MITIGATING GLOBAL WARMING WHILE PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE
LIVELIHOOD THROUGH INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS
Experiences of BAIF
Dr. Narayan G. Hegde, Trustee
BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India
Agricultural Development
With the economic reforms in early 90s, India has been making significant progress,
particularly in Industrial and Information Technology sectors. This has resulted in
generation of new employment opportunities, easy access to finance and foreign
exchange, increase in GDP and per capital income. However, the agriculture sector,
which is the backbone of the rural economy and which had made significant progress
for over a quarter of a century since the successful launching of the Green Revolution
in the 70s, has been fading gradually causing lower rate of growth, less than 2%,
while the overall growth of GDP has been above 6-8%.
As the prosperous
agricultural regions of North and North-East India, known as the food baskets of the
country have reached a level of stagnation in agricultural production, there has not
been any serious effort to develop the other regions, particularly the arid and semiarid regions under rain fed agriculture, which are mainly dominated by small holders
and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
Such neglect has not only failed to boost growth in agriculture but also to reduce the
extent of poverty in rural India. A recent economic survey conducted by the Planning
Commission has reported that over 42% of the rural population is presently living in
poverty, whose earning is far less than USD 2 per day per family. Presently, 60-65%
of the Indian population is living in rural areas and over 90% of them are dependent
on agro-based activities. In the absence of significant development of industrial and
service sectors in rural areas, the rural population has to depend on agriculture or
migrate to urban areas in search of wages.
Constraints for Improving Agricultural Production
The scope for agricultural development in non-irrigated areas has been heavily
restricted because of several factors and prominent among them are the following:
1
Small Land holdings: More than 75% rural families own less than 2 ha land, which
are sub-divided and scattered in several locations. The productivity of these small
holdings is low because of inability of poor land holders to carry out required tillage
operations on time and invest in necessary agricultural inputs, while adopting
advanced technologies which can boost crop production. It is also not feasible for
small holders to introduce new crops and modern farming due to lack of cooperation
from adjacent farmers.
Low Productivity: Most of the small farmers being deprived of irrigation facilities,
are compelled to depend on rainfall, which is difficult for optimising crop yields.
About 40% of the cropping area in the country is located in arid regions, where
harvesting even a single crop in a year is uncertain. Therefore, farmers do not use
required quantity inputs to maximise the crop production. As a result, crop yields in
rain fed areas are significantly lower than in irrigated areas. Low productivity of land
has been the major reason for poor generation of gainful self employment in nonirrigated areas, affecting the livelihood of small farmers.
In the absence of profitable agricultural production, farmers have not been taking
good care of their land resources, by way of soil and water conservation, optimum use
of farmyard manure as well as other nutrients and efficient use of rain water. Due to
lack of farm bunding and land shaping, heavy rains accelerate soil erosion leading to
depletion of soil fertility, flooding of rivers and siltation of water reservoirs. It is
reported that only 35% of the rain water is being effectively used in the country, while
the rest is wasted causing inconvenience and economic loss to the society. Thus, the
natural resources are being denuded continuously suppressing agricultural production
further, due to neglect and inability of poor farmers.
Outdated Technologies: Most of the research institutions engaged in agricultural
research have been focussing on enhancing yields of major food and cash crops in
irrigated areas, as the outcome of such studies has high commercial value and better
visibility. On the contrary, there have not been significant efforts made for finding
solutions to solve problems of degraded lands and small farmers particularly in arid
and semi-arid regions who are compelled to cultivate drought tolerant crops. Even in
irrigated areas, farmers ignorant of the importance of water, often make excessive use
of water to irrigate their crops, to the extent that they end up with low crop yields and
2
even damage the land by turning it into sodic-saline wastelands. With efficient use of
water by using modern methods of irrigation, they can not only enhance crop yields
but also reduce crop production, while covering a larger area under irrigation. But
such damages are not prevented due to poor agricultural extension network and
improper method of charging for water use causing huge loss of precious natural
resources, which suppress crop yields.
Animal husbandry is an important and integral part of agriculture, which has been
under severe neglect and totally disconnected from the agricultural sector. The
Animal Husbandry Department responsible for boosting animal production is biased
towards veterinary services while genetic upgradation and preventive health care are
almost neglected. Farmers are ignorant about scientific management of livestock
which has resulted in low production, poor rural economy and suppression of
livelihood of small farmers. India hosts over 17% of the world’s livestock but their
performance is only to the extent of 25-30% of their counterparts in developed
countries. With the growing livestock population, without any serious effort for
genetic improvement and increasing fodder production, there has been a severe
shortage of feed and fodder resources which has been affecting their productivity
further. With application of modern technologies for breeding, feeding and health
care, farmers could enhance production of milk and meat, while reducing herd size
and supporting organic farming.
It is only through improved technologies and
efficient forward and backward linkages, that the growing demand for milk and meat
can be met, while generating gainful self employment to small farmers.
Lack of forward and backward Linkages:
Most of the scientific institutions
engaged in agricultural research have been promoting new technologies, without
required support services. In the absence of marketing support, excessive production
can also lead to glut in local market and farmers are likely to incur heavy losses,
instead of earning higher profits. Apart from inputs and technology, support is also
needed for timely procurement of agricultural inputs and organising processing and
marketing.
Presently, farmers are dependent on cooperatives and various
development departments of the Government for procuring inputs and marketing their
produce. However, as most of the cooperatives are not efficient, the infrastructure is
extremely weak to organise farmers and to facilitate support services. Therefore, poor
3
farmers are often exploited by middlemen. The mechanism for strengthening the
linkage between consumers and producers, avoiding exploitation by middlemen is
presently absent.
Illiteracy and Lack of Capacity: Most of the small farmers are not only poor but
also semi-literate or illiterate.
They have also been suffering from lack of
connectivity with the external world, choice of crops, technologies and particularly
the market. They are also prone to cheating and exploitation. Ill-health is another
serious problem which causes mortality, morbidity and keeps them away from earning
wages and attending to their agricultural operations, resulting in low production.
After experiencing failure after failure on many fronts, most of the poor have lost
confidence in themselves as well as in outsiders.
Therefore, it is necessary to
motivate them and build their confidence and capabilities while initiating sustainable
development activities.
New Challenges of Global Warming
While the small farmers are already suffering from low agricultural productivity and
lack of gainful employment throughout the year due to various problems mentioned
earlier, they are now faced with new challenges of global warming which have serious
impact on food security as well as on livelihood. Although global warming is a
phenomenon being experienced all over the world, the problems are more serious in
India as this will pose a serious threat to our food security. As the country may soon
experience a rise in atmospheric temperature in the near future, there will be a series
of chain reactions. With this rise in atmospheric temperature, the sea level is also
likely to rise and result in forced evacuation of people living in more than 20,000
villages along the 7600 km long sea coast in the country. An additional 25% rural
population will be exposed to increasing cyclones and floods causing damage to
agriculture, properties, livestock and human lives.
Global warming will also
accelerate melting and receding of Himalayan glaciers, which in turn will reduce flow
of water in the rivers emerging from the Himalayas. Reduction in river water flow is
likely to affect agricultural production in North India, reducing the food production by
over 40% in the country.
4
Global warming will accelerate evaporation of moisture from soil and plants and
water requirement of crops will be higher. The farmers will have to irrigate their
crops more frequently, resulting in additional work load and additional power
requirement for pumping the water. With the changing climate, over 70% of the
plants may have difficulty in adapting to the new climate, which may suppress crop
growth and yields. Change in climate may also influence flowering and fruit set of
various crops. The present promising varieties of many crops may fail to produce
high yields because of physiological changes caused by changing weather conditions.
Thus, agricultural research will demand higher investment and time to develop new
varieties of crops suitable for the changing climate.
Climate change will further impose new challenges and uncertainties. While frequent
floods and droughts may result in frequent failure of crops, farmers will have to incur
additional expenses on re-sowing of new crops after failure of crops sown earlier.
This will not only enhance cost of production but also demand additional inputs in the
form of improved seeds, fertilisers, agro-chemicals, etc. causing shortage of inputs
and panic situations. This may further affect resource poor small farmers who will
not be able to mobilise finances to procure these inputs. Therefore, climate change is
likely to affect Indian agriculture and particularly a majority of small farmers through
food insecurity and unemployment. Drop in agricultural production will result in
shortage of foodgrains and other essential commodities, inflation and further
exploitation of common people, as we have started experiencing during this year.
Mitigating Global Warming
As we have already started experiencing the ill-effects of global warming in the form
of unpredictable erratic rainfall, steep rise and fall in the atmospheric temperatures,
acute shortage of drinking water, it is necessary to take immediate steps to initiate
suitable actions which have the potential to reduce the ill-effects of global warming
and climate change. Increase in emission of green house gases, particularly carbon
dioxide, has been a major cause of global warming. Therefore, the major focus is on
reducing the emission of carbon dioxide, by curbing consumption on fossil fuel. This
will have to be done through introduction of energy efficiency in industries, thermal
power plants, automobiles, transportation, aviation and conservation of energy
through promotion of green buildings.
5
Although the per capita energy consumption in India is far below the consumption in
developing countries, India stands third among the highest releasers of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere because of large population. India has also been contributing
substantial quantity of methane, another green house gas which is released from
livestock and their dung. Methane poses a more serious threat compared to carbon
dioxide as it can absorb 23 times more heat. Therefore, emission of methane can be a
serious concern as India owns the largest livestock population in the world.
Development of wastelands through afforestation, efficient use of water to recharge
the ground water table as well as to increase green cover on barren lands and
promotion of sustainable agriculture are other important steps, where India can play a
very significant role. Indeed, the strategy for India should be to promote such ecofriendly activities which will help in mitigating climate change while supporting
sustainable livelihood for the poor. This programme should motivate common people
to take active role by showing immediate benefits for them. BAIF’s experiences in
the past have revealed that while involving the poor in any development programme,
it is necessary to ensure that the participants have opportunities to earn their
livelihood, while contributing to the cause of development.
BAIF’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD
Focussing on development of the poor, BAIF Development Research Foundation, a
Civil Society Organisation, committed to promote sustainable livelihood, has
promoted various income generation activities using locally available natural
resources such as land, water, livestock and vegetation for generating gainful self
employment in rural India. Among them, promotion of cattle development for dairy
husbandry, conservation of soil and water resources for sustainable agriculture and
promotion of tree-based farming for rehabilitation of degraded and wastelands, have
made significant contribution to sustainable development while mitigating global
warming. BAIF’s strategy has been to ensure that the programmes are beneficial to
the participating families to earn their livelihood while conserving eco-system,
biodiversity and environment. Empowerment of women has been an integral part of
the development programmes as they contribute to almost 70% of the labour for
agriculture and play a significant role in improving the quality of life.
6
Livestock Development
Livestock is being considered as a threat to eco-system and environment in many
developed countries. However, for over 75% of the small farmers in India, livestock
is an important source of income for livelihood. For these farmers, immediate food
security from livestock is the primary concern, inspite of their ill-effects on the
environment. BAIF considered it as an opportunity to empower small farmers to take
up dairy husbandry to improve the milk production, while reducing the ill-effects on
environment.
Over the years, cattle have made a significant contribution to rural economy in the
form of nutritious milk, bullock power and manure. In the absence of adequate
technical services for genetic improvement, timely health care and feeding of
balanced ration, the productivity of cattle and buffalo has decreased significantly over
the years. Thus, the small farmers have developed a tendency to increase their herd
size to generate additional income, which has been increasing the pressure on the
supply of fodder and feed resources.
Realising their plight and opportunity to
generate gainful self employment through dairy husbandry, BAIF focussed on genetic
improvement of cattle way back in 1967. As milk was in short supply while demand
was very high, the programme was well accepted by farmers. BAIF also realised that
livestock development is a good opportunity for direct interaction with small and poor
farmers for improving their livelihood. Furthermore, cattle were very well accepted
by all sections of the society and even the illiterates were aware of managing cattle
and buffaloes by feeding crop residues, without any advanced training. Realising the
importance of dairy husbandry in rural economy, BAIF decided to take up genetic
upgradation of low productive, non-descript cattle through crossbreeding while
conserving elite Indian native breeds.
Earlier the State Animal Husbandry
Departments were implementing this programme, but the conception rate was very
low due to usage of liquid semen. So BAIF decided to use frozen semen technology
which not only ensured good quality semen but also enabled supplying semen of
superior quality bulls. BAIF further introduced breeding services at the doorsteps of
farmers, which saved their time and ensured timely insemination, while facilitating
good interaction with those who are actually involved in looking after the animals and
to provide answers to their problems, from time to time. Through such interactions,
7
illiterate farmers were motivated, gained confidence and improved their skills, which
empowered them to manage their programme efficiently. While the native nondescript cows yielded 200-500 litres of milk per lactation of 300 days, crossbreds born
to these cows were able to come into milk production at the age of 3 years and yield
on an average 2500-3000 litres per lactation, contributing a net profit of Rs.8,000 Rs.10,000 per cow per annum. As a result, a family maintaining 3 crossbred cows
was able to come out of poverty.
Each crossbred valued at over Rs.25,000 -
Rs.30,000, was the most valuable asset ever possessed by these small families. They
could sell surplus cows from time to time to meet their capital needs. As these
valuable cows were prone to injury and infection against various diseases, farmers
were motivated to stall-feed and feed them well. Stall-feeding also created awareness
about the conservation of resources and influenced them to reduce their herd size.
Thus, there has been drastic reduction in free grazing which indirectly benefitted the
eco-system.
With stall-feeding, dung collection from cows went up by 4 times
indirectly supporting sustainable agriculture and organic farming. It also enabled
many farmers to establish biogas plants to meet their domestic fuel needs. Impact of
BAIF’s cattle development programme is presented in Case Study No. 1.
Dairy husbandry generated gainful self employment even for landless and womenheaded families, who could purchase crop residues and fodder from other farmers. As
they could generate substantial income from crossbred cows, it was not necessary for
them to work as agriculture labourers in other farms under the hot sun. Apart from
reduction in hardship, they were able to stay at home and look after their house and
children. This way, genetic improvement of cattle as well as buffaloes helped small
farmers to come out of poverty, keeping a small number of animals, while
significantly contributing to environmental conservation and reduction of global
warming.
This programme today is spread over 55,000 villages in 12 states
benefitting over 3 million BPL families. With an annual budget of Rs.30 crores, the
BAIF Programme is able to promote production of milk worth Rs.2500 crores
(USD520 million) per annum through small farmers.
Upgradation of local non-descript cattle through crossbreeding has now been adopted
by most of the State Governments in the country. This has helped India to attain the
first rank in milk production in the world with over 105 million tons milk per year.
8
However, the demand for milk is growing steeply and it is expected to cross 180
million tons per year by the year 2022. This provides further opportunity to expand
the programme throughout the country, involving small farmers to enjoy sustainable
livelihood, while mitigating the ill-effects of global warming.
Goat is another species of livestock, which ranks second in population (125 million)
after cattle (185 million). Goat is considered as the enemy of eco-system mainly
because in drought prone areas where cattle and buffaloes fail to perform well,
farmers tend to replace their herd with goats. Goat population during the last two
decades has increased by 50%, mainly in arid regions. Environmentalists are of the
opinion that goat has an aggressive grazing habit which causes severe damage to
vegetation and accelerates desertification. Due to this fear, there have not been many
development programmes to support goat keepers. However, as a large number of
poor landless and women-headed families are mainly dependent on goat husbandry
for their survival, even without any support, they will continue to keep goats and the
damage is bound to continue.
Therefore, to solve this problem, BAIF studied the
existing system of goat husbandry in different parts of the country and came up with a
strategy to help them to reduce the ill-effects on eco-system while enhancing the
productivity. This programme was launched in Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and
Gujarat. BAIF organised goat keepers into small Self Help Groups of 6-8 members
together owning about 35-40 does. Each group was provided with a superior quality
buck of a locally recognised breed for genetic improvement.
They were also
supported with vaccination, deworming and advised on proper feeding to improve the
growth. Awareness among goat keepers was created through a locally trained field
guide to keep the herd size small, to ensure that there is enough fodder available for
all the goats in the region. They were further linked to the market directly to fetch
better price. As a result, these goat keepers were able to enhance their income by 2-3
folds without increasing their herd size. The programme has now been expanded in
other areas to benefit poor goat keepers without increasing goat population, in remote
parts of the country.
Further details on the goat development programme
implemented in West Bengal is presented in Case Study No. 2.
9
Scope for Reducing Green House Gases
Further efforts can be made to reduce emission of greenhouse gases through livestock
by promoting special programmes in the sector. These include reduction of livestock
population, reduction in methane production by livestock and recycling of methane
generated to meet the energy needs.
Reduction of unproductive livestock should be taken seriously as they are draining
our precious feed resources which are in short supply, while exerting pressure on
biodiversity and environment. Awareness needs to be generated among farmers about
the opportunity losses by keeping low yielding animals. This is a serious problem in
cattle as farmers are unable to dispose off their unproductive cattle, both female and
male. While cows can be used at least for producing crossbreeds, managing bullocks
is becoming a major problem, as tractors and power tillers have replaced bullock in
the farming sector, turning bullocks uneconomical even for small holders. Therefore,
a serious review of the livestock policy should be taken to deal with conservation of a
large number of native draft breeds, their economics and utility for our farmers.
Even under the dairy development programme through cross breeding, 50% progeny
is expected to be males. These male calves grow fast and are ready for farming and
transportation operations at the age of two years, while bullocks of most of the native
breeds take 4-5 years. These crossbred bullocks are also capable of carrying out
heavy tillage operations, but they are slow and less tolerant to heat stress as compared
to native draft breeds. But in the absence of growing demand for bullocks, they may
not be useful. Therefore, it is necessary to explore economic use of bullock power as
an alternate source of energy, by designing new bullock-powered machines and tools.
Development of single bullock drawn implements, water pumping system and power
generation device for lighting houses may turn these bullocks economical.
Subsequently, we also need to popularise the use of sexed semen under the breeding
programme to focus on production of only females for milk production, which will
boost the income of dairy farmers.
The other area for mitigating global warming in livestock sector is by reducing
methane emission in the atmosphere. Livestock produce methane while digesting
various types of feed. Studies have confirmed that some of the feeds rich in fibre
10
content accelerate methane emission. Thus, further techniques should be developed to
process fibrous feed to break down lignin before feeding to livestock for reducing
methane generation.
There are techniques to degenerate fibre through physical,
biochemical and microbial processes which can probably be perfected and
popularised among dairy farmers.
Capturing methane gas from cattle sheds before escaping into the atmosphere can also
be explored! Methane released from dung can be easily prevented by generation of
biogas, by every livestock owner. Presently, this aspect has been almost neglected,
inspite of shortage of other sources of energy for domestic cooking and lighting.
Major reasons for poor popularity of biogas plants, which have been promoted by
Khadi and Village Industries and various Ministries ever since our independence are
poor design of the plant needing large space, high capital cost, poor post installation
services and attractive subsidy offered for other fuels such as kerosene, electricity and
biomass. Further R and D efforts are needed to develop compact biogas plants which
can be installed even on roof top and operated by using biodegradable domestic
wastes as well with dung.
Production of fodder to meet shortage of feed should also be taken up on priority, to
produce superior quality, easily digestible fodder, instead of feeding highly fibrous
roughages. Development of fodder tree plantations on degraded and dry lands and
reclamation of ravine and saline lands will not only meet fodder needs but also
enhance green cover and recharging of ground water table. Presently, farmers are
totally ignorant of the ill-effects of livestock on global warming. Hence, a serious
awareness campaign should be organised to involve them to adopt eco-friendly
practices to reduce the ill-effects.
Management of Water Resources
Water plays a significant role in conservation of eco-system and improvement in
agricultural production. It is because of lack of assured supply of moisture that
agriculture in rain fed areas has not been very successful in many parts of the country.
It is reported that only 35% of the rainfall in India is effectively used while the
remaining 65% water is causing havoc by accelerating soil erosion, flooding of rivers
and silting of reservoirs. Very often, small farmers are not able to make efficient use
11
of rainwater due to their ignorance and inability to make necessary investments.
BAIF has been promoting watershed development and efficient use of water
resources.
The programme includes harvesting of rainwater, land shaping and
contour bunding to prevent soil erosion and recharging of ground water, introduction
of efficient irrigation systems, use of organic mulches, establishment of shelter belts,
eco-friendly cropping, etc.
Establishing networks of farm ponds in semi-arid regions of Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh have not only enabled farmers to take one assured crop in rainy season but
also helped in efficient recharging of ground water, which in turn enabled revival of
dried bore wells and rivulets to retain water throughout the year. Land use plan and
development of suitable cropping systems based on soil fertility and water availability
could help farmers identify suitable crops which can yield higher income making
optimum use of water. With various innovating approaches, farmers participating in
the programme were able to enhance their cropping intensity by 15-20% and overall
crop yields by 25-35%.
The programme also facilitated assured supply of safe
drinking water all round the year and increased forage production, which supported
livestock husbandry, enabling farmers to enhance the income further. Promotion of
green manuring, bio-fertiliser application, vermicomposting and mixed cropping
could reduce the investment in chemical inputs and promote eco-friendly farming.
Application of higher doses of farm yard manure and establishment of shelter belts on
field bunds and borders would continue to help farmers to combat the ill-effects of
global warming, through reduction in wind velocity and soil moisture loss. Impact of
BAIF’s watershed development programme in Rajasthan is presented in Case Study
No. 3.
Global warming will have a direct impact on availability of water for irrigation and
human and livestock consumption. Therefore, conservation of water resources should
be taken up on priority. For efficient use of rain water, watershed development,
facilitating surface and subsurface water storage and soil conservation should be
undertaken on priority. With contour bunding, flow of rain water can be arrested,
preventing erosion of fertile soils. This would also facilitate in situ conservation of
water. Prevention of soil erosion will further prevent siltation of reservoirs and rivers.
Flooding and erosion of river banks further accelerate the river to change its course
12
resulting in huge losses to the local economy. Tree plantations on bunds, barren lands
and river banks will play a significant role reducing soil erosion and siltation of rivers.
These trees which have the potential to grow fast can be a major source of income.
Unfortunately, aerial views of our rivers with wide banks devoid of tree plantations,
frequently changing the direction of water flow, reflect our ignorance and neglect in
handling even the most serious problems of water scarcity and global warming!
Tree-based Farming
Trees are known to be hardier than arable crops to overcome water stress and other
vagaries of nature. BAIF initiated tree-based farming in 1976 with the introduction of
Hawaiian Giant type of Leucaena (Subabul) which could survive on degraded
wastelands even in semi-arid and arid regions and produce fodder, fuelwood and
timber.
With the development of cultivation practices and highlighting of its
economics, it was possible to promote cultivation of Subabul on wastelands. As this
species was useful as fodder, fuel and pulpwood, Subabul became popular in India in
a very short period. Even today, thousands of hectares of Subabul plantations are
standing in Andhra Pradesh for supplying pulpwood to paper mills. Subsequently,
promotion of multipurpose tree species and fruit crops was initiated for rehabilitation
of small farmers, particularly tribals.
Tribals who represent over 10% of the total population in the country have been
deprived of their livelihood with continuous denudation of forest resources. This
compelled them to cultivate drought tolerant food crops like pearl millet, sorghum,
finger millets, etc. on degraded hilly terrains without adopting proper cultivation
practices. Thus, the crop yields on such lands were very low and inadequate to ensure
food security. This compelled them to migrate to cities for 6-8 months in a year in
search of wages, neglecting their households and crops.
Realising this problem, BAIF initiated the programme of developing their degraded
lands through establishment of fruit crops like mango and cashew. As the gestation
period of these fruit crops was 4-6 years and food security during gestation period was
very critical to prevent migration, cultivation of foodgrains and vegetables was
introduced in the interspace between fruit plants right from the first year. To meet the
needs of fuel and timber, various multipurpose tree species were established on field
13
bunds and borders, which also served as fence and wind break. As women were the
major contributors to agricultural development contributing over 70% of the labour, it
was felt necessary to empower them to take active part in the programme. Reducing
their hardship through introduction of labour saving devices, community health,
maternal and child care, functional literacy and gender sensitisation were the primary
steps to develop their capabilities. These activities were followed by formation of
their Self Help Groups, promotion of saving and micro-credit activities, training and
field visits to expose them to various income generation opportunities and assisting
the SHGs to establish backward and forward linkages to strengthen their enterprises
for income generation. Training on active participation in Panchayati Raj Institutions,
community health care, hygiene, sanitation and other social development aspects were
also organised to promote community leadership among participant women and men.
Selected local youth were trained as field guides to guide the families in developing
their fruit orchards and to initiate various community development activities. Support
for procuring critical inputs was provided from the project.
This programme helped over 0.2 million tribal families to establish agri-horti-forestry
on 0.4 ha per family, on their degraded lands, which were not suitable for intensive
crop production. Various water conservation measures were introduced to improve
the crop growth and yield, while ensuring safe drinking water throughout the year.
Cooperatives of participant families were formed to process mango, cashew and other
commodities grown on their farms. The landless were involved in food processing
and marketing activities. As migration stopped, these families started maintaining
high yielding cows, buffaloes and goats which provided supplementary income. The
programme generated year round employment for the participant families. With good
health, they were able to attend to all the farming activities well in time.
Consumption of alcohol came down drastically. As the migration of women stopped,
children started attending school.
These families who were earning Rs.6000 –
Rs.8000, are now able to earn Rs.35,000 – Rs.50,000 per annum. With tree-based
farming, these families are now able to meet their fuel needs from their orchards and
hence, do not have to go to forests to fell trees. On the contrary, they have realised the
impact of green cover on productivity of their orchards and water supply. Increase in
green cover has improved the micro-climate and accelerated the process of carbon
sequestration.
The programme has demonstrated the feasibility of promoting
14
sustainable livelihood while improving the biodiversity and environment. This is an
excellent approach to involve the rural poor for reducing the ill-effects of global
warming. Drought tolerant, hardy fruit trees being the main source of income, these
farmers are not likely to face any setback due to global warming in the near future.
Success of wadi programme is presented in Case Study No. 4.
Programme Sustainability
Programme sustainability is the critical issue which should be ensured in every such
programme. To address this, BAIF has promoted series of People’s Organisations at
various levels in the form of SHGs, User Groups, Planning Committees, Federations
and Cooperatives to organise different functions for forward and backward integration
and community mobilisation. These groups were involved in all the activities, right
from project planning. Regular meetings of these groups ensured transparency and
harmony among the members. A sense of ownership was developed among the
participant families which was a driving force to sustain the programme.
With
suitable planning and capacity building, the participant families are prepared to take
up various income generating activates, by availing loan. Thus, such programmes can
be replicated without large funding.
15
Case Study 1
Crossbred Cows brought about Smile for Poor
A Lame Cow brought Fortune
Dadasaheb Korde, living at Tilekarwadi, near Urulikanchan in Pune district, lost his
father at a young age. His mother worked as a farm labourer as their 0.8 ha dryland
was not productive. Dadasaheb assisted her as he had no other work. Looking at
their poverty, a neighbouring farmer donated a dry crossbred cow with a fractured leg.
The family took good care of this cow and availed of breeding services from BAIF.
The cow delivered a female calf and started yielding 5-6 litres of milk per day. He
purchased another crossbred from the sale of milk. Good profits motivated him to
expand the business through 5-6 home born cows.
From his earnings, Dadasaheb set up an irrigation system to bring 0.32 ha land under
fodder production. Today, he has purchased 0.4 ha land for cultivation of fodder and
is maintaining 20 high yielding cows and 13 heifers. Now, he is selling over 150
litres of milk every day. He has installed a milking machine and a biogas unit. The
cows have brought prosperity and status to Dadasaheb’s family, who had lived in
chronic poverty before.
Long March of a Landless to Prosperity
Gopinath Khaire, a youth had migrated from a remote village in Osmanabad district to
Urulikanchan in search of wages in 1973. Starting with a daily wage of Rs.3 per day,
which rose to Rs.9 thereafter, life was difficult. However he purchased a crossbred
heifer which was inseminated at the BAIF Centre. The heifer delivered a female calf
and started producing milk. With the additional income, he purchased another cow
and the daily milk produced increased to 20 litres a day. Encouraged by his success,
he expanded the herd and also started selling the surplus. Gopinath now owns 5 cows
and sells around 35 litres at Rs.12 per litre. The family is also engaged in shared
cropping on 0.625 ha of leased land to meet his fodder needs. His only son Suresh
who dropped out of school and worked as farm labour, is now assisting him and earns
an additional monthly income of Rs.3000 by milking 15 cows of other farmers at
Rs.200 per cow per month. With their savings, they constructed a large house in 2004
which has all the modern amenities. A new cattle shed has been built for his prized
16
cattle. Gopinath’s wife Prayagbai ensures that her two grandchildren attend school
and tuitions regularly.
Livestock Showed Way to Live with Confidence
Huchamma is a landless widow living in a remote village called Baluvaneralu in
Tiptur taluka of Tumkur district. In the absence of other sources of livelihood, she
was at the mercy of landlords to earn her wages. In the year 2001, BAIF initiated
women empowerment programme. She enrolled herself as a member of the Sridevi
Women’s SHG. In 2005, Huchamma took a bold decision to take a loan of Rs.25,000
to set up her livestock development enterprise. She purchased 8 sheep for Rs.10,000
and invested the remaining Rs.15,000 in cattle trade. Today, Huchamma has 20 sheep
in her herd. She gets 15-18 new kids every year and sells around 10-12 male sheep
who are an year-old, at Rs.2000 per head. She also sells 5 truck loads of sheep
manure at Rs.10,000 every year. In addition, the present value of her herd is over
Rs.1.50 lakhs, which is her capital asset. She brings milking cows from neighbouring
villages and cattle fairs and sells them to needy farmers. This business contributes
Rs.20,000 to her income per annum. Thus, her annual earning has increased to above
Rs.50,000.
After settling her previous loan, Huchamma availed of an additional Rs.50,000 bank
loan through her SHG in February 2008 and purchased two crossbred cows to start
her dairy enterprise. On an average, she sells 20 litres of milk per day and earns a net
income of Rs.30,000 - Rs.35,000 from this enterprise annually. From the savings, she
has purchased 0.2 ha of land and furnished her house. She was able to get her
daughter married and gave her gold ornaments worth Rs.70,000. “Before joining the
SHG, I was wasting my time in idle talk with my neighbours. BAIF came as a ray of
hope for me. I do not have to work as farm labour any more. Apart from managing
my livelihood, I also became enlightened and sent my children to school and taught
them good habits. I can never forget BAIF and my SHG for bringing happiness to my
family”, says Huchamma proudly.
Crossbred Cows Provided Sustainable Livelihood
Sushilamma, an illiterate woman, lives with her husband and three children in the
same village. Being landless, working as seasonal farm labour was the only source of
17
livelihood. In 2001, Sushilamma joined the Shri Bhuvaneshwari Women SHG and
started contributing Rs.10 from her savings every week. In 2005, she decided to avail
of Rs.25,000 as bank loan through her SHG and purchase a crossbred cow. She
started taking good care of her cow to improve the milk production. After gaining
confidence, she decided to devote her entire time to dairy husbandry instead of going
out for work. During the first year, she made a net income of Rs.20,000 from the sale
of milk. Unfortunately, during the next calving, the cow delivered male calves but
Sushilamma did not lose interest.
Fortunately, the next calf was a female.
Sushilamma nurtured the calf with good care and the calf came into milk production
in 24 months. With additional income from the second cow, she started making a net
profit of Rs.30,000 every year. From this saving, she purchased another cow. Now
owning three cows, she sells about 30 litres of milk everyday and earns a net income
of Rs.45,000 per year. From the savings, she purchased 0.2 ha land and built a house.
When asked about her new enterprise, she says “before joining the programme, I was
a slave but today, I am an independent person.
An impact study of BAIF cattle development programme in Gujarat, Maharashtra and
Karnataka, covering over 2000 participant families, reported in 2008, that the dairy
farmers participating in the programme for about 8-10 years, have enhanced their
annual income from Rs.8000 to Rs.51,000 during this period. Dairy programme was
accepted by about 60% of the families in the programme areas and benefitted
significantly 87% of the participant families. More than 75% dairy farmers had two
or more crossbred cows, which contributed to their sustainable livelihood. Having
realised the benefit of crossbred cows, the families have also been purchasing high
yielding crossbred cows from outside while disposing off their inferior animals.
Thus, rearing of crossbred cattle has become a household activity in the villages
where BAIF is providing livestock breeding and other support services through their
mobile centres.
Sources: BAIF Annual Report 2008-2009. BAIF Journal 31 (1), 2010.
18
Case Study 2
Turning Goat Husbandry into an Eco-Friendly Enterprise
Goat had the dubious distinction of destroying the eco-system and environment due to
its aggressive browsing habit and tolerance to harsh weather conditions.
Thus,
promotion of goat husbandry has not been receiving due attention of the Animal
Husbandry Department.
Lack of technology and extension further eroded their
genetic base and productivity in recent years. However, goat being an important
source of livelihood for the poor, with the reduction in profitability, the only option
available for goat keepers was to enhance the herd size to cope with their needs.
Realising the limitations of goat development, BAIF had not made any attempt to
promote goat development. However, BAIF was approached to initiate a goat project
in West Bengal as some of the policy makers and senior Government officials felt that
with high mortality and low production, a large number of goat keepers were deprived
of their earnings and were living in chronic poverty. Tata International and Sir
Dorabji Tata Trust came forward to provide finance to take up a pilot project. The
Government of West Bengal extended their services. Thus, with great hesitation,
BAIF ventured into goat development with a mission to develop best practices to turn
goat husbandry into an eco-friendly enterprise for benefit of small farmers, landless
and women.
The area selected for the project included 135 villages in Raina II and Kanksha blocks
of Burdwan district and Ranibandh and Raipur blocks of Bankura district, covering
10,000 families, maintaining goats.
BAIF studied their problems and identified
genetic erosion, high mortality due to a disease called PPR, poor growth due to
shortage of feed and infestation by endo-parasites and exploitation by middlemen
while selling goats.
Thus, the following programme was launched to enhance the profitability of goat
keepers.
1. Formation of self help groups of goat keeping women each with 5-7 women
maintaining a total of 35-40 does.
2. Training of goat keepers through a field guide each supervising 10-12 SHGs.
19
3. Distribution of a superior quality Black Bengal buck for each SHG, with the
condition that one of the members will take good care and maintain the buck
for providing breeding services to does of their members at a nominal price of
Rs.5 or Rs.10.
4. Vaccination against PPR disease through the Animal Husbandry Department.
5. Deworming carried out by the field guides by collecting service charges.
6. Demonstration on feeding mineral mixture for better growth.
7. Castration of inferior male kids at one month of age to promote growth.
8. Weighing of goats periodically to monitor growth.
9. Linkage with market to avoid middlemen.
The programme was coordinated by a veterinarian, who trained the supervisors and
locally recruited part-time field guides. Self Help Groups had an understanding that
none of their members will increase the herd size beyond 8-10 depending on the
fodder availability in the village. It was also decided neither to distribute female
goats brought from outside as it put additional burden on local resources and nor to
encourage goat keeping by these families who have not been keeping goats so far.
With the above practices, within 2 years, the goat mortality came down from 45% to
less than 5%. Deworming and feeding mineral mixture, improved the growth and the
goat keepers started weighing their animals periodically to monitor their growth,
which also helped them to assess the value and bargain with the middlemen for higher
price.
The project enabled goat keepers to earn Rs.10,000-12,000 (USD 250) while keeping
5-6 goats, without denuding the vegetation. The field guides collected moderate fees,
apart from keeping some goats to demonstrate best practices while earning additional
income. Looking to the success, this project is being replicated in other districts of
West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tripura and Rajasthan.
Source: Eco-friendly Goat Husbandry for Sustainable Livelihood of Small Farmers.
BAIF Technical Bulletin 1/2008.
20
Case Study 3
Watershed Development for Sustainable Livelihood: Gokulpura Shows the Way
Background
Gokulpura, Govardhanpura and Thana are three tiny villages located in the semi-arid
zone of Hindoli tehsil in Bundi district of Rajasthan. Most of the 633 families living
here were poor. Agriculture was the main source of livelihood but most of the 3286
ha lands were infertile and eroded. The average annual rainfall of 400-500 mm being
erratic, agricultural production was low and uncertain.
Major crops like maize,
sorghum or bajra yielded 800-1000 kg grains per ha. Traditional social customs like
purdah, denial of girl's education, teenage marriages and male dominance had led to
further backwardness and illiteracy.
BAIF initiated the Cattle Development programme here in 1993. Looking to the
plight of these villagers, a natural resource conservation programme was initiated in
1996 with the support of India Canada Environment Facility (ICEF).
Development of Community Pastures
As fodder was in scarcity, community pastures were heavily denuded. Silvipasture
development was initiated on 45 ha through contour trenching, gully plugging,
fencing of the boundary, sowing seeds of forage legumes (Stylo) and grass species
(Dhaman grass) and establishing saplings of fodder-cum-fuelwood species to improve
the green cover. Villagers also agreed to extend voluntary labour. The Village
Panchayat not only permitted them to initiate silvipasture development but also
extended maximum cooperation by clearing the encroachments and laying out
approach roads.
To sustain their interest, village level Pasture Management
Committees and SHGs were formed. The instant success of the project was reflected
in the confidence among the communities particularly the women who started
meeting regularly, discussed their problems, initiated small savings and disbursed
loans to meet their needs as well as for pasture development activities.
Pasture lands which were eroded for decades started turning green in the first year
itself. The pasture management committee permitted the villagers to cut the grass and
take away 50% for feeding their livestock while the rest was sold. With abundant
21
supply of green fodder and over 83% families maintaining crossbred cows or
improved buffaloes, the milk yield has increased from 1-2 litres/day to 6–8 litres and
8-10 litres/day for buffaloes and crossbred cows respectively. Cows and buffaloes
which were fetching Rs.4000 and Rs.8000 are now priced at Rs.20,000 and Rs.25,000
respectively and these villages once deficit in milk, now generate surplus milk and
supply to dairy cooperative. A milk chilling plant has been installed in Gokulpura.
Watershed Development
With improved water infiltration, ground water recharging was very significant.
Bheem Sagar, a newly built percolation tank, retains water throughout the year, where
a few landless families undertook fishery. With efficient rainwater harvesting, the per
capita water availability increased from 810 cum to 2194 cum (the region having per
capita water availability below 1700 cum is considered as water stress region). Three
percolation tanks could retain water till summer and recharge open wells. Looking to
the surplus water situation, these three villages were eliminated from the list of
drought affected villages in Bundi district during the famine of 2000, although the
rainfall during that year was only 399 mm. Even during 2009, one of the worst years
of drought, with a total rainfall of 125 mm, this cluster has been sufficient in water,
while drinking water is being supplied in tankers to neighbouring villages since
October 2009.
Improved Agricultural Production
Assured supply of water encouraged them to use improved agricultural inputs. By the
third year, 84% of the cropping area under the watersheds had assured irrigation to
grow two crops during the year. 100% farmers who were unaware of improved crop
varieties and certified seeds before the project are using improved seeds. The average
crop yields have increased from 1.8 tons to 2.6 tons and 6.0 tons/ha for local and high
yielding varieties respectively. Technical inputs from ICRISAT helped farmers to
improve crop yields, while support from ITC established better market linkage. The
gross annual income from these lands enhanced from Rs.8,000 to Rs.65,000 per ha.
With improved crop productivity, the land prices are 100 - 150% higher than in the
neighbouring villages.
22
Improvement in Quality of Life
With assured water resources, the Village Panchayat installed tap water schemes to
supply clean drinking water. School children and members of the SHGs were trained
to chlorinate the well water regularly.
This has helped most of the families to
maintain good health. The enrollment of girls in school which doubled during the
first five years, now exceeds 95%. With improved wood stoves and energy saving
devices, the drudgery of women has reduced, apart from lesser time taken to cook
food and reduction in use of fuelwood for cooking. Increase in ground water table has
reduced the time taken by them to fetch water as water is now available in their
village itself. The improvement in quality of soil has ensured fodder security and
reduced their time taken to collect fodder. Due to use of modern farm equipments,
the time taken by women in agricultural operations has reduced while some of them
are also able to afford hiring of labour for their field activities. Thus, women have
earned good respect in the society with increasing prosperity.
Source: Gram Swarajya at Gokulpura: A successful struggle of poor villagers to
combat drought in Rajasthan. BAIF-ICEF Project Impact Study, 1999.
Case Study 4
Food and Environmental Security for Tribals through Wadi Programme
A Smile after 25 Years!
Ganesh Wangad belonging to the Warli tribal community, lives in Bhendipada
village, Mokhada cluster in Thane district of Maharashtra with his wife, two sons, two
daughters and grandparents. About 25 years ago, with the hope of raising a nursery of
mango grafts, his grandfather approached a local bank for a loan of Rs.1000. With
the sanctioned loan, he planted 50 grafts of Alphanso variety of mango. However, the
bank verification officer was not satisfied with the growth of the plants and advised
him to replace the plants with another variety but none of the replaced mango grafts
survived. The outstanding loan with interest had soared to Rs.5000 which was not
possible for the family to repay.
The comprehensive tribal development project launched in Bhendipada village in the
year 2000-2001 met with a lukewarm response from the villagers with the exception
23
of Ganesh. Neither his brothers nor his parents joined the programme as they were
not fully convinced about the benefits. Determined to change his destiny, Ganesh and
his wife established healthy grafts of mango provided by BAIF on 0.4 ha land and
eucalyptus plants on 0.2 ha. The villagers ridiculed the couple as they toiled in the
hot sun. As the stray cattle used to enter the plot, his affectionate grandfather assured
him that he would watch over the wadi. He was able to get a diesel engine and
pipeline from the Tribal Department of the Government of Maharashtra with the
facilitation of BAIF-MITTRA and water his wadi. With the hard work of the couple,
these plants grew taller than them in a year! After observing the impact on the wadi
plot of Ganesh, gradually, the villagers were motivated to join the programme and 69
participants came forward to participate in the next 3 years.
Encouraged by the success, he started cultivating black gram, lentil and soyabean,
vegetable crops, medicinal plants and flowering plants as inter crops in his wadi.
From the sale of flowers, now their daily income is Rs.250. Once a fortnight, a trader
visited Ganesh to purchase the herbal tea cultivated on his plot which fetches him
Rs.10 every day. The enterprising couple took a loan of Rs.5000 from Renuka Self
Help Group and started a petty shop. With his first income from wadi, Ganesh repaid
the outstanding loan and purchased a treadle pump as well. From the earnings of
Rs.10,000, from mango grafts raised in his nursery, Ganesh renovated his house. In
the fourth year, he earned Rs.14,225 which increased to Rs.22,763 in 2007, apart from
production of foodgrains for his home consumption. Today, Ganesh is a role mode!
Wadi Transformed his Life
Dhavalu Laxman Mahale, a school drop out lived in a remote village, Kharonda, 27
km from Jawhar town with five children, of whom only two survived. The other three
children died due to malnutrition and lack of health care. The family owned only 0.4
ha land and he used to grow only traditional crops like paddy, finger millet and red
gram during the rainy season. Dhavalu could produce only two bags of finger millet
and two bags of paddy from his land to generate an income of Rs.4000 per annum.
This compelled him to migrate to nearby cities during rabi and summer season for
employment. When BAIF launched the agri-horti-forestry programme in this cluster,
Dhavalu did not join the programme in the first year due to hesitation. Encouraged
by the success of other farmers, and the realisation that they could also take up
24
traditional crops during kharif, and vegetables in rabi season, he decided to join the
programme in 1994. He planted 40 mango grafts and about 650 forestry saplings.
Finger millet was cultivated as an inter crop. His wife Sitara shared the work and
they earned Rs.5000 in 4 months. Next year, he established a forest nursery in
between fruit plants and earned Rs.23,500.
He learnt the technique of mango grafting at Vansda in 1996 and started his nursery.
Initially, he prepared 200 grafts out of which only 20 grafts survived. But he was not
discouraged. He consulted BAIF experts to improve his techniques. During the next
year, he prepared 1500 grafts with 90% survival. His total income rose to Rs.45,000
in 1998-99. He designed an innovative grafting knife for mangoes which had some
additional benefit over the traditional design.
Considering the market potential,
Dhavalu organised a group of ten farmers to grow vegetables like cluster bean and
bottle gourd and started selling the produce directly in the market located in Navi
Mumbai since year 2000. In 2006-07, his income was Rs.1.65 lakhs through sale of
mango grafts, mango fruits and vegetables. Now, Dhavalu is a good trainer in mango
grafting.
Shortage of drinking water was a serious problem of Kharonda village and it was an
uphill task for the women to fetch water from downhill. With assured food security,
women started demanding the installation of a reliable source of drinking water.
Dhavalu with his immature skill in plumbing, took the lead to seek Government
funding and in 1999-2000, a drinking water scheme was sanctioned. After a thorough
discussion with farmers and a detailed planning, a well was dug near a stream. All the
families contributed their labour in digging the well and for laying the pipeline. An
electric motor along with a pipeline was installed to lift water from the well to the
overhead tanks, along with taps. A system of collecting monthly water charges from
each household was introduced to meet the electricity charges and other expenses.
This arrangement has ensured reliable source of clean water and reduced the hardship
of women.
Looking to his initiative, he was selected as Chairman of the Tribal MITTRA Fruit
Processing and Procurement and Sales Co operative Society Ltd, Pimpalshet, Jawhar
taluk, which is engaged in cashewnut processing, pickle manufacturing, fresh mango
trading, and sale of mango and cashew grafts. Dhavalu’s two sons are studying in an
25
Ashram school in Jawhar and his wife is an active member of the local SHG. Thus,
the Wadi programme has changed his life and Dhavalu has motivated other members
of his community to follow him.
Jasmine Cultivation – A New Initiative
A few years ago, BAIF initiated the wadi programme in Vikramgad tehsil of Thane
district with the support of the Government of Maharashtra. Although the block is
only 100 km away from Mumbai, the tribals who were in majority, were living in
chronic poverty. The annual rainfall in the region is more than 2500 mm but the land
productivity was low due to poor shallow soils, lack of knowledge about improved
agricultural practices and poor infrastructure to establish efficient forward and
backward linkages. Over 3000 families motivated by the success of BAIF’s wadi
programme elsewhere in the state, decided to take part and establish mango and
cashew plants. To sustain their livelihood during the gestation period, till the fruit
plants started bearing fruits, these families were motivated to take up various
intercrops and jasmine flower production was one of the options.
Although jasmine is a common plant in every backyard, production on a commercial
scale was never thought of before. But the members of the self help groups took a
bold initiative to establish a special “Bangalora” variety of jasmine plants in between
their fruit plants. With scientific cultivation, the plants started bearing flowers in less
than four months. Then, marketing posed a challenge as there were no local buyers!
Thus, some youth from the participant families were selected to organise the market.
After various options, these youth have set up a unique model.
Every family
cultivating jasmine, plucks the buds early in the morning and pool it together at a
central point in their village. One youth from each village collects the buds and
brings it to Vikramgad on a motorcycle. The flower buds collected from different
villages are pooled and packed in a gunny bag. One of them on rotation takes it to
Thane by bus. He also collects additional flowers collected by the SHGs from many
other villages on the way towards Thane. As the demand for jasmine market is poor
in Thane, the youth then take the flowers to Dadar market by local train and
participate in the wholesale auction. During the last two years, Vikramgad jasmine
has become popular in Dadar market because of its superior variety. Now the auction
starts only after the Vikramgad flowers reach the market! While most of the wadi
26
participants could earn over Rs.30,000-50,000 per annum, even the small holders who
produced very small quantity of flowers could take advantage of the marketing
network, much before their fruit trees started bearing fruits.
An impact study of the wadi programme in Thane district in 2008, reported that over
73% of the families in the project villages, participated in the programme. Out of
their average holding of 1.71 ha, 0.52 ha was kept fallow. The programme enabled
them to bring their fallow under wadi and reduced the fallow to 0.3 ha. None of the
families had irrigation facilities, but with the establishment of wadi, for the first time,
70% families renovated their own wells, 17% tapped water from springs and 12.5%
families availed of water from check bunds, which enabled them to ensure over 95%
survival of fruit plants. Cashew plants started fruiting in the third year but substantial
income began after six years.
As most of the participants had introduced
intercropping, their food security was ensured from the first year itself. The rise in
their income had a direct impact on increase in food consumption, clothing,
education, medical care and expenses on marriages and festivals. The literacy level of
participant families increased from 15.33% to 47.73%, but over 95% children were
now enrolling in schools.
With the establishment of wadi, 55% families were maintaining milch animals while
37% were keeping goats and 65% were maintaining poultry. Migration of male
members came down from 17% to 37.7%, while the number of days of migration
reduced from 81.6 days to 29 days. Female migration came down from 53.75% to
6.75% and number of days from 55 days to 7 days! This had significant impact on
health and quality of life of women and children.
Sources: BAIF Annual Report 2008-2009. BAIF Journal 30 (1), 2009.
27