Best practices and their impact on the small scale farmer’s resilience the experience from the DCI-ENV/2010/ program (March 2011-May 2014) N.M.Fazly Project Coordinator

A final number of 1982 beneficiaries (422 female HHs) engaged in the program from 22 villages (GNDs)

Among the selected farmers FMGs are mainly managed by women of the family

Pest control: Pest control using IPM methods Organic pesticides IPM poster Soil fertilization: Compost Liquid fertilizer Soil moisture retention: Soil mulching Organic matter introduction (by composting) Seed saving:

New plants introduction: Lemon grass Traditional vegetables (Ex: Hen wattakka, Goraka Thakkali) Yams (Including ginger and turmeric) Ayurvedic herbal plants Traditional paddy Live fence: For composting Fuel wood and Bio fuel Mulching Leaf litter mulching and paddy straw mulching Mainly practiced towards dry periods Crop diversification Increased home consumption and reduced outside purchase

Women acceptance is high versus men Attitude change towards healthy consumption resulting in high adoption of IPM methods Soil organic matter content is increasing, but need more emphasis on soil conservation to retain the organic matter More inclined towards Increased vegetable consumption and saving on home expenditure rather than market production Traditional vegetable varieties has a market edge over other organic products in outside markets Special interest in traditional yams and tuber crops Conclusion and lessons learned