Self-reliant farming for food security and sovereignty,

Maharashtra, India
GENERAL INFORMATION
Sources of information Sustainet, Sustainable Agriculture Information Networks, cooperative project
of the practice of the German Council for Sustainable Development. Result of the workshop
entitled Evaluation of project experiences through local partners (self-
evaluation) and assessment of each project's Scaling-up potential, held
in India
Relevant contacts Project Secretariat, GTZ, Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5, Postfach 5180 D,
65726 Eschborn, Germany
Chetana Email: [email protected]
Useful links Sustainet www.sustainet.org
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAMME OR PROJECT PROMOTING THE
PRACTICE (IF APPLICABLE)
Programme or project -
Time frame 1999-2005
Donor -
Implementer of the
Local NGO: Chetana-Vikas
programme or project
LOCATION OF THE PRACTICE
Region Asia
Country India
Province, Districts,
Wardha District, State of Maharashtra
Villages
Climatic zone Moist semi-arid
Other descriptive Average rainfall 800-1000 mm but restricted to only 4 months from June to
information °
September. Maximum temperature 47 C in the month of May, with relative
humidity as low as 5-10% for 4-10 weeks
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRACTICE
Practice category Managing natural resources sustainably
Practice type Technology for improving farm productivity sustainably
Sector Crop production system management
Institutions fostering
Local NGO: Alternative Agriculture Resource Centre of Chetana-Vikas
the practice
Beneficiaries of the
Small scale farmers and their families
practice
Users of the practice Small scale farmers
Natural resource used
or accessed Soil, rainwater, seeds
(if applicable)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRACTICE
Background/problem In the last few years, income in the agricultural sector in India has been
statement constantly falling. Remuneration to the human-resource input of farmers and
farm entrepreneurs is consistently going down. Thousands of farmers who
have been pushed into a vicious cycle of increasing indebtedness have killed
themselves as a last resort out of desperation. Cultivation of cotton, for
example, often involves high inputs of seeds, pesticides and fertilizers for
which farmers have to take loans. When this is coupled with low yields or
unfair/low prices for the produce, farmers fall into debt which they cannot
repay.
In general, market prices for agro-produce are dwindling in contrast to rising
cost of agricultural inputs and general inflation. The situation is only
 expected to worsen in the coming years as the global free trade policy forces
markets open to cheaper and cheaper commodities.
Approach followed The Alternative Agriculture Resource Centre (AARC) of Chetana-Vikas, a
non-governmental development organization, developed a strategic approach
to make both farming and the farmer self-reliant. The agricultural model they
promoted was based on low external inputs (e.g. seeds, fertilizers, pesticides
and fungicides, equipment and machinery) and high internal regeneration of
inputs. This model also provided a resilient agro-ecosystem with inbuilt
resistance against seasonal adversities and provided the family with enough
food to meet their dietary requirements. The model was developed for land
units of 1-2 hectares under rain-fed conditions which previously cultivated
cotton. The strategy of focusing on cash crops only, such as cotton, proved to
be too precarious for small farmers. The new model used a combination of
cash crops and food crops to diversify the farmers’ food sources and achieve
nutritional security. As the harvest period in the area only lasts 6-8 months,
food security requires the planting of several crops. The new approach built
on farmer's traditional knowledge: some varieties of local indigenous seeds
were selected and soil fertility was managed through companion cropping
and crop rotations.

Methodology
To calculate the average annual family food consumption and food
expenditure of small farmers in the Wardha District of the state of
Maharashtra, 15 small farmers and their families were selected from 10
villages and asked to list out their daily consumption of food and also their
average expenditure on non-food items (such as clothes, education,
medicine and travel among others). On the basis of this information, it was
found that the annual budget of these small farmer families amounted broadly
to Rs 25000, about 50% of which was used for food needs and 50% for non-
food needs. Out of the 41 food crops consumed by the farmer families in a
year, 33 (80%) can be grown on dryland without requiring irrigation. They
included 3 different cereals, 7 different pulses, 17 different vegetables, 4
different spices, soybean, and pigeon pea.

Research at AARD on cropping systems

Between 35-40 crops were intercropped and rotated on the basis of the type
of land available, slope and availability of sunlight. The positioning of crops
in each hectare was managed in such a way that a number of appropriate
and interrelated companion crops were planted together to develop all at
once through synergistic relationships. The only external, but locally available
input, was farmyard manure (not compost).

The traditional seed varieties obtained from interior regions were field-tested
for various important parameters such as yield potential, pest and disease
resistance and also taste. Only those varieties which showed positive results
on all the above parameters were selected for further propagation among
farmers.

Implementation of the new sustainable farm model

The implementation of the new farm model started by raising awareness
among farmers in the village community. Farmers visited demonstration plots
of traditional seed varieties and received 4-5 days training using appropriate
seeds provided at reasonable costs. To ensure soil and water conservation
in the fields, contour bunds were built using the farmers’ own family labour
and with the aid of rented bullocks. These structures proved to be essential in
the provision of moisture security during times of erratic rainfall, allowing
crops to overcome dry spells of even 35-40 days. This process was followed
by 1 or 2 visits by AARC staff, along with discussions to analyse and evaluate
different farmers’ experiences. No separate financial support was given apart
from the cost of training, facilitation and peer group field visits. As a result,
the practice of mono-cropping cotton was replaced by multiple cropping.
Farmers started cultivating between 6-25 different crops and experienced
benefits from the first year: one ha of land which used to produce 800 Kg of
cotton with conventional chemical farming was able to produce 700 Kg of
 cash crops comprising cotton, soybean and pigeon peas, and 755 Kg of food
crops. Farmers also incurred low expenses and did not make use of any
loans. Hence this strategic farm model helped poor farmers escape the debt
trap, poverty, and improve their food and nutritional security.
Innovative elements -
Impacts on natural Actual: The texture and fertility of soil is improved; it was not devoid of
resource base moisture during dry spells. The number of earthworms increased.

The availability of water increased, even in times of erratic rainfall, due to the
creation of contour bunds.
Impacts on livelihood Actual: The net income of the farmer families has steadily increased since the
of the practice users project began. In this model with very high crop diversity, 38 of the 41 crops
consumed as food can be grown on dry land. Thus the farmers became
practically self-reliant in food crops. However many other food crops that are
now consumed but were not included in the initial list of foods are also
produced, giving farmers a very high level of food and nutritional security.
Additionally, cash earnings by the farmer families increased by 87%.

Achieved self reliance:

Food and non-food items Farmer Production Achieved
family from 1 ha self-
needs (Kg) reliance
(Kg)
1
Cereals (excluding wheat) 302 125 41%
Pulses 80 300 375%
Vegetables (monsoon 27 9 33%
season)
Spices 50 63 126%
Oil seed (for 50 l oil) 120 120 100%
Other necessary small food 10 18 180%
items
Cash (obtained from the sale Rs 12,263 Rs 10,686 87%
of cash crops and fodder, plus
external wages)
1
Cereals: Wheat needs irrigation; therefore a dryland farmer will have to buy
wheat from the market. For the rest of the cereals like sorghum, pearl millet,
maize etc. self reliance could be achieved in this dry land area.

Cash: The cash crop cotton occupies only 0.5 hectare out of the 1 ha land.

Other impacts -
General success The model was researched and developed bearing in mind the constraints
factors that the majority of these farmers face, i.e. totally rain-fed dry land without
sources of irrigation, ordinary land with medium soil quality, small holding
size of about 1-2 hectares, few resources like tools, equipment, manure and
cattle, absence or scarcity of labour, little capital. After trials in the farms, this
 model has been found to be suitable for the majority of these farmers who
farm dry land.
Technology success Increase farm production and / or stabilize it
factors Address farmers needs, priorities and management
Institutional success
-
factors
Problems remaining to The quantity of farmyard manure needs to be increased because the amount
be resolved applied by a small farmer is very inadequate.
Similarly, a more comprehensive and optimized system for making soil
nutrients available should be researched as well as a better method for
recycling biomass in dry land farming. These improvements could also
increase production of cash crops.
Keywords Agricultural development, Agriculture, Arid soils, Conservation, Cropping,
systems, Crop production, Crops, Dry farming, Erosion, Erosion control,
Farming systems, Fertilizers, Food production, Food resources, Household
consumption, Intercropping, Mixed cropping, Multiple cropping, Natural,
resources management, Nutrition, Rain fed farming, Resource conservation,
Seed, Soil conservation, Soil fertility, Water conservation