Why Empowerment of Farmers?

We believe that empowering farmers is the most critical aspect of transforming the rural landscape. Our program empowers farmers to convert challenges into opportunities. With a blend of organic and modern practices we ensure farmers raise sufficient income that they would otherwise earn by migrating. This leads to improved quality of life for the farmers

Wadi means a small piece of the land in Marathi language. In this program we equip the farmer to layout his land in such a manner that ensures long term, middle term and short term income for the farmers. It is a blend of tree based farming, along with best practices of rice and vegetable cultivation

The Details

Our Wadi model while increasing income security is primarily designed to build the capacity of the small farmer in adopting atotal systems approach. Training and Handholding is given in each of these connected components, with the onus is on farmers to gradually design their own sustainable solutions.

Product: Selection of Flowers & Fruits like jasmine, papaya, and mango that command good prices round the year.

Prototype: Farm layout design is based on research on various categories of land and customized to local conditions.

Process: The organic methods harness the symbiotic relationship between various crops as well as natural systems of soil nutrition, seed and water conservation.

Promotion: Route to market (nearby urban / semi urban places) strategy is designed by farmers along with the NGO.

However, after initial support, the farmer will take it over.

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Our Methodology

Survey of villages and meeting local farmers to discuss the Wadi concept.
- Identifying needy small farmers and setting up mutual expectation of the process to be adopted.
- Arranging observation visit for demonstration toaideal wadi farm.
- Studying of land topography (including soil tests) and design a layout model for land development
- Plantation, post-plantation activities, training and soil improvement activities.
- Need based guidance provided to the farmers for developing
a. Low cost water conservation
b. Seed Conservation
c. Soil Nourishment solutions using organic methods.
- Seasonal inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pest control measures will be provided to each farmer initially for a couple of years, with the expectation that it taken over.
- Systematic training and handholding for all the above activities which will make the farmer self-dependent and help him/her in sustaining the Wadi productivity.
- Regular visits by the NGO’s rural coordinators team for:
a. Demonstration and Support
b. Guidance for the challenges faced.
c. Documentation of Outcome

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Below is an overview of farmers supported in numbers. It gives a birds eye view of the impact.

Program aims at Promotion of climate resilient, Nutritionally Rich indigenous crop cultivars to enhance Nutritional security and secure community livelihood. Program promotes creation of a community managed seed and agricultural produce marketing system. Knowledge Building and transfer for crop cultivation, consumption and marketing of surplus produce.

The Details

- Focusing selected crops and Unique crop cultivars for large scale promotion.
- Community level seed production with seed producer farmers.
- Establishing safe seed storage structures at community level
- Upscaling of selected crop cultivars
- Semi processing and value addition of grains produced
- Developing proper packaging and branding (Grains, Products).
- Establishing community managed procurement and marketing of produce.
- Community level trainings, Exposures, awareness programmes, Exhibitions
- Capacity building of local producer groups (PG) for managing production, farmer - connectivity and marketing.
- Marketing and promotion of local produce and products through producer groups (PG)

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Livestock Development especially cow rearing is an integral part of Organic farming. It helps one to practice cruelty free farming. We train farmers in best practices of organic farming based on cow dung and cow urine. Farmers also earn additional income through selling milk.

The Details

Rearing of cows serves several purposes in achieving sustainable income:

Provides milk as a rich source of nutrition to the rural household.

Provides for low-cost soil fertility inputs in the form of cow-dung and cow urine, farm- yard manure, slurry, vermicompost, farm processed biofertilizers like Jivamrita etc.

Cow-urine acts as a growth regulator as well as pesticide and hence directly enhances productivity.

Cow Dung is a naturally available bio-consortium of microbes which are essential to maintain soil health. So, cow dung plays a major role in soil regeneration and bio- availability of nutrients to plants.

Cow dung provides for biogas reducing reliance on LPG.
- Excess of cow urine and cow dung have use in production of commercially viable cow products or organic fertilisers.

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It is important to connect those at grass roots to the market available in cities and the various schemes run by the Government. This serves dual purpose of farmers benefit through urban markets, and implementation of government schemes at the grass roots.

The Details

While Government has huge subsidies for the welfare of the farmers, the multiple layers in the system prevent them from reaching the farmers in time.

Our team acts as a mediator between the government and the farmer to help bridge the gap between the two.

Also different farmers’ co-operatives are formed to sell produces of the farmer in urban areas.

Also through PGS certification of the farmers for organic practices helps to sell the produce in a more standardised manner.

We link farmers to different e-commerce retailers, like Big Basket for selling the produce.

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Our Impact

1300+
Farmers Adopted
7000+
Farmers Trained
165000+
Horti-Floriculture planting
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