…a new beginning Poverty eradication through community managed sustainable agriculture a way out of serious crisis in agriculture SERP MMS SANET

Indira kranthi patham women’s empowerment for poverty eradication S.E.R.P is implementing a Rs.2100 cr statewide project to raise rural poor’s incomes and improve quality of life Organize rural women’s groups & their federations Knowledge & awareness Investment support Government departments Financial institutions Panchayati raj institutions Markets and other non- govt institutions

Outreach and institutional structure Programme present in every village of the state S.H.Gs have been formed in each village More than 90% of rural poor are organised 86.5 lakhs rural women organised into 6,88,200 S.H.Gs (upto March 2007) (35% of all S.H.Gs in the country are in A.P) Own savings : Rs.1340 Crores, Corpus : Rs Crores. 31,500 V.Os, 946 MSs and 21 Z.S s formed

To enable each poor family in the state, to improve their livelihoods and quality of life a family out of poverty experiences:  improved status in society  comprehensive food security – freedom from hunger  earns minimum of Rs.5000/- per month, from stable livelihoods  planned house-hold expenditure  Social Security – risks to life, health, assets and incomes are covered  good shelter  good education  good health Vision

Mandal Samakhyas and V.Os plan and implement the various project components  Each Mandal is divided into three Clusters of habitations.  A development professional, called Community Coordinator (CC) is placed in each Cluster. S/he stays in her cluster.  SERP selects and trains them. After completion of training, they are contracted by the MS and are accountable to MS.  M.S responsible for social mobilisation, institution building and funding the microplans of S.H.Gs/V.Os from C.I.F  Micro credit plans are evolved by the S.H.Gs in each village. These plans are funded by their own savings, CIF fund and Bank Linkage.  V.Os responsible for appraising the microplans and recommending them to M.S for financing from C.I.F  V.Os appraise microplans and also finance them from the recycled C.I.F C.B.Os implement the project A.P Federation Model SHGs Thrift and credit activities Monitoring group performance Micro Credit Planning Household inv plans E.C-2 from each S.H.G, 5 Office bearers Strengthening of SHGs Arrange line of credit to the SHGs Social action Village development Marketing and food security Support activists – 3 -5 E.C-2 from each V.O, 5 Office bearers Support to VOs Secure linkage with Govt.Depts. fin institutions, markets Auditing of the groups Micro Finance functions SHGs V.O MMS Z S 200, ,000 Village Organization Mandal Samakhaya Zilla Samakhaya SELF HELP GROUPS

Key achievements 1.Community based targeting - focus on the ultrapoor 2.Financing the poor: -Project finance (C.I.F) – Rs crores -Financing S.H.Gs through Banks. Rs crores to Rs.3225 crores in 6 years – 16 fold increase. -Current year plan – Rs crores -Pavala vaddi -Debt swapping by banks -Strengthening asset base of the poor – investments in agriculture, livestock, non-farm, small businesses, etc

Project fund management & S.H.G Bank linkages Mandal Samakhya Village Organization SHG Terms of Partnership (VO – MS) Terms of Partnership (SHG – VO) Terms of Partnership (Member – SHG) Repayment Period Members Prioritization of Needs and Members Micro Credit Plan Months months months Banks

3. Collective marketing of agriculture, horticulture,NTFP produce and dairy To enable the poor to get fair terms of trade for their produce through their networks  Village level marketing centres managed by S.H.Gs - traditional market yards – trader centred and not fair to poor farmers  From Rs.1 cr in to Rs.126 crs in 06 – 07. In , marketing turnover crossed Rs.216 crs.  Intensive training to women in handling quality, logistics, finances, and marketing  Major commodities: maize, paddy, redgram, soybean, neem, groundnut, castor, coffee, cashew, NTFP, etc.  Milk – village milk collection centres and mandal level B.C.Us  Major constraint - Post harvest facilities, simple value addition and storage at village level

Rabi Paddy procurement by Village Organisations Paddy procurement in Rabi 2007 by Village organizations at MSP in partnership with A.P.S. C.S.C Major innovation of State Govt. to ensure M.S.P benefit reaches the small and marginal farmers Procurement in 316 village procurement centres Total Paddy Procured – 3.24 Lakh MT Value of Paddy Procured– Rs. 210 Crores Minimum benefit of Rs.800 per M.T to farmers

Key achievements … contd 1.Community managed food security 1.Collective buying and supplying essential commodities to members from open market on credit. 2.Benefiting 16.4 lakh families by March, Plan to cover 40.0 lakh families by March, Each family saves Rs. 80 – Rs.120 per month 5.Local demand for farmers’ produce 2.Social risk management – 19.8 lakhs 3.Impact on public administration – convergence with all line departments 4.Extensive use of community best practitioners

Community managed sustainable agriculture 16 out of 32 distress districts are in AP Ever increasing costs of cultivation due to externalization of inputs specially seeds and pesticides Increasing dependence on traders and dealers for credit Increasing ecological costs due to high chemical use Decreasing margins to farmers Context – acute crisis in agriculture

Women groups and agriculture… In spite of vibrant women SHG movement, no significant improvement in agriculture based livelihoods Marketing intervention was the first major intervention - but not the complete solution Searching for the options…

October, 2004 Punukula one bright star… Farmers completely gave up pesticides adopting Non Pesticidal Management At the village level more than Rs.50 lakhs saving every year Reduced expenditure on health Reduced migration More opportunities for farming leasing in lands No suicides after NPM intervention

Challenge : Can small experiences be scaled up ? Relevance of small experiences on a wider scale Availability of resources locally Farmers willingness institutional and support systems supplementing farmers’ Knowledge and enhancing the skills Reducing the time of transformation Reaching to larger areas

Non Pesticidal Managment It is a paradigm shift in moving from input centric model to knowledge and skill based model. It involves making best use of natural resources locally available and take best advantage of the natural processes. A “system that maintains the insect populations at levels below those causing economic injury, by having healthy crop and managing the population dynamics in the crop ecosystem” Farmer gains control over inputs – reduce dependence on external inputs

December 2004 Piloting institutional model... Piloting NPM as a livelihood intervention in Kosgi MMS during 2004 Farmers trained systematically and technical support provided in the form of coordinators In 225 acres, average savings of Rs. 1200/acre on Red gram the total savings were Rs.2,75,000 WASSAN

The reach… districts 1050 villages 2.0 lakh acres 80 thousand farmers districts 450 villages 25 thousand acres 15 thousand farmers districts 1500 villages 5 lakh acres 1.5 lakh farmers …aiming to reach 25 lakh acres across crops in all districts of AP in five years

The design… Village Organization and Mandal Mahila Samakya taking the lead role Village activist for every village Cluster coordinator for a cluster of five villages MMS enter into agreement with NGOs to provide technical support 89 N.G.Os as partners No Chemical Pesticide use Enabling environment Campaign on ill effects of pesticides, understanding pests, and ecosystem Small enterprises to provide neem powder, NPV etc Farmers as resource persons

CropCost of Plant protection (Rs./acre) Saving (Rs/acre) ConventionalNPM Cotton (Avg Khammam) Chillies (Avg from Warangal)15000 to Redgram (Avg from Nalgonda) Groundnut (Avg from Anantapur) Castor (Nalgonda) Paddy (Avg.from Kurnool) Economic Advantages

Restoration of Natural Balance The data of harmful vs. beneficial insects in cotton (10 weeks data) S.N O Date of observation Number of beneficial insects (10 plants) Number of harmful insects (10 plants) Number of bolls/plant KAMADHENU RMG

Comparative Cost benefit analysis between NPM and Non-NPM Cotton, Karimnagar ParticularsNPM method (Rupees) Non-NPM method (Rupees) INPUT COST Yield6 Quintal Amount12000 NET PROFIT KRUSHI

One cluster of Anantapur where pesticide usage is low ( ) VillageNo.of. Farm ers NPM acres ( ) Pesticid e usage (in lit) Value of pesticides in Rupees Value of NPM extracts Total saving 1Chinnajalala puram ,40,00054,6007,01,400 2Madirepalli ,00,00044,4803,55,520 3Guruguntla ,56,25036,4006,19,850 Total ,96,2501,35,48016,76,770 RIDS

Out of Debt Trap Ramachandrapuram, A Tribal Village in Khammam Dist, AP 100 farm families caught in debt trap Vicious cycles of pesticides Lands to given away to dealers and working in their fields on lease and as labor Results 7 quintals of yield in cotton Net profit of Rs. 7000/- to Rs /- Farmers able to sell their products freely Proper support can bring back life to Villages

Savings S.NOCROPACRESAvg.Savings/acre (in Rs) Total Savings (Rs.crores) 1Cotton40,4254, Paddy50,2801, Red gram24,3291, Groundnut22, Chillies3,75715, Others26,0001, TOTAL33.44 Cost of N.P.M extension – less than Rs.4.0 crores

Reduction in cost of cultivation: interest could be created in the farmers more than 70 % reduction in pesticide usage. The farmers could save up to Rs. 2000/- in rice, groundnut, redgram, Rs. 5000/- in cotton and Rs /- in chillies Pesticide free villages: Nearly 12 pesticide free villages in Anantapur, Khammam, Needs to be documented Organic Villages: Gurrapukonda and few more villages in Madakasira became organic Impacts…

RAKSHANA, IRDS Chillies in 1200 acres Savings on pest management more than 15,000 Hon’ble Minister for Commerce Dr. Jairam Ramesh sets target to bring 50 % of chilli area in the state under NPM in next five years Spices Board came forward to invest 50 % of its budget in AP on NPM

Community Managed Seed Banks Pilot in 10 villages in Ananthpur district Village self sufficiency as goal Farmers produced and VO helped to distribute among the farmers Good quality seed, in time Subsidy was extended by dept to one village Focus on Seed retention than replacement selecting, saving, storing, sharing and reusing Increasing crop and genetic diversity Networking the seed banks seed banks in 70 villages-wide variety of crops

Opportunities for Agril.workers NPM service centers Village enterprises Agril. Labour leasing land and doing NPM Increase in labor man days Seed production Fodder production Neem procurement and selling

Learning… Confidence on ecological models of agriculture increased NPM a good stepping stone Complete paradigm shift in understanding and supporting agriculture is required Ecological and economic costs of externalization of inputs enormous Loosing control over seed is suicidal Moving to organic is the way forward Strong natural resource base is required for sound ecological farming Many more experiences can be tried Policy support is required now…

Constraints… Natural Resources Human Resources Issues beyond control of farmers  Shifts in land use pattern  GM crops (case of Bt cotton seed)  Loosing control over resources like seed, water etc  Liberalization impacts  Climate change

Community Managed Organic Farming Proposal :  to bring 10 lakh ha under organic farming in rainfed areas in 5000 villages  covering 10 lakh farm families  Village level collaboration between women S.H.Gs, farmers, and N.G.Os Objective: to increase net incomes for small & marginal farmers in rainfed areas Additional Central Assistance: Rs crores over 5 years (Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana or National Agriculture Development Fund-Rs. 25,000)  Benefits per ha – Rs.5,400  Total benefits: Rs.1485 crores over 5 years

Community managed organic farming End-to-end solution: seed to marketing  Technical support from KVKs, Agri Dept  1 st step - Non pesticidal management, move to organic farming over a period of 5 years  Seed banks - self sufficiency in cereals, pulses and oilseeds  Farmer driven extension systems, best practising farmers, village level farmer activists  Institutional Credit through S.H.G – bank linkage  Integration with N.R.E.G.S for soil fertility improvement and moisture conservation

Moving forward… Enhancing and Managing Natural Resources Improving the soil health and productivity Focus on vegetables Community Resource Persons – best practitioners Convergence with Star Procurement Centres Convergence with Food Security Program Convergence with NREGA Convergence with KVKs, ATMAs, Horticulture Mission, Department of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture and Agriculture University