this were no knowledge about millet cultivation, untimely sowing and no rainfall. Cropping pattern: The major crops grown in these villages are

• Groundnut + Red gram + Green gram + Cow pea. • Bajra • Jowar • Foxtail millet • Little millet • Horse gram

Groundnut is always intercropped with red gram (11:1), green gram (31:1) and cow pea (23:1) in this area. Organic soil fertility management methods: Jeevamritam (an organic culture that helps in improving soil fertility) was extensively prepared and applied to the soil. Jeevamrutham, a microbial preparation enhances the microbial population in the soil. Powder Jeevamrutham was also prepared and used twice in farmer lands. Inputs supply: To promote Organic Farming and encourage farmers to take it up, some inputs were provided to farmers by sanga. Farmers have contributed 20% amount for the inputs. As part of soil fertility improvement to get the better yield, and overcome the nutrient deficiency Groundnut husk and Neem cake were applied to soil. Arrangements for collection of cow urine was made. 200 kgs of various Millet seeds are supplied to farmers for encouraging crop diversity.


Sangha wise details of the major inputs:

Sl. No Village name Details of inputs Quantity 1 Obulampalli Groundnut husk 12 tonnes 2 Prasannayapeta Neem cake 4 tonnes

Details:

1. Groundnut husk @ 2.5 Q per acre to 21 farmers in Obulampalli. 20% of this cost is

contributed by the farmer.. 2. The ingredients like 200 kg red gram husk and 100 kg jaggery is supplied to each sangha

which are used for preparation of Jeevamrutham. Jevamritam is directly applied to soil in wet lands or mixed with Farm Yard manure and used as manure. It is locally called as Rythu DAP (farmer DAP).

3. Neem cake @ 200 kg per farmer is given to prasannayapeta sangha. Farmer contribution was 20%.

4. One Cement troughs was provided to each farmer for storing cow urine and preparing Jeevamritam.

5. Horse gram seed is supplied for broadcasting as cover crop in Red gram fields 6. Sorghum seed is supplied for fodder development.

Cow urine Collection: Cow urine is the main ingredient in Preparing Organic cultures and Pest control solutions. The sangha members have undertaken flooring of the cattle shed with stone slabs. The sangha provided the stone slabs to the selected members who owned livestock for collecting the cattle urine which is used for preparation of Jeevamrutham and other organic preparations. This arrangement has helped the farmers to make use of animal urine a valuable which was lost till now. The farmers who are collecting the animal urine now are sharing the same with other farmers. As the cow urine is the important ingredient in organic farming, the farmers organized the cattle urine collection by cattle shed flooring. Now the cattle urine is readily available in the villages. Totally 25 farmers carried out cattle shed flooring activity. Cement tubs and plastic drums are available in the sanghs for solutions preparations. Stone slabs are used for flooring in the cattle sheds so that the urine is collected at a point. The farmers contributed 20% of this total cost. Area of cattle shed is (12 ft x 8 ft). These slabs were laid in the cattle shed with a slope so that the urine gets collected in a pit dug at one corner of the cattle shed. In summer when there is no much farm work the farmers spread sand on top of these slabs in the cattle shed so that the sand gets soaked in the urine and gets enriched. This sand is stored in bags and used as urea. So this is called as Rythu Urea (farmer urea). Organic pest and disease management methods: • 30 liters of neem oil was supplied per sangha. Sanghas have purchased drums, tanks, sprayers

for use by the members. This neem oil is used for seed treatment • Neem seed oil was sprayed for control of pest aphids (Nallageeda) in month of September in

Groundnut crop. • Neem Seed Kernal extract, Cow dung and urine solution, multiple leaf (jilledu, kanuga, neem,

vavili, vyari bama etc.,) extract were some of the pest and disease management measures used.

• Numalli – A bug found in the ground nut stacks causes damage to the crop by sucking the oil content of the pods. This bug can be controlled with the spraying of multiple leaf extract


in animal urine. As this was not done in time in Prasannayapeta and Obulampalli 25 farmers have sprayed chemical Gamaxxine to Groundnut stalk at post harvesting period..

Biomass development: 4000 saplings were planted on field bunds for Biomass development. They also give green leaf manure. 200 kgs of various Millet seeds and Horse gram seed are supplied to farmers for encouraging crop diversity. Land development: To stop erosion in the top soil, farmers are created awareness on the importance of land development works. 30 farmers have did bunding work with the support of watershed programme. Besides all these the team has motivated the farmers to put earthen bunds in their fields wherever necessary to avoid erosion and conserve the fertility. This work is done as a part of Employment Guarantee Scheme, a central govt. scheme started to provide work to the small farmers and agricultural laborers in lean season. Certification: The collective has been exploring different possibilities for certifying the crops produced by the sangha members. To make the certification process simpler, cheaper and also to ensure the participation of the farmers in the process it was opted to adopt the PGS methodology. The collective has set up systems for organising certification under PGS. TC is also one of the members in the national steering committee on PGS. The sanghas have actively participated in the certification process. They could take decision by themselves as who has violated the norms thus refusing the certification. Organic certification is very important for the farmers to sell their produces with good margin. Third party certification is economically costly and the smallholding and resource poor farmers cannot afford. Also it demands more documentation works which is not convenient for farmer. To over come these problems, and give organic farming certification to all farmers, the no cost and participatory certification method is adopted. The name of the certification process i s called Participatory Gurantee system (PGS). Timbaktu collective is the member of the PGS organic India council. After the brindum wise peer group inspection visits by the farmers, the sanghas approved the organic certification to the individual farmers and it is communicated the regional council . With the help of these organic certificates the farmers got 5% to 10 % more margin from the Dharani than market price. Organic farming Certificate was given to 12 farmers through Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) method. As 20 farmers have sprayed, a chemical pesticide Gamaxin on Groundnut stalk and 5 have used Chemical fertilizer,. their crop was not given certification and they could not sell their produce to Dharani. Sales: Two farmers from Obulampally have sold their produce to Adishakthi Dharani, marketing wing of Adishakti MACTS at 10% higher rate than existing market price. Team: The criteria for selection of volunteers

• They should belong to the same village where the project is being implemented. • Should have education up to 10th std.


• Should have experience in farming. • The responsibility in selecting the volunteer is delegated to the sangha only

The personnel involved in the project are

S. No Name Designation Responsibilities 1 Mr.A. Chennakeshavulu Mandal Coordinator • Overall responsibility of the project

• Monitors the cadre and volunteers 2 Mr. Brahmeswar Rao Cadre • Monitors the farmers fields

• Technical help to the farmers • Conducts meetings and trainings • Report writing • Accounts maintenance • Logistical arrangements • Monitors the volunteers

3 Krishnaveni (Prasannayapeta) & Janardhana (Obulampalli)

Volunteers • They are based at the village • Record maintenance • Farmers diary maintenance • Data collection • Sangha assets maintenance • Liaison between farmers and cadre

The decisions flow in the following manner: Team Trainings: The team members were trained on different aspects of the work during the season. A series of trainings on Organic farming concepts and Soil fertility management were organised with the help of CSA Hyderabad. 9 trainings have been organised for the team members for the proper implementation of the organic farming practices and better sangha management. The details of the trainings are below, - Orientation training on Timabaktu Organic programme - Sangha formation and sangha level record maintenance - net planning - base line survey and crop economics 2005 – information collection - Farmers diary maintenance - Yield estimation

Mandal coordinator

Cadre

Volunteer Volunteer


- Farmers filed map preparations - PGS certification process - 2 nos of Farming team trainings by CSA on concepts and soil fertility management – 6 days - Cadres participated in FFS conducted by AME at Rachur. RRA Team visited India Organic

fair in Bangalore. Review of the organic farming work with the sanghas : Farmer who grew crops organically has saved at least Rs. 300/acre by substituting chemical pest and disease control measures, and at least Rs. 200/acre by not using chemical fertility inputs. After the crop harvesting, work review was carried out in two sanghas. In the review exercise the experiences are shared, problems discussed, methods followed, learnings and issues on sales were discussed. Overall impact:

• Farmers have grown millet after 20 years • 15 Farmers have grown crops without chemical fertiliser and pesticide • Farmers have learnt preparing and using Geevamirtham and bio solutions • Farmers have learnt the importance of cow urine and dung and started collecting and

using the same. • Farmers got the knowledge on the different between the pest and predators • Farmers have collectively did organic farming through sanghas • The cost of cultivation has come down about 500 rupees per acre • Farmers have sold the produces about 10 percentage higher rate over the market price

through Dharni with the support of PGS certificate • Sangha members have started reducing the use of chemical inputs in wet lands.

Plan and work done for the coming season 2007-2008 In the year 2007 February the organization has held a meeting analyzed the previous year’s worked and asked the farmers to give a resolution stating their interest in continuing Organic farming. The response from village Prasannayapeta was not encouraging. Sri Satya sai Sendriya Vyavasaya Sangam was dissolved as farmers felt that it is difficult to adhere to sanga regulations. The farmers from Obulampalli village have given a resolution stating their interest in continuing. Some new farmers have joined the sanga in Obulampally village. Another village Brahmanapally was selected instead of Prasannayapeta. Village wise No. of farmers practicing organic in 2007-08 under RRAP S. No Village Name of Sanga No of families Area under

organic (in acres) 1 Obulampally Sri Rama Sendriya Vyavasaya Sangam 31 91 2 Brahmanapally Chennakesava Sendriya Vyavasaya

Sangam 28 76

Total 59 167 Criteria for selecting Brahmanapally village Brahmanapalli is a remote village 45 kms away from mandal Head quarter surrounded by hills. It is a homogeneous village with 70 households and all families belonging to a single community.


Chemical farming has started only a few years back and farmers are facing the brunt of it. Yields are decreasing due to continuous monocropping of Groundnut and debts are increasing. Adishakti MACTS has 36 members in the village. A couple of meetings are conducted with Adishakti Thrift members, situation analysis done, film shows organized and after discussions the selection of farmers is done. 28 farmers with 76 acres have come forward.. Sanga is formed. Volunteer selected. Bank account opened. Village Resource Identification process completed. Sanga has now planned to give 10 tractor loads of tank silt to each farmer. Orientation training on organic farming practices is given to farmers. The responsibility to raise the nursery was delegated to one of the farmer in the sangha. In this crop season the sanga has planned for a new method of composting where in the sand and Farm Yard Manure were laid in layers with regular watering and constant mixing. Thus it becomes enriched and can be used as manure in the fields. Each farmer in both sangas is given a tractor load of sand to mix with FYM. Way forward: The following additional works will be taken up in the coming season - Bring out research study for policy influence - Consolidated experiences on millet production - Demo plots at village level - Initiating village level seed banks. - Initiate study for policy advocacy. Performance of trials / demonstrations carried out during 2006-07 under RRA District: Anantapur Mandal: C.K.Palli Village: Obulampali List of different trials / demonstrations - Preparation and selling of panchagavya. - Slab lying in cattle shed for collection of Cattle urine. - In situ manure pits. - Millet seed availability in village Type of support systems provide on under each trial / demonstration

Sl. No.

Type of intervention

Type of support Source of fund Unit cost (Rs)

No. of units

Impact of intervention

Scope of upscaling

(H/M/L) 1 Availability of

Cattle Urine in village

Slab lying in cattle sheds

RRAP & Farmer contribution

1000 30 Cattle urine is available in village

Medium

2 Insitu manure preparation

Manure pits and Biomass generation

RRAP & Farmer contribution

500 30 Sufficient manure availability

Medium

3 Availability of Organic solutions

Selling of Panchagavya

RRAP (purchased by farmers)

20 per litre

50 litres

Farmers are using panchgavya

High

4 Supply of millet seed

Mechanisam to retain millet seed

RRAP 10 per kg

200 kg Millet seed available in village

High



Implementing agencies - CSA & SWEET Objective: To upscale non-pesticidal management across crops in the village Introduction: Project area: Peddabaigudem, Gujja Gram Panchayat Mandal: Samsthanaryanpur District: Nalgonda The total number of households are 57 The village is drought prone lying under semi-arid tropic climate. Agriculture is the main occupation for 90% of the population. The gross cropped area of this village is 375 acres. Crops: The main crops in the village are cotton, paddy, coriander, chickpea, redgram, castor. The area of the village is roughly 400 acres, out of which, 375 acres is under cultivation. Cotton occupies 60% of the cropped area and paddy is the only crop grown under irrigated conditions [about 75 acres]. Irrigation mechanisms: The cultivation is mostly rainfed. there is a big tank that is normally dry and incase it conserves water, paddy fields would be under its command area. Otherwise rainfed crops would be cultivated. There are 25 borewells and out of them only 10 are functional. Activities during 2006-07: PADDY-Crop pest management SRI method of paddy production System of Rice Intensification [SRI in short] is a novel method of cultivating paddy that radically conserves resources in terms of water and seed without compromising yields. This was an innovation developed from the farmers fields in Madagascar and is spreading all over the paddy growing areas in the world. Technically, this method challenges the most prevalent practices in paddy cultivation like crowded planting of multiple seedlings, flooding and ponding of water in the fields. SRI recommends single seedling plantation in squares with 25 cm2 spacing with 8-12 days old seedlings, hence minimal seed requirement. And irrigation should avoid flooding and should be with alternate wetting and drying of the field. The only draw back for the technology is that it cannot perform well under saline conditions and the crop may not establish in conditions of severe salinity.

Padd y hills of same ag e under SRI[left] and conventional method of cultivation [right]


In 2006-07 kharif season, SRI was adopted by a farmer in an acre land. Benefits: Yield obtained was 40 bags/acre [3 t/acre] as against the village average of 32 bags/acre [2.4 t/acre]. This corresponds to additional Rs 3640 through increased yield. The production costs incurred on soil productivity and pest management were Rs 1765 in SRI, whereas it was Rs 2280 in the conventional production practice. So the overall additional savings incurred due to SRI as compared to the village average through conventional production practice is Rs 4155/acre. A field day was organised in the farmer’s field on harvesting day as a part of motivational exercise to other paddy growing farmers on 1st December, 2006. Following the event, 28 farmers got themselves enrolled to get technical help from the project agency by adopting SRI method of paddy cultivation in Rabi [second] season. Considering the salinity of the paddy soils in other patches, SRI was not encouraged in Rabi season and focus was made on improving the properties of the soil by removing salinity. To heal the soils from salinity, green manuring was promoted in the paddy fields. For this Daincha [Sesbania aculeata], a legume was used. Cotton: Most of the cotton area was under Bt-Cotton [a transgenic hybrid that is supposed to

have host plant resistance against bollworm]. Farmers in about 4 acres came forward to try NPM [Non Pesticidal Management] of crop pests As the NPM methodologies do not comply with genetically modified organisms, the NPM had to be with Non-Genetically Modified cotton in the village. Several trainings for farmers were organised on understanding crop ecology of cotton crop and management of pests based on the learning.

Performance: the comparison is between the 4 acres of non-GM cotton under NPM on one side and GM cotton with chemical pesticides on the other side. The NPM cotton yielded 6q of cotton whereas the GM cotton yielded 8q with additional income of Rs 4000/acre. One factor that made this crucial difference was that the better yield with gm cotton is not because of its performance of better pest management, but because of farmers’ choice of productive land under gm cotton which according to them was an expensive bet. As the poor lands were spared for the non-gm cotton, naturally yields suffered. In terms of pest management inputs, the NPM methods only consumed Rs 800/acre with non-gm, whereas, the chemical pest management in gm cotton consumed Rs 3600/acre.

Green manure crop in paddy fields


Redgram: NPM in redgram was taken up in 12 acres with 12 farmers. The results when compared to the village average reveal that there was no yield difference in both the methods but there were savings on NPM to the tune of Rs 410/acre. This factor has driven 26 farmers with 38 acres for NPM in 2007-08. EXPOSURE VISITS: to expose farmers to alternative methods of pest management and make them understand the applicable economics, an exposure visit to an organic village, Enabavi was made. 31 farmers were taken for a visit on 13th March, 2007. Enabavi is located in lingalaghanpur mandal of Warangal Diostrict, AP. It has renounced chemicals in their entire village in their agriculture. It has declared itself as chemical and GE free village for the first time in the country. The main crops in the village are paddy, vegetables and cotton. INSTITUTIONS There are two kinds of registered institutions in the village. There are two Rythu Mitra Groups that are defunct and four functional Self Help Women groups. The Women SHGs are federated at village level as Village Organisation [VO] in 2002 and the VOs are federated at mandal [block] level in 2004. These federations are registered bodies under MACTS Act. SUPPORT SYSTEMS AVAILABLE AT VILLAGE LEVEL: The village has a watershed programme supported by APRLP [Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programme]. Through that programme, funds were available for the village that is maintained by the SHGs. The main components of the funds are Productivity Enhancement [PE] and livelihoods funds as revolving fund. Rs 7 lakhs are available under PE and Rs 3.6 lakhs available under livelihoods funds. This fund is managed by SHGs federated at village level as Village Organisation [VO]. Another poverty alleviation programme by name Indira Kranthi Patham [IKP] funds are available at the village to the tune of Rs 2.4 lakhs. From the side of the project, efforts are made to make use of the funds suitable to the alternate paradigm. As a social regulation, a resolution was approved stating that the credit obtained from the funds shall be utilized for procuring only organic inputs. This has been in practice for more than 3 years POOLING THE BENEFITS Subsidy from the department of agriculture: Green manure seed: the subsidy available with the department of agriculture in green manure seed was availed to the tune of 1.5 quitals. Daincha, a legume for supplying green manure to the paddy fields is bought by the SHGs. On the seed, 50% subsidy was from the government and the other 50% was borne from the PE funds. Significance of this intervention is that during pervious cases, to reclaim the saline soils, gypsum was used that too from the subsidy extended by the department. But it is essential that gypsum application requires technical skills and expertise which was not available with the product [gypsum]. Removing salinity through green manuring is found to be very efficient that there was good crop growth without any soil problems.


Vermicompost- For the production of vermicompost, department of agriculture has some funds to encourage farmers to set up few vermiculture units. This facility is expensive and is not meant for reaching all farmers. It is supposed to reach only 20 famers in a mandal. The approximate cost of setting up one vermicompost unit is Rs 7000. So as to encourage farmers to produce their own vermicompost, ‘low-cost’ vermicompost bins were promoted. This year, one farmer set up her own vermicompost pit with as low investment as Rs 500. The number of takers will be increased in the next year. Neem seed procurement: as an important component in pest management, neem seed availability is very necessary. Neem seed collection during summer was taken up with VO of about 8 quintals worth of Rs 2400 in the month of May 2007. Neem cake: 5 tonnes of neem cake was purchased by the VO to make available for the farmers in improving their soil fertility. Share of funds from various sources for the following activities Sl. No. Particulars of activities APRLP – PE

funds Agricultural department

RRA project

1 Extending loans for agricultural credits 100% 2 Exposure visit for farmers to an organic village 100% 3 Establishing neem seed pulveriser 100% 4 Implements for SRI method of paddy production [Marker

and Cono weeder] 50% 50%

5 Organizing field day for SRI method of paddy 100% 6 Plantation of Glyricidia stem cuttings 100% 7 Motivational exercises like film shows, trainings;

campaigning exercises like wall writings 100%

8 Acquiring seed at village level for crops like Paddy [BPT-5204], redgram [LRG-41] and green gram [WGG-31]

90%

9 Gypsum 50% 10 Green manure seeds 50% 50% 11 Facilitation and extension support to the farmers 100% 12 Community bon fires 100% 13 Pest management components [pheromone traps, sticky

boards,…] 100 %

14 Neem seed procurement 100 % 15 Vermicompost beds 100 % 16 Soil productivity inputs 100 %

Strategy for structural reforms for self reliant development: To move the village towards self reliance, focus is given on a) Capacity sharing on agriculture: Training the farmers, making a trained agricultural para

workers available in the village and campaigning in the village are being done.


b) Strengthening of the institutions: Formation of common interest groups [CIGs] to strengthen

and take forward the sustainable agricultural agenda. Increasing the role of village level institutions in owning sustainable rainfed agriculture.

c) Reducing the dependency on external inputs: planning is being done to internalize the inputs.

- Instead of depending on the agriculture department to supply green manure seed every year, plans are ready to take up green manure seed [production in the village itself so that timely availability and quality of the seed is ensured.

- In crops like Paddy, Redgram and Green gram, foundation seed has been procured from research stations and seed multiplication took place this year so that the seed is available at village level itself

- Plans are ready for making available the necessary inputs for sustainable agriculture viz., planting of biomass giving trees [glyricidia] on bunds, input shops at village level, skill building to agricultural laborers on alternate pest management etc.



Implementing Agencies - WASSAN & MMS District: Mahabubnagar Village: Bogaram village Mandal : Kosgi (Later extended to 6 mandals) Implementing partners: Mandal Mahila Samakhyas of Kosgi and others. After the first year, a decision was taken not to limit the RRA work with Kosgi Samakhya alone as several intiatives have shown potential to upscale. In line with this the work has been extended with some pilot initiatives to 6 Mandal Mahila Samakhyas (Kosgi, Daultabad, Bomraspet, Pangal, P.K.Pally and Addakal). Also, as AP Drought Adaptation Initiative has become operational in Kosgi, several initiatives started in Bogaram village have been extended to all the 15 project villages in 3 mandals, particularly those, related to Soil fertility enhancement, livestock health services and fisheries. Soil Fertility Enhancement: As NPM program has been mainstreamed, the focus was on soil fertility. In partnership with Aranya the initial effort was on improving the composting methods and quantum of compost availability. During the initial survey of households it was observed that dung and other animal waste was generally heaped in three situations viz., on road sides, near cattle sheds (near borewells) and at homestead where place was available. Two options were tried with the objective to substantially increase biomass to dung ratio to increase the total quantum of manure available.

a) improving the compost heaps by planting glyricidia around the compost pits so that the biomass can be cut and incorporated into the compost pit.

b) preparing aerobic compost in the farm land by collecting biomass from around the site. This will reduce transportation costs. The detailed wage labour requireements etc., are documented.

These initiatives are the precursors to take soil fertility agenda at scale. The initiative in Vikasa area took off in the form of Gobar Parbo as there is good rainfall and greater availability of biomass. This is also included as a larger pilot in the AP Drought Adaptation Initiative. The district administration is planning to take up these initiatives in all the watersheds in the district now. It is also being tried under AP Employment Guarantee Scheme. Streamlining Livestock Health Vaccination Services: Poor coverage of preventive health care is a major problem in rainfed areas. Vaccination covage is mostly for milch cattle and bullocks etc., are generally left out. This initiative of preparing a schedule of vaccination, mobilising demand and indenting vaccines from the Animal Husbandry department by aggregating the vaccine requirements at the MMS level was initiated in this village. While the vaccines are sourced in bulk from the government department, trained para-workers provides the vaccination service for payment of service charge. In case vaccines are not available with the department, the same would be purchased. This has later on expanded to two mandals and it is now a regular program under a separate program. This is being done in active collaboration with the Animal Husbandry department.


Community Managed Inland Fisheries: Three tanks in the village have the potential for fisheries at least once in about 3 years. But the Fishermen cooperative society leased out (though illegally) the cultivation rights to an external contractor. With facilitation, the cooperative has concluded the contract and started taking up fisheries on their own. Similar initiative has also been extended to 13 other tanks in two mandals under other projects. The experience is still to emerge for scaling up, particularly on enhancing productivity of fisheries. Non-Pesticidal Management of Insect Pests (NPM): NPM program is upscaled in the state to several districts. CSA is providing the anchor support to this large program. There are several issues which needs innovations. The main attempt of NPM work under RRA- MMS is to innovate on the NPM processes. Two such attempts are taken up a) NPM Contracts b) NPM Shops. In addition, WASSAN has been actively engaged with the discussion on establishing marketing support for NPM produce. This discussion started in the conference on PGS for organic farming, has led to a separate initiative at national level (NPM-I) with 8 organisations joining together to establish a label / brand for NPM produce and to help organisations in marketing. NPM Contracts: One of the expressed difficulties by some farmers in NPM is labour availability. There could be a win-win situation for these farmers with labour shortages and labour groups to enter into a contract on pest management. The village federation of SHGs / a group of labour have contracted Pigeonpea crop before the flowering season. NPM Contract for 2006-2007

S.No. Village Contract by Acres Net Profit / Loss

1 Amlikunta (Kosgi) Labor group 7 10,000 2 Mirzapur (Kosgi) Labor Group 11.5 3,000 3 Antaram (Daultabad) Village Organisation 1 5,000

Total 19.5 18,000 In all these cases the groups purchased the crop during flowering stage and managed the same till harvesting. The other two options of share-cropping and pest-management contract could not be tried. The Antaram and Mirzapur groups profited. They could successfully complete the harvest and also processed the grain and packed it as “Pesticides Not Used Redgram” and sold. WASSAN arranged for its sale in Hyderabad among various resident households. In Amlikunta the labour group lost as the crop in the entire village was affected by sterility mosaic virus. Only the NPM plot could survive but they have not recovered the costs; this risk was underwritten by the project. Sukshetram: As a spin-off an initiative to organise the informed residents in Hyderabad has taken off and is shaping in the form of a cooperative called Sukshetram. The purpose is to provide access for the member households to NPM or organic food. About 4 tons of processed redgram has been sold this year. This cooperative is being registered under the MACTS act. After the registration, the cooperative would formally access resident welfare associations for greater coverage. It will start functioning independently. The cooperative would also focus on rainfed crops.


NPM SHOPS ‘panta mitra’ shops: The concept of NPM shops emerged to provide NPM inputs which are not available in the markets. This has followed several farmers’ observations that it would be easier for them to purchase various concoctions rather than preparing themselves.

S.No. Mandal NPM Villages

No.of shops- by individuals

No. of shops – by VOs

Pancha-gavya centres

NPV Units

1 Kosgi 24 14 10 6 1

2 Bomraspet 18 8 10 3 0 3 Daulatabad 16 11 5 0 1 4 Pangal 3 3 0 2 0 5 Peddakothapally 15 15 0 4 0 6 Addakal 3 3 0 2 0

Total 79 54 25 17 2 The shops were established in 79 villages; 54 of them are run by individuals identified by the VO / MMS. Panchagavya a concoction of cow urine, dung, milk, ghee, butter milk etc. has been picking up well. 17 panchagavya preparation centers were established that prepared 2752 lt and could sell 1320 lt the rest would be sold during the next season. Gypsum could also be sourced by accessing government subsidy and dovetailed into the NPM shops.

S.No. Mandal Neem (Qt) Panchagavya (lt) Gypsum (qts) Pheramone traps numbers

Pur. Sales Bal. Prepared Sales Bal. Pur. Sales Bal. Pur. Sales Bal. 1 Kosgi 100 48 52 732 422 310 0 0 200 170 30 2 Bomraspet 24 11 550 200 200 0 0 0 500 445 5 3 Daulatabad 91.10 64.30 26.80 70 70 0 0 0 0 800 600 200 4 Pangal 80 5.5 14.5 600 500 100 340 340 0 500 450 50 5 Peddakothapally 100 75.5 24.5 400 300 100 340 340 0 600 500 100

6 Addakal 76 28 48 400 250 150 170 170 0 500 330 170

Total 347.1 245.3 176.8 2752 1320 972 1160 850 0 3100 2495 555 The shops run by individuals in several cases performed better the ones run by Village Organisations. In some cases the small scale of operation is also a problem as it would not provide adequate returns. A cluster approach needs to be evolved. The NPM shops are not intended to be full-pledged independent shops – but is only a part-time engagement. In course


of time these shops would evolve into input-supply chains for NPM – linking the local production of NPM inputs into local markets.

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Cadre Building Course on RRA Rainfed areas especially in arid and semi-arid regions are characterized by degraded soils, steeply falling ground water levels, increasing cost of productions and meager crop returns. With increased debt burden the farmers are even committing suicides. In this kind of situation there are several alternatives emerging over the past decade on sustainable rainfed farming initiated and promoted by various organizations give a ray of hope; but they are in isolation. They are based on the alternate paradigm of thinking, supporting and institutionalizing. Though they are very much successful, it was observed that due to lack of professionals, their scaling up is not taking place. In this connection WASSAN and CSA have initiated a training course on the sustainable rainfed farming for six months. Objective of the course: To develop professionals on Sustainable Rainfed Farming based on the alternative paradigm of thinking. Initiation: An advertisement seeking applicants were sent to various NGOs, Project Directorates at the district level in all the districts were sent. Of the 60 applications received, only 30 were short listed. One of them was CSA staff; but for various reasons he was dropped from the course. Of the 29 participants 5 participants were dropped from the course after 3rd contact class. The reasons being change of job, various other obligations like sickness, urgent and important official works etc. the attendance was above 85% on an average. The first 3 modules have attendance more than 95%. Course content: The course is scheduled for 6 months; 6 days in each month. The training course dealt in Non-Pesticidal Management, Soil fertility, Seed, Livestock, Water and CBOs and communication and documentation. Of the 6 days, 2 days was for field visit on relevant alternate experiences. The participants were asked about the general practice in their areas on respective themes, then the issues alternatives available and the driving realities on each aspect were analysed and discussed. Later on the 5th day the participants were given homework on the relevant theme and they have to practice/observe or collect information on the given assignment and prepare a report. Evaluation: Every participant (who has completed the assignment) was given a certificate of completing Sustainable Rainfed farming course. Grading was also given based on their attendance, assignments, class room interactions and final presentation. The participants were given certificates during their 6th contact class during which every one has presented their 6 month long learning and their experiences in their respective areas. After that theme wise presentations were done before the chief guest (Dr. Rayudu, State Adviser –NPM, SERP) and later the certificates were awarded through him. It was mentioned that these participants will be informed in advance whenever there is a need for resource persons for trainings and they should render their services. The participants were


issued CDs of various films on pesticide poisoning, NPM methods, NPM scaling up, SRI paddy, CSA presentations, WASSAN presentations etc. Feed back: The participants thanked CSA and WASSAN for conducting such a useful course. They strongly felt that the course period is too long and it is difficult to attend all the contact classes. The

suggestion was running two courses –one on Agriculture and the other one on the agri-related aspects like livestock, water etc. they also fed back that 7 days duration is ideal. Many have expressed that their understanding is improved after attending the course. The sequential arrangement is good. Though the links among the themes were discussed it could have been more elaborate to get a

comprehensive understanding of the holistic nature of agriculture. Course Content: NPM: Understanding the existing situation in terms of cropping pattern, production practices, knowledge resources, Changing paradigms in pest management, understanding ecosystem- producers, consumers, decomposers, food web; natural balance, plant health, environment, insect identification, different types and stages, harmful stages, life cycle Types of damages by insects, Beneficial and harmful insects, crop management, origin of pesticides during world wars, agriculture use, present consumption, pesticide poisoning, residual effects, IPM, NPM, Organic agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture, NPM components, Storage infestation and storage insects – storage management, Storage management – spraying the prepared extracts, Understanding Disease – disease causing organisms, Disease management, NPM linked soil productivity management. Field Visit: Enabavi Soil Fertility: Understanding cropping patterns, understanding natural cycles, Understanding plant physiology – plant structure – photosynthesis and food translocation – roots, Understanding soils as living medium – soil productivity vs fertility, Role of nutrients and why nutrients become deficient, Soil and its properties, Understanding Problematic soils, Soil testing and interpreting, Basket of options, How do farmers understand the soil and manage it, Chemically grown vs holistically grown, Field Visit: Raipally, Edakulapally, Narsanna farm and DDS permaculture farm Seed: Seed crisis, seed management ( farmers- cooperatives – associations – corporations – companies), Seed laws and legislations – Seed Act, PVPFR, Seed production (generic principles), Consumers (farmers’) rights, Seed certification, Seed testing methods, Seed growers’ association,


Seed production (Practices), Seed Storage and aflatoxins, GM –technologies involved, GM – regulatory systems, Food security and nutritional security Field Visit: Bt Cotton Village (Daulatnagar), Mulkanuru Cooperative Society, Seed bank village (Chowtapally) Livestock: Livestock – Sharing of Experiences & Issues, Livestock & Agriculture Linkages – Rainfed context, Fodder – Livestock – Livelihoods in the context of watershed approach, tree Fodders, Working on selected case studies in groups and presentations, Fisheries – Cooperatives, Breeds and Management, Institutional building & Sheep Rearer Cooperatives, Issues in small ruminants, Livestock services, Dieseases & Vaccination schedule, para workers, Breeds and their identification; Desi vs crossbreds Field Visit: Katlur, Jadcherla, Mahabubnagar & Moosapet for field visit to Artificial Insemination, Gopal Mitras, Fodder Plots and Bulk Chilling Centres; Project Directorate Poultry, Rajendranagar Water: Dryland Agriculture vs Irrigated Agriculture – statistics, Investments, Policies, Water concepts – Hydrologic Cycle, Rainfall, Runoff, Institutions for Dryland Agriculture – CBOs, Farming practices in Dryland, Soil & Moisture conservation methods, Participatory irrigation water management, Basics of Soils & Soil water plant relationships, Drought – types, affect & impacts, Water management in dryland agriculture – Micro irrigation Field Visit: Antwar (Daultabad mdl, Mahabubnagar) – CBOs, Turaipally (Daultabad mdl) – Sheep rearer society Communication Skills: Communication process, verbal communication, Non-verbal communication, message distortion, inclusion, exclusion, fore ground, background, leadership Informative discussion on Credit & Insurance, Documentation skills Names of the participants

S.No. Name Org. District 01 K Adi Narayana REDS Ananthapur 02 Md. Amjad Ali SYO Warangal 03 B Arun Kumar SWEET Nalgonda 04 B Giri Babu CROPS Warangal 05 P Isthari PILUPU Nalgonda 06 G Jyothi Lakshmi VVK Srikakulam 07 D Kondaiah J.JAGRUTI Ananthapur 08 S Krishna Kumari GRES Srikakulam 09 T Murali Mohan RIDS Ananthapur 10 M Murali Mohan NSDS kurnool 11 SS Murthy FORD Ananthapur 12 K Nagabhushanam PCSS Cudapah 13 K Nagaraju MARI Warangal


S.No. Name Org. District 14 V Swa my PEACE Nalgonda 15 K Ramesh SECURE Khamma m 16 P Ravi Kumar CONARE Mahbubnagar 17 G Sanjeev MMS-Kosgi Mahbubnagar 18 D Sanyasapparao MAVISA Srikakulam 19 G Satya Prasad VIKASA Visakhapatnam 20 G Usha Rani SABALA Vizianagaram 21 D Shivaji SUN(P) Adilabad 22 P Srinivas Reddy VOICE Nalgonda 23 S Venkata Naidu KOVEL Visakhapatnam 24 U Venkataiah MMS kosgi Mahbubnagar

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revitalization of rainfed farming in india (rrf)

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