CHETANA VIKAASProject Review, August, 2012

About Chetana-Vikaas• Founded by Ms. Suman Bang, Mr. Ashok Bang and Late Dr.(Ms.)

Padmaja Rani• Based in Wardha district, Maharashtra

• A non-political team • committed scientists • social activists dedicated to a cause

• Works with• Farmers, villagers, self help groups• Acts as Resource Center

Broad areas of work• Agricultural Development

• Productivity, Profitability, Sustainability, Quality of Life for Farmers• Natural Resource Management

• Women’s Empowerment• Economic, Political, Socio-Cultural, Family Counseling

Agricultural Development• Soil and Water conservation

• Appropriate seeds (Beej Swaraj)

• Farming for Self Reliance

• Alternative Marketing for Organic Produce

• Macro Level Work

Soil and water conservation• CV mostly works with dryland farmers• Low cost earthen structures• In 2011, 59 farmers in 7 villages worked on soil and water

conservation• 121 acres covered• Work done by “Village Engineers” are men and women

trained by CV

Village Engineers Survey

Low cost light signal to scare away wild pigs

Beej Swaraj• Seeds by CV are field tests at Alternative Agriculture

Resource Center (AARC) for 2-3 years• Criteria for seed selection

• Yield, pest & disease resistance, hardiness and taste

• Farmers select and preserve seeds themselves• Special training on method of appropriate seed selection,

storage and avoiding mixing.

Self-Reliance• Step 1: Study visits

• AARC, Farmers Field Workshop• Learn about cropping patterns, new varities, soil fertility etc

• Step 2: Preparatory meeting• Technical understanding, crop planning, seed requirements• Maximize food crops among the 30-35 crops• Diversification helps in many ways

• Step 3: Training on alternative technologies• Hands on training

Alternative Marketing• Connecting with organic markets

• Cotton sold to local cloth maker

• Negotiated a deal with local hospital to use cloth from organic cotton and at 20% more than prevailing market price.

Marco Level Work• AARC is the center for

• Visits by activists, volunteers, NGOs, policy makers, scientists, Govt. officers, farmers

• In 2010, 771 person days • Dr. O.M. Rupela, Former Senior Scientist, (ICRISAT).• Visitors from AID: Mr. Ajit & Ms. Aditi Kulkarni, Nishikant Deshmukh• University students and Fellows from all over Maharashtra

• Very active in speaking engagements, advocacy, member of OFAI, exhibitions etc.

Past Target Demographics• 0 to 5 acre land holding - 34%• 5 to 20 acre land holding - 63%• Above 20 acre land holding - 03%

 • Schedule Caste (SC) - 06%• Schedule Tribes (ST) - 22%• Other backward castes (OBC) - 69%• Others - 03%

Target vs Actual vs ProratedWork Item Target Actual Pro-rated to our

funding % (35)

# of villages 10 7 3.5

# of villagers trained 100 75 35

# of villagers who started self-reliance farming

100 59 35

# of acres of coverage 200 121 70

Acres to cover for water conservation

60 98 21

# of Water conservation structures

7 6 2.45

Farmers to cover for field workshops

250 75 87.5

Budget Breakdown• Total budget Rs 28,88,000 (~53,500)

• Increase over 2011 • Rs 4,60,000 (19%)

• Funded so far• Rs 12,00,000

• Other chapters• Approved - BayArea, JHU• Reviewing – MD, Berkeley

Targets for 2012 (same as 2011)• 10 villages• 100 farmer families• 200 acres• 5-7 water harvesting structures• Train 10-15 Village Engineers• 250 person-days for field workshops

Big PictureCategory Amount (Rs) %Inc over 2011

LEISA Practices 7,00,000 16.6

Conservation Techniques 1,53,000 0

Seeds & Planting Material 2,00,000 0

Alternative Marketing System

6,00,000 20

Plant & Crop Protection 2,00,000 0

Workshops 1,50,000 50

Honorariums & Staff 6,00,000 20

Macro Level Activity 30,000 0

Other 1,55,000 15%

LEISA (7,00,000)• Involes

• Canopy coverage for harvesting the sun• Enriching nutrient recycling and bio-manure.• Soil fertility, symbiotic processes.• "Weed as Wealth", biomass generation and management.• Soil moisture and water management. • Wind-breaks, shelterbelts, green cover.• Propagation techniques and improvements in existing fruit trees.• Expenses

• Expenses cover• labour, implements, wages, biomass, manures, rents, hire charges,

tubers, saplings, polybags, other materials, tools, bud sticks etc.

Conservation of Soil & Water(1,53,000)• Involves

• Creating Village Engineers• Water harvesting structures, Inside the field conservation activities

• Expenses cover• Training and remuneration village engineers• Surveying, designing, labour, supervision, material, equipments,

trainings etc.

Seeds & Planting Materials (2,00,000)

• Involves• Identification, collection, trials, multiplication, storage

and field demonstrations of appropriate varieties. • 50 varieties of 35 different crops of various categories

like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, condiments & spices, fibres, cash crops, fodders etc.

• Expenses cover• parent seeds, travels & transport, labour, materials,

equipments, small containers, storage & rent, remuneration to village persons for purity & quality control etc.

Alternative Marketing Systems(6,00,000)• Involves

• Farmer Certification• Gradation• Procurement• Storage • Selling

• Expenses cover• Group formation, Farmer Certification, Gradation,

Procurement, Storage, Selling, Training, Materials, Travel , Transport etc

Crop Protection (2,00,000)• Involves

• Pest and disease management techniques without using agro-chemicals

• eco-friendly measures • Crop protection from wild animals

• Expenses cover• Materials • labour, • making specimens• audio-visual material, • special field-workshops focused on this topic • fence, honorarium• consultancy of resource persons / experts

Workshops (1,50,000)• Involves

• 5 events x 50 farmers in 3 seasons

• Expenses cover• travel, • lodging-boarding, • reimbursement of wages etc, • training & learning materials, • honorariums to resource persons, • audio-visuals, study--visits, demonstrations etc

Macro Level (30,000)• Outreach• Macro linkages• Advocacies• Liaison,network• Surveys, studies, documentation

Honorarium (6,00,000)

Other (1,55,000)• Filed communication & transport • Contingencies (about 2%)

• for Programme activities • for overheads

• Stationary• Communications• Miscellaneous

Proposed Funding• Total cost per farmer 28,880• Cost for 8 farmers 2,31,040 ~ $4500