Climate Smart Agriculture: Scaling examples and learnings

Rajbir Singh

ATARI, Ludhiana

International Workshop on CSV September 3-6, 2015, Ludhiana

Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI)

KVK Mandate: assessment, refinement and demonstration of

technologies/products to cater to the needs of farming community, extension

personnel and other stakeholders in the district.

Mandate of ATARI: Formulate, Implement, Monitor and Evaluate Programes and activities of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Agriculture Science Centre)

KVK Activities:

•On-farm testing to identify the location specificity of agricultural technologies

•Organizing frontline demonstrations at farmers fields

•Organizing need based training of farmers to update their knowledge and skills in

modern agricultural technologies

•Creating awareness about improved technologies to larger masses through appropriate

extension programmes.

•Work as resource and knowledge centre of agricultural technology

Total KVKs (ASCs): 641

8 Zones and ATARIs Total KVKs: 70 Zone-1

ATARI, Ludhiana

National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

Objectives

• To enhance resilience of Indian agriculture (including crops, livestock and fisheries) to

climatic variability and climate change

• To demonstrate site specific technology packages on farmers’ fields to cope with

current climatic variability

• To enhance the capacity of scientists, farmers and other stakeholders in climate

resilient agricultural research and awareness of impacts

Project Components

Strategic Research

Technology Demonstrations

Capacity Building

Sponsored / Competitive

research grants

PROGRAM AREAS

• Rainfed crop production systems

• Irrigated crop production systems

• Horticultural production systems

• Soil, water and nutrient management

• Monitoring of GHGs

• Resource use efficiency in agriculture

• Improved machinery for adaptation and

mitigation

• Livestock and Dairy sector

• Fisheries including Aquaculture

Implementation framework

ICAR

NRM Div.

CRIDA

Extn. Div

ATARI

KVK

NICRA village

Plan of Work

PRA

FGD

Baseline

Action plan

Interventions

Impact & up-scaling

Village level Climate Risk

Management Committee

(VCRMC)

(10-20 villagers)

ZMC for Monitoring

& Third party

evaluation

Baseline Information for CSVs

MaxT, MinT & RF monthly normals

Temperature deviations from normal

RF monthly departures (June to Sep)

Household surveys of 50-100 farmers in each selected village: Holding sizes & Farm typologies

AWS network and data access

• AWS network server at ICAR-CRIDA

www.aicrpam-nicra-aws.in

Setting up of small weather station in the village

Temperature

rainfall

Climate literacy for value added agro-advisories

Climate Smart Villages

1. Natural Resource

Management

3. Livestock & Fisheries Production

System

4. Village level Institutional mechanisms

2. Crop Production

Systems

Modules & portfolio of interventions for Climate smart Villages

• On-farm water management including rain water harvesting • Conservation tillage • Land management • Soil health management

• Multiple stress tolerant & short duration varieties

• Resilient crops & cropping systems

• Crop diversification • Adjustments in

planting time • Planting methods BBF • Soil test based nutrient

management

• Stress tolerant breeds eg., small ruminants

• Feed & Fodder management

• Shelter & Health management

• Establishment of Village Climate Risk Management Committees (VCRMCs)

• Custom hiring centres for farm machinery

• Seed & Fodder banks

Assessment of Interventions* C S Interventions Food security Climate Risk

Management Adaptation Mitigation

NRM

Laser land levelling

++ ++ ++ +++

Crop Production

Zero tillage ++ ++ +++ ++

Crop diversification

+++ +++ + +

Livestock Production

Mineral mixtures ++ +++ +

Institutional

Agro-advisories ++ +++ +

* Potential: +++ high, ++ medium; + reasonable

Towards climate smart villages

Bhalot village in Kutch –

towards climate smartness

155 households 771 population 1040 livestock 142 livestock owners

Sandy / Sandy loam soils, undulated topography

Av. Annual rainfall 360 mm, 13-15 rainy days

Land use: 2176 ha geographical area of village, 1016 ha cultivated area, 560 ha irrigated area (430 ha open wells, 35 ha under tube wells; 61 ha fallow, 160 ha pasture

Scanty rainfall Sea water intrusion (5 km), salinity Depletion of groundwater Cyclonic storms Soil erosion

Baseline established

The case of

Climate smart practices in Bhalot village, Kutch, Gujarat

NRM interventions

In-situ measures Farm bunding with

pucca waist weir, 41 farmers, 82 ha,

convergence with DWDU

Stop dams for community use (3)

(Farmer contribution @ Rs 1000)

Recharging of wells

Efficient use thro’ drip irrigation (convergence)

Border plantation (fruit plants)

Climate smart practices in Bhalot village, Kutch

Crop Interventions

Cumin (GC-4), 170 demos, 68 ha, 32% increase, 9.5 vs 7.2

q/ha)

Cotton (drip irrigation), 20 farmers, 31 ha

Cluster bean (GG-2), 100 demos, 40 ha, 26% productivity increase (17.5 vs

13.8 q/ha)

Castor (GCH-7), 15 demos, 6 ha, 16%

productivity increase (40 q vs

36.6 q/ha)

Climate smart practices in Bhalot village, Kutch

Livestock interventions

Improved shelter for livestock for heat stress (5

models)

Community fodder

production – Dhaman grass

Breed improvement in

the village (3 pure breed

Kankrej bulls)

Cattle health, 678 animals,

convergence with Dept.

Milk yield increased by 15-25% in the village

Climate Smart practices in Bhalot village, Kutch

VCRMC

Custom hiring centre

Rs 30000

Seed bank

Fodder sorghum (Gundri) (860 kg), Lucerne (620 kg)

Community fodder bank, 380

animals, 142 livestock owners

24 meetings,

Bank deposit Rs 3.25 lakhs

Mitigation co-benefits - Carbon balance in Kutch village (t CO2 eq)

-10000

-8000

-6000

-4000

-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

Def

ore

stat

ion

Aff

ore

stat

ion

Oth

er L

UC

An

nu

als

Per

enn

ials

Pad

dy

Live

sto

ck

Inp

uts

Final Carbon balance

Gross fluxes All GHGs in tCO2 eq. Without With project Balance

Total 23,902 21,773 -2,128

Per hectare 20 18 -2

Per hectare per year 1.0 0.9 -0.1

Local Ragi ML365

Drought proofing of another rainfed village – Tumkur, Karnataka

Interventions in four modules (NRM, Crops, Livestock and Institutional) Investment @ US $ 25K/year over 3 years generated additional wealth

and environmental services valued at $ 115K Enabled farmers to cope with severe drought where the loss was

restricted to 30% as against 70% in neighboring villages

Mitigation co-benefits: Carbon balance in Tumkur village (t CO2 eq)

-10000

-8000

-6000

-4000

-2000

0

2000

4000

Final Carbon balance

Tumkur village Gross fluxes: All GHGs in tCO2 eq. Without With project Balance

Total 8,960 -3,590 -12,549

Per hectare 30 -12 -41 Per hectare per year 1.5 -0.6 -2.1

Yagantipalle, Kurnool, AP)

Setaria + Pigeonpea (5:1)

Adoption of resilient Intercropping System – coping with erratic rainfall

-53 -73

- 94 June July August September OctoberR

F (%

)

2014

Ann. mean RF 633 mm

2011 2012 20132014

25

95 150

220

10

120

225

300 No. of farmersArea (ha)

Coverage 60 % farmers 47% area

8 q/ha, Rs.2500/q, short duration, suitable for delayed planting, fodder value

Staggered Community nursery technique • To avoid transplanting of over-aged seedlings (medium to long duration varieties in

lowlands)

• Nursery sowings on 15th June, 28th June and 12th July

• Technique adopted by the State Dept. of Agriculture, Bihar (Rs 16500 /acre nursery)

Coping with delayed onset of monsoon

Direct Seeding of Rice with Drum Seeder in Puddled Field

Technology Demonstrated

Yield (q/ha)

Water required

(m3 )

Water saving

%

Diesel Consumed (lit.)

Diesel saving

%

Sowing with Paddy Drum

Seeder 45.5 3000 14.0 71 16

Farmer practice (Transplanting)

40.8 3500 - 85 -

* Discharge of 5 HP Diesel pumpset 42000 lit/hr

• DSR with Drum Seeder in puddled field demonstrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala

Saving 35 Man Days in transplanting and nursery uprooting Flexible Sowing date depending on onset of monsoon Flexibility in selection of variety Disease incidence reduced by 30%

Tolerant paddy

cultivars

Yield (q/ha) % increase

in yield B: C

ratio

Demo Local

Swarna Sub-1 41.25 33.75 18.9 2.09

MTU-1061 45.28 28.1 23.1 1.84

MTU-1140 55.1

31.8 73.2 2.01

Demonstration of Tolerant Paddy Varieties in Flood Prone Areas

MTU-1061

Swarna sub-1

• Flood tolerant paddy varieties demonstrated in Assam, AP, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat • Identified performing varieties in low, medium and

high inundation areas • Submergence tolerance from 7-10 days • Increased yield due to reduced extent of lodging • Prevented loss in grain and straw yield

Preservation of green fodder in silage bags - – small dairy units

Capacity of bag : 500 kg Crop : Maize No. of farmers : 5 (2 bags /farmer) Date of silage done : 21.09.14 Date opened : 4.11.14 (after 42 d) Feeding rate/animal: 5 kg/day

Kurnool (A.P)

Impact: No reduction in milk yield during summer; 8 litres per day as against 3 lpd (control)

Pit size 16x 6 x 5 feet capacity 8 t

Augmenting Fodder Availability in Dry Months - Medium size dairy units

Silage making demonstrated in Jalgaon KP, Pune District

Enabling village level support systems

Village Climate Risk Management Committee (VCRMCs) – people’s participation for prioritization & decision making

Name of the VCRMC

Village name

No. of members

Bank details

A/C no. Amount

VCRMC, Gumla

Gunia 12 493510110006239

44000

TDC

CS villages in Ropar (Punjab) Total cultivated area 561 ha

Small - marginal farmers 70%

Major cropping system Paddy -wheat

Area under Wheat 424 ha

Area under Paddy 402 ha

Villages

Rasidpur

Fatehgarh viran

Rampur fasse

Mohanmajra

Major environmental concern : Burning of paddy residue

Intervention : wheat sowing with Happy Seeder in 20 ha during Rabi 2014-15

Parameters

(Rs / ha)

Method of sowing

Happy seeder Conventional (seed drill)

Cost of field preparation based

on custom hiring charges 2500 6350

Weedicide and labour charges 400 1375

Pesticide 90 -

Total 2990 7725

Net saving 4735

Economics of wheat sowing with happy seeder and conventional sowing

Resilience due to Happy Seeder

Parameters Happy seeder sowing Conventional sowing

Lodging (%) 2 15-20

Yield (q/ha) 52.50 46.25

Happy Seeder

sown plot

Conventional

plot

Major climatic adversity during Winter 2014-15 Rainfall (mm) 2015

Month Feb March April

Rain

(mm)

48 (34) 82 (43) 35 (11)

Summer moong Zero till wheat

Ropar, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab)

Summer moong

Area (ha) Farmers 138 302

Direct Seeded Rice

Area (ha) Farmers 94 91

Zero till wheat

Area (ha) Farmers 168 273

0

50

100

150Area (ha) Farmers

0

10

20

30

40Area (ha) Farmers

0

50

100

150Area (ha) Farmers

DSR

Towards Developing Climate Smart villages

• In XII Plan period, the vision is to develop at least 50 CSVs by 2016-17

• These villages should act as hubs for upscaling climate smart practices under NMSA. The Vision is to have all these villages fully comply with CR practices like

1. Utilization of complete surface water harvesting potential 2. Mandatory ground water recharge structures 3. Fertilizer use only based on soil testing 4. Nitrogen application based on better products 5. Use of energy efficient pumps for water lifting 6. No burning of crop residues; mandatory greening of waste lands with tree cover 7. Green and brown manuring to the extent feasible 8. Water saving paddy cultivation practices (direct seeding, AWD etc.) 9. Mandatory vaccination of livestock for seasonal diseases 10. Livestock feeding, housing and manure management that emit least methane 11. All farmers to have access to agro advisories through mobiles 12. Appropriate weather insurance packages identified

Linkages among NAPCC, SAPCC, LAPA and climate smart villages (CSVs)

Source: Aryal et al (2015), CIMMYT-CCAFS

Interface Meeting

for up-scaling of CS Technologies

Summing up

Integrated farming system approach to adaptation in CS villages including technological interventions, management practices, institutional and policy interventions has shown promising results

Case studies demonstrated evidences of productivity and income enhancement and adaptation with mitigation co-benefits

Mainstreaming of these smart practices in NMSA has begun with a Policy Dialogue with the Ministry of Agriculture for its out scaling

Initiative taken for follow-up of Technology Demonstrations in cluster villages

Way Forward

Mapping area and farming system specific climate smart practices / products

Develop framework and metrics for CSA

Integrated modelling framework to develop local area plans and out scaling

Simple Decision Support tools for prioritisation of climate smart practices for investment planning

Institutional mechanisms and convergence

My Village my pride (Launched during July 2015 by Prime Minister)

• Scheme to make scientists (NARES) adopt villages, promote best farming practices –step towards CSA and CSV

• 20,ooo scientists (group of 4-5) will adopt village to guide farmers

• Overall 4000-5000 villages will be benefited

• More focussed on breezing gap and convergence of Govt policies