Spring 2019 Newsletter

“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.”

~Thomas Jefferson

The year 2019 has been a mixed bag for Indian farmers thus far. There are positives such as efforts to innovate and use the latest technology for helping farmers increase outputs and work towards sustenance by collaboration efforts between Indian and foreign agencies and help from the government in the form of import duty hikes for wheat to support local farmers. However, the continued dry spells in various parts of the country and the struggle to capture, store and harvest rain water provide strong indicators of the impending challenges that our farmer friends will have to face in the upcoming months.

Save Indian Farmers has acute awareness of these tough challenges and is ramping up efforts in various ways to work towards its prime goals of helping farmers with sustainable agriculture and water conservation.

Our Progress so far…

Tumkur Region

Partner: Avishkar

Sustainable farming is one of our primary initiatives. Avishkar being our on-ground partner in Tumkur Karnataka, has been helping us in promotion and popularization of organic farming since August last year. The objective is to train and support 15 small and marginal farmers from 5 villages in Tumkur district to practice organic farming. These farmers will motivate other farmers in the villages to convert their non-organic farming methods to organic farming.

We have been running following training activities for these farmers.

Innovative techniques of organic vegetable cultivation
Tree based farming – horticulture, forestry plants and fodder
Organic methods for soil fertility management
Non-chemical pesticide management
Bio pesticides and bio fertilizers, neem pesticides, pheromone traps
In situ composting techniques, vermicomposting, Japan composting
Adoption of green manure crops
Establishing live hedge fence / ecological fence
Water management – field bunding and trenches
Moisture management- ridges and furrows
Organic certification
Market linkage – establishing linkages with departments, bankers, buyers and technical institution

Uttarakhand Region

Partner: UANA

In 2018, three water conservation projects were completed in Dabralsyun and Chobattakbal regions of Uttarakhand. A small check dam was constructed on a small seasonal stream. These efforts are likely to harvest significant amount of water in monsoon season. Continuing our efforts in this region, we completed fencing in 3 locations to prevent damage to crops by wild animals. Efforts are underway to identify and plant wild animal resistant fruits and herbs to prevent crop and income loss because of wild animal menace. High quality seeds and approximately 500 fruit tree saplings were distributed in Dabralsyun region. We also helped farmers to mend and prepare 2 acres of barren land and planted about 80 walnut trees on one of the plots. This “Shaheed Fal Vatika” is dedicated to Pulwama martyrs. Assistance is being provided to the farmers to sell their produce in lucrative markets such as New Delhi to get better price.

Project Utthan Rajasthan

Partner: Haritika

Utthan Project (Climate Change Resilient Village Development) aids vulnerable villages of Hadoti Region of District Baran. The main objective of Project Utthan is to increase adaptive capacity to climate change through developing Smart Villages. Shubhdhara is selected as the most vulnerable village as a pilot project in district Baran of Rajasthan.

Our focus in this region is especially on marginal farmers, agriculture laborers and cattle rearing workers. We aim on enhancement of forest coverage, as forest goods will provide alternative livelihood opportunities to the villagers. So far, we have completed 100 acres of field bunding to control soil erosion, installed one solar water irrigation pump, established one community greenhouse and planted 3500 fruit and fencing trees. We also have following activities planned in this region in the near future:

Use a mobile platform to educate farmers about insurance, boosting farm productivity, diversification of crops and varying income cycle.
Maintain soil health card.
Continue establishment and installation of solar water irrigation pump, community dug wells and community greenhouse.

Drumsticks Farming

Partner: Manavlok

Our drumsticks success story features one of the farmers in Beed district, Mr Shripati Chamnar. He sowed 1600 drumstick saplings and used drip irrigation systems distributed free of cost by SIF. Jiwa-amrut and cow dung as manure/fertilizer were used to ensure organic produce and reduce additional costs. Shripati is now expecting income of at least two lakhs from 4000 kg of drumstick crop production this season. Read more details about our success stories in Beed, Maharashtra and Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh.

What we look forward to…

Water Cup 2019

Partners: Paani Foundation , Jnana Prabodhini

Maharashtra is facing a severe dry spell again this year. 151 towns in Maharashtra have been declared as drought area and 112 with severe drought. Save Indian Farmers has decided to adopt 20 villages in Maharashtra to support Paani Foundation’s effort to fight drought as part of Water cup challenge 2019 along with local partner Jnana Prabodhini .

To support this effort, we are looking to raise $15000 which will help those needy farmers potentially become water abundant. We have limited time to support and make this a success and help villagers in Maharashtra. Please support us in this effort using “donate now” options on this page.

Nellore Region

Partner: Rural Reconstruction and Development Society

Last year, we had started our sustainable farming and water conservation initiatives in the Nellore region. We have completed training in Lingasamudram, the pilot village for this project, to teach farmers the preparation method for organic fertilizers and organic pesticides such as Egga Kashayam, Ganamurtham and Jeevanamrutham. Renovations are in progress for Chaaki Revu, Mangana gunta and Kakkirevi check dams which would benefit about 120 families. Work on the Dheyyala Kunta community well (reservoir) in Thokalapudi village is in progress. Around 65 families around the village will be benefited after the completion of this well. We have also completed soil testing for 5 farmers who were shortlisted for this effort.

Kurnool Region

Partner: Rural Reconstruction and Development Society

Mannegunta is a small village in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and is home to 242 families. It has a very low literacy rate and does not have proper connectivity, villagers have to walk 2 km for the nearest bus stop. The village reservoir stretches 60 acres but has diminished water storage capacity due to a dense covering of trees and wild creepers throughout the reservoir. We plan to clean the big trees and creepers from the reservoir. This clean up activity will increase the water storage capacity of the reservoir and help the village population for at least 10 years. A total of 99 farmers will benefit from this effort.

BoreWell Recharge 2019

Partner: Sankalpa Rural Development Society (SRDS)

SIF with the help of SRDS has implemented over 400 borewell recharge systems, to enhance crop diversity and productivity of small marginal farmers through augmentation of water resources to ensure food and livelihood security.

Our primary target population are small and marginal farmers as the direct beneficiaries and secondary beneficiaries are landless people (often women) who are employed as labor on the agricultural lands and the rural community as a whole. Areas selected are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.

For 2019, the proposal is to work with 200 farmers with support of Save Indian Farmers.
A minimum of 30 farmers to be targeted in each of the project areas in the following way:
- Exposure visits to successfully recharged bore wells.
- Capacity building training for farmers on rainwater harvesting techniques.
- Awareness building related to the importance of rainwater harvesting throughout the area.
- Handhold support to farmers in the adoption of the technology.

Farming in the News

News story in the Hindu about diminishing ground and reservoir water in Andhra Pradesh
Story in the Times of India about the continued dry spell in Maharashtra
Inspirational success story about a woman in Rajasthan about her efforts to grow fruits on barren land.
Exploring smart technology which could help Indian farmers not only make better business decisions but also tackle the sustainable cooling challenges being faced by the country.
Story detailing the plight of women in Nashik district, Maharashtra and their daily struggle to collect water.