|
Organisation
|
Collectives
for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives
(CInI), Jamshedpur |
|
Project
name
|
Validation
of kharif maize stabilisation (KMS)
strategy in districts of Jhabua in Madhya
Pradesh, Dahod and Panchmahal in Gujarat,
and Banswara and Dungarpur in Rajasthan |
|
Grant
operationalised
|
August
2010 |
|
Duration
|
1
year |
|
Grant
amount sanctioned
|
Rs7.2
million |
Activities within
the grant and expected impact:
During 2009-10, CInI, through a Small Grant
initiated action in Dahod, Jhabua and Banswara
districts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan respectively. The focus of the
action research was mainly twofold: firstly,
towards undertaking demonstrations with
farmers on improved cultivation practices
and secondly, towards undertaking various
studies to understand the status of maize
promotion in the region. CInI, together
with four field partners, initiated field
demonstrations with about 500 farmers, wherein
improved seeds of GM6 and JVM42 were tried
out along with the capacity building of
farmers, service providers and partner organisations.
Despite being a drought year, the results
in the field have been encouraging, with
yields enhanced from 5 quintals / acre to
8 quintals / acre. In villages, where there
was irrigation, yields increased from 5
quintals / acre to 14 quintals / acre. Through
the rabi seed programme, farmers grew 570
quintals of certified seeds.
The present project is based on the learnings
during 2009-10. CInI plans to validate the
KMS strategy and scale it up in the coming
years. In the validation stage, CInI would
work with six field partners in Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh with the aim
of promoting improved cultivation practices,
strengthening farmers’ capacity and
institutional building.
The key areas of intervention are:
|
|
Maize
trials with 840 farmers in about 840
acres of land, which would comprise
demonstrations for food and fodder sufficiency,
inter cropping, etc |
|
|
Extension through
maize field schools will be undertaken
with farm transects, focused farm discussions
with farmers to demonstrate the improved
practices, ensure cross learning of
good practices and address issues of
farmers on timely basis. Quality IEC
material would be developed for farmers
on various aspects of maize cultivation |
|
|
Trainings and
capacity building of the farmers’
groups on cultivation practices, crop
management and post harvest management.
|
The key interventions include:
|
|
Demonstration
of maize trials for validation |
|
|
Extension through
maize field schools |
|
|
Sustainable farming |
|
|
Action research
and documentation. |
Through this validation process, CInI plans
to enhance crop yields. It is envisaged
that through the demonstrations, the farmers
would be able to achieve production levels
of about 10 quintal / acre against the traditional
5 quintal / acre. The increase in yield
would also generate surplus produce for
the tribal households, which, in terms of
financial gains, could be to the tune of
Rs5,000 / household / annum as against the
present income of about Rs15,000 / annum.
Impact of the project could be expected
at multiple levels:
|
|
100
per cent increase in yield vis-à-vis
baseline levels and 100 per cent of
the targeted farmers getting involved
in the maize demonstration trials during
kharif 2010 and consequently inculcating
improved agriculture extension practices. |
|
|
50 per cent of
the farmers gaining awareness about
the methods for improved crop yields. |
|
|
All the selected
villages having service providers to
provide support in field implementation,
of which, nearly 60 per cent of the
service providers are trained as master
trainers. |
|
