SRT No Till farming proposal

Proposal for Rama Purshottam Foundation – Saguna Rural Foundation Project

Progress So Far We would like to thank the Rama Purushottam Foundation for your kind support for the Kharif 2017 season for promotion of SRT in Khed area. We have had tremendous success with the farmers adopting SRT method with our initial target of handholding of 50 farmers has been achieved. Due to benefits of SRT clearly visible to the farmers, the potential of the growth of outreach of this great movement amongst more farmers is huge.

Achievements of SRT: Following have been our important achievements of SRT method across state of Maharashtra for this season: 1. SRT has enabled social and economic enrichment of farmers and such farmers have become self-reliant, and confidence in their profession has been restored again. One of the main reason of this success has been due to reduction of farmers reliance on rains. This was proven in Vidharbha wherein the rainfall was erratic and there was increase in crop loss due to pest attack by traditional method. However, in comparison SRT method performance was significantly better resulting in minimum loss due to pest attack.

2. Presence of earthworms is being remarkably highlighted by all the farmers. Earthworms help in soil aggregation which in turn helps in increase in water infiltration.

3. SRT can perform much better in drought conditions with or without supportive irrigation.

4. SRT has clearly demonstrated considerable reduction in use of various inputs especially chemicals and poisonous insecticides yet achieve good results. During our data collection of the 160 farmers only 2 farmers used insecticides. Also, these 2 farmers only used one application of insecticides compared to traditional 3 times. Similarly, other inputs like labour cost, seeds used, fertilizers applied decreased by around 50%.

5. Farmers yield has increased by almost 2 times in this season of Kharif 2017 to average 6.8 tonnes/ hectare based on data collected of 160 farmers. Similarly, 45 farmers surveyed in Pune district the average yield is around 9.8 tonnes per hectare.

6. SRT has been tested out with altogether different crop i.e. cotton very successfully. Also, the Kharif season of 2017 apart from rice, Ragi and ground-nut were successfully cultivated. Similarly, this Rabbi season wide variety of crops have been cultivated which include wheat, groundnut, cow pea, gram, onion, leafy vegetables.

7. A detailed article on SRT being a solution for the pollution problems faced in Delhi due to burning of rice stalks in Punjab was published in Economic Times. We have received positive feedback from various sources regarding this article.

8. SRT farming method was presented by the Indian delegation as a climate friendly technique at COP 23 held in Bonn, Germany.

Organisational changes in SRF Along with the growth of SRT, we have also seen our Saguna Rural Foundation grow. Our initial team Shekhar Bhadsavle, Anil Nivalkar and Chango Nirguda at the start of April 2017 has now increased to 10 member who are committed to this important social cause. Under the guidance of Mr. Shekhar Bhadsavle, all our team members are getting enriched with SRT and practical agriculture knowledge. Below are the changes to the team: 1. We are excited to have Mr. Pranav Korke as our Chief Operating Officer who will be overseeing the operation of SRF and much needed support in our quest to spread SRT to every farmer all over India.

Pranav brings with him vast experience and expertise in finance and business process improvement from Australia. He has been successful in transitioning from corporate world to farming world and has been able to receive hands on experience from Mr. Shekhar Bhadsavle and his team.

2. Our field level team has also seen exciting additions. We now have 5 field level SRT sevak handholding farmers in Konkan, Pune and Vidharbha area. All these sevak’s are agriculture graduates and have been able to demonstrate very good SRT knowledge. Based on the data available around 95% farmers have successful this year in adopting SRT, and these sevak’s have played a major role in making this successful.

3. We have also hired administrative assistant to assist with our backend work.

Future Vision Our vision is to spread happiness created by SRT to farmers to all parts of Maharashtra and eventually to India and the rest of the world. However, to achieve that we feel that an intensive concentrated and long-term efforts needs to be put in a smaller area wherein the positive impact from SRT then can be showcased to rest of the world. Based on the enthusiasm and success demonstrated by the farmers as well as proximity to a major city in Pune district, we feel that this area would be ideal location for our goals. This future vision can be achieved through the below plan: A. We wish to include the rice belt of Pune district which includes 8 talukas namely Junnar, Ambegaon, Khed, Maval, Mulshi, Haveli, Velne and Bhor in our proposal. We currently have footprint in all 8 talukas and there are number of farmers already motivated to do SRT. As such this area is primed for our planned expansion.

B. We would like to initially develop talukas which have significant presence of SRT i.e. Junnar, Maval, Khed and Mulshi (Group 1). We are proposing to concentrate on cluster of few neighbouring villages in these talukas wherein there are already some SRT farmers. We are positioned

well to showcase the success of these farmers in this area which would help us in building the ground work for increasing the number of farmers in the area. With the help of planned and focused consultation of SRT team, we propose to convert majority of farmers in these cluster to SRT farmers. The success of these large group of farmers would have a snowballing effect and through our continued support and backing provided we can achieve our goal over the course the term.

C. Along with this, we propose to choose 5-10 early adopters in the other 4 talukas where SRT hasn’t spread i.e. Haveli, Bhor, Ambegaon and Velne (Group 2). In these talukas as well, we will concentrate on few neighbouring villages and hand pick few innovative farmers in these villages. Again, we would concentrate on making these farmers successful. Within the next two years, we forsee that these talukas would have similar number of farmers as the Group 1 talukas.

D. The proposal seeks to cover five agricultural year starting from kharif 2018 (April 2018) to rabbi 2023 (March 2023). We seek a longer term because to create a major impact in the selected area would require such a timeframe. The initial 2 years would be focused on Group 1 talukas and some efforts on Group 2 talukas. The third to fourth year would be focused efforts on Group 2 talukas and consolidating the Group 1 talukas. The fifth year would be on consolidating efforts on all the talukas.

E. The positive impact created by SRT on these cluster of villages, would then be able to be showcased all over Maharashtra, India and worldwide.

F. Table 1: Farmers outreach Expected New SRT Farmers Sr No.

1 Khed

# farmers in Kharif 2017 45

25

45

60

80

100

355

2 Maval

50

40

50

75

100

120

435

5 Junnar

45

35

50

70

85

110

395

3 Mulshi

25

30

45

55

75

95

325

4 Haveli

3

5

10

25

35

50

128

6 Bhor

3

5

10

25

35

50

128

7 Ambegaon

0

5

10

25

35

50

125

8 Velne

0

5

10

25

35

50

125

171

150

230

360

480

625

2016

Talukas

Total

Kharif 2018

Kharif 2019

Kharif 2020

Kharif 2021

Kharif 2022

Total SRT Farmers by rabbi 2023

G. A SRT Sevak will be providing consultation to two talukas (based on geography and number of farmers in the taluka). Their consultation work would include: a. Motivating and convincing farmers to take up SRT. b. He/she will visit each new farmer twice a month. Keep in constant contact and handholding of these farmers. c. Try to solve issues arising to the farmers or get them in touch with the Head office team. d. Take progressive photographs and videos of farmers they have visited. e. Write and provide field report every 15 days. f. Be available on phone to farmers every day. g. Collect and collate all socio economic and agronomic data of all the farmers in their area. This information would be collected over the course of the crop for these farmers. h. Manage WhatsApp group of beneficiary farmers in each area and keep everyone posted about current progress with photos and videos. i. Provide reminders to farmers about important deadlines and milestones during the cropping cycle. j. Attend fortnightly brainstorming and training SRT meetings at Saguna Baug.

H. A SRT sevak co-ordinator would also be overseeing and managing the activities of SRT sevak: a. Provide support required for the SRT Sevak. b. Meet and discuss with gram sevak and Krishi sahyak to find list of farmers. c. Organise farmers meet at village level and taluka level. d. Provide inputs and help farmers who need additional support. e. Help the SRT sevak to create demo plots at each village level. f. Facilitate linkage between SRT sevaks and central SRT team.

I. A SRT starter pack would be provided to each new farmer. The starter pack would be divided into early adopter pack which would include SRT frame, pre-emergence weedicide and glyphosate (for new talukas) and

other pack would include the same input at discounted price (for existing talukas).

J. We are proposing to train selected successful early adopters from each location to become master trainers and promoters of SRT. K. We are also in the process of acquiring important weedicides required in SRT, so that it can be then provided to existing farmers at competitive prices.

L. Our vision also includes providing a SRT specific market place for the farmer wherein the produce would be identified as residual free environment friendly produce. One of the important facet for the market place success would be to perform residual analysis of produce.

M. SRF team are also promoting alternative crops to encompass non-rice growing farmers under SRT. A more detailed crop information will be provided in the SRT booklet which is published every six months. These updates will also include any new issues and solutions to various problem faced by the farmers while adopting SRT. N. Data collection and analysis of information of all the SRT farmers in Pune district will be performed every year, so that we will have an important data of big sample of farmers which then can be used to published and acceptable to scientific community along with wider community.

O. Promote SRT via social media and documentaries. We are also in process of creating small snippet videos of various process of SRT including problem faced by the farmers and uploading it on our YouTube channel. This will enable farmers to be self-sufficient and not completely reliant on SRT sevak.

P. To smoothen the co-ordination and management of this operation, Mr. Pranav Korke would oversee this process from Pune.

Q. SRF is in the process of attaining independent scientific certification and testing of soil sample and methane emission to back our claim regarding organic carbon and emissions. This would help us to get validation from the scientific community.

Budget for the Proposal The total budget proposal for the above five-year plan ₹1,59,74,678.75 which has been detailed below:

Project Budget Year 1 Items A. Consultation SRT experts Team SRT Sevak Coordinator Field level SRT Sevak Sub-Total [A] B. Farmers Component SRT Early Adpoter Pack SRT Other Pack Training cost for early adopter farmers Local Level Farmers Meet Krushi Melava Sub-Total [B] C. Analysis Soil Analysis Residue Analysis Sub-Total [C]

Rate in Rs.

Qty

₹ 16,875.00 20 ₹ 1,250.00 300 750.00 1200 ₹

E. Capital Items Laptops Motor Bikes Sub-Total [E] Total Budget P roposal

Amount in Rs.

Trips Trips Trips

3,37,500.00 ₹ 3,75,000.00 ₹ 9,00,000.00 ₹ ₹ 16,12,500.00

₹ ₹

2,500.00 20 1,000.00 130

Farmer Farmer

₹ ₹

50,000.00 1,30,000.00

₹

1,500.00

8

Farmer

₹

12,000.00

₹

5,000.00

45

Meet

₹

2,25,000.00

5

Meet

₹ ₹

2,00,000.00 6,17,000.00

₹ ₹ ₹

32,100.00 50,000.00 82,100.00

₹ 40,000.00

₹ ₹

100.00 500.00

321 100

Total [A] + [B] + [C] D. Administration Charges Administrative overheads 5% of Total [A] +[B] + [C] Staff Training Management Cost Sub-Total [D]

Units

₹ 23,11,600.00

₹

1,15,580.00

₹ 40,000.00 ₹ 25,000.00

5 12

₹ ₹ ₹

2,00,000.00 3,00,000.00 6,15,580.00

₹ 45,000.00 ₹ 75,000.00

2 4

₹ ₹ ₹

90,000.00 3,00,000.00 3,90,000.00

₹ 33,17,180.00

New Farmers P er new Farmer

150.00 ₹

20,034.53

Project Budget Year 2 Items A. Consultation SRT experts Team SRT Sevak Coordinator Field level SRT Sevak Sub-Total [A] B. Farmers Component SRT Early Adpoter Pack SRT Other Pack Training cost for early adopter farmers Local Level Farmers Meet Krushi Melava Sub-Total [B] C. Analysis Soil Analysis Residue Analysis Sub-Total [C]

Rate in Rs.

Qty

₹ 16,875.00 20 ₹ 1,350.00 300 775.00 1200 ₹

E. Capital Items Laptop Motor Bikes Sub-Total [E] Total Budget Proposal

Amount in Rs.

Trips Trips Trips

3,37,500.00 ₹ 4,05,000.00 ₹ 9,30,000.00 ₹ ₹ 16,72,500.00

₹ 2,500.00 40 Farmer ₹ 1,000.00 190 Farmer

₹ ₹

1,00,000.00 1,90,000.00

₹ 1,500.00

5

₹

7,500.00

₹ 5,000.00

50

₹

2,50,000.00

₹ 40,000.00

5

₹ ₹

100.00 500.00

551 100

Total [A] + [B] + [C] D. Administration Charges Administrative overheads 5% of Total [A] +[B] + [C] Staff Training Management Cost Sub-Total [D]

Units

Farmer

Meet

2,00,000.00 ₹ ₹ 7,47,500.00

₹ 25,25,100.00

1,26,255.00

₹ ₹ 40,000.00 ₹ 25,000.00

₹ ₹

-

5 12

2,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ ₹ 6,26,255.00

2 4

₹ ₹ ₹

-

₹ 31,51,355.00

New Farmers Per new Farmer

55,100.00 50,000.00 1,05,100.00

₹ ₹ ₹

230.00 ₹

13,962.41

Project Budget Year 3 Items A. Consultation SRT experts Team SRT Sevak Coordinator Field level SRT Sevak Sub-Total [A] B. Farmers Component SRT Early Adpoter Pack SRT Other Pack Training cost for early adopter farmers Local Level Farmers Meet Krushi Melava Sub-Total [B] C. Analysis Soil Analysis Residue Analysis Sub-Total [C]

Rate in Rs.

Qty

₹ 16,875.00 20 ₹ 1,400.00 300 800.00 1200 ₹

E. Capital Items Laptop Motor Bikes Sub-Total [E] Total Budget Proposal

Amount in Rs.

Trips Trips Trips

3,37,500.00 ₹ 4,20,000.00 ₹ 9,60,000.00 ₹ ₹ 17,17,500.00

₹ 2,500.00 0 Farmer ₹ 1,000.00 360 Farmer

₹

3,60,000.00

₹ 1,500.00

5

₹

7,500.00

₹ 5,000.00

60

₹

3,00,000.00

₹ 40,000.00

5

₹ ₹

100.00 500.00

911 100

Total [A] + [B] + [C] D. Administration Charges Administrative overheads 5% of Total [A] +[B] + [C] Staff Training Management Cost Sub-Total [D]

Units

Farmer

Meet

₹

2,00,000.00 ₹ ₹ 8,67,500.00

₹ 27,26,100.00

1,36,305.00

₹ ₹ 40,000.00 ₹ 25,000.00

₹ ₹

-

5 12

2,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ ₹ 6,36,305.00

2 4

₹ ₹ ₹

-

₹ 33,62,405.00

New Farmers Per new Farmer

91,100.00 50,000.00 1,41,100.00

₹ ₹ ₹

360.00 ₹

9,506.68

Project Budget Year 4 Items A. Consultation SRT experts Team SRT Sevak Coordinator Field level SRT Sevak Sub-Total [A] B. Farmers Component SRT Early Adpoter Pack SRT Other Pack Training cost for early adopter farmers Local Level Farmers Meet Krushi Melava Sub-Total [B] C. Analysis Soil Analysis Residue Analysis Sub-Total [C]

Rate in Rs.

Qty

₹ 16,875.00 15 ₹ 1,500.00 280 900.00 1200 ₹

E. Capital Items Laptop Motor Bikes Sub-Total [E] Total Budget Proposal

Amount in Rs.

Trips Trips Trips

2,53,125.00 ₹ 4,20,000.00 ₹ ₹ 10,80,000.00 ₹ 17,53,125.00

₹ 2,500.00 0 Farmer ₹ 1,000.00 140 Farmer

₹

1,40,000.00

₹ 1,500.00

5

₹

7,500.00

₹ 5,000.00

50

₹

2,50,000.00

₹ 40,000.00

4

₹ ₹

100.00 2722 500.00 100

Total [A] + [B] + [C] D. Administration Charges Administrative overheads 5% of Total [A] +[B] + [C] Staff Training Management Cost Sub-Total [D]

Units

Farmer

Meet

₹

1,60,000.00 ₹ ₹ 5,57,500.00

2,72,200.00 ₹ 50,000.00 ₹ ₹ 3,22,200.00 ₹ 26,32,825.00

₹ 20,000.00 ₹ 25,000.00

₹ ₹

-

5 12

₹

1,31,641.25

₹ ₹ ₹

1,00,000.00 3,00,000.00 5,31,641.25

2 4

₹ ₹ ₹

₹ 31,64,466.25

New Farmers Per new Farmer

-

510.00 ₹

6,322.48

Project Budget Year 5 Items A. Consultation SRT experts Team SRT Sevak Coordinator Field level SRT Sevak Sub-Total [A] B. Farmers Component SRT Early Adpoter Pack SRT Other Pack Training cost for early adopter farmers Local Level Farmers Meet Krushi Melava Sub-Total [B] C. Analysis Soil Analysis Residue Analysis Sub-Total [C]

Rate in Rs.

Qty

₹ 16,875.00 10 ₹ 1,600.00 200 ₹ 1,000.00 1200

E. Capital Items Laptop Motor Bikes Sub-Total [E] Total Budget Proposal

Amount in Rs.

Trips Trips Trips

1,68,750.00 ₹ 3,20,000.00 ₹ ₹ 12,00,000.00 ₹ 16,88,750.00

₹ 2,500.00 ₹ 1,000.00

0 0

Farmer Farmer

₹ 1,500.00

5

Farmer

₹ 5,000.00

30

₹ 40,000.00

4

₹ ₹

100.00 4002 500.00 100

Total [A] + [B] + [C] D. Administration Charges Administrative overheads 5% of Total [A] +[B] + [C] Staff Training Management Cost Sub-Total [D]

Units

Meet

₹ ₹ ₹

7,500.00

₹

1,50,000.00

₹ ₹

1,60,000.00 3,17,500.00

₹ ₹ ₹

4,00,200.00 50,000.00 4,50,200.00

₹ 24,56,450.00

₹ 20,000.00 ₹ 25,000.00

₹ ₹

-

5 12

₹

1,22,822.50

₹ ₹ ₹

1,00,000.00 3,00,000.00 5,22,822.50

2 4

₹ ₹ ₹

-

₹ 29,79,272.50

New Farmers Per new Farmer

-

760.00 ₹

3,999.04

Year 1

Year 2

Total Budget for 5 years Year 3 3,37,500.00 ₹ 4,05,000.00 ₹ 9,30,000.00 ₹ 16,72,500.00 ₹

Year 4

Year 5 1,68,750.00 3,20,000.00 12,00,000.00 16,88,750.00

Amount in Rs.

14,34,375.00 19,40,000.00 50,70,000.00 84,44,375.00

2,53,125.00 ₹ 4,20,000.00 ₹ 10,80,000.00 ₹ 17,53,125.00 ₹

₹ ₹ ₹ ₹

3,37,500.00 ₹ 4,20,000.00 ₹ 9,60,000.00 ₹ 17,17,500.00 ₹

₹ ₹ ₹ ₹

3,37,500.00 ₹ 3,75,000.00 ₹ 9,00,000.00 ₹ 16,12,500.00 ₹

Items A. Consultation SRT experts Team SRT Sevak Coordinator Field level SRT Sevak Sub-Total [A]

₹

1,22,822.50

₹ ₹ ₹

₹

8,00,000.00 15,00,000.00 29,32,603.75

6,32,603.75

1,31,641.25

1,00,000.00 3,00,000.00 5,22,822.50

₹ 1,59,74,678.75

7,947.60

29,79,272.50

₹

2,010.00 3,999.04

760.00

-

1,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ 5,31,641.25 ₹

₹

₹ ₹

90,000.00 3,00,000.00 3,90,000.00 -

₹ ₹ ₹

-

31,64,466.25 510.00 6,322.48

₹

-

-

42,000.00

3,60,000.00

1,50,000.00 8,20,000.00

₹ ₹

₹ ₹

1,00,000.00 1,90,000.00

₹ ₹

₹ ₹

1,40,000.00

50,000.00 1,30,000.00 ₹ ₹

₹ ₹ 7,500.00

₹

₹

7,500.00

7,500.00

₹

₹

7,500.00

12,000.00 ₹

₹ ₹

11,75,000.00

3,00,000.00

₹

₹

1,50,000.00

2,50,000.00

₹

₹

2,50,000.00

2,25,000.00

9,20,000.00 31,07,000.00

₹

₹ ₹

2,00,000.00 ₹ 7,47,500.00 ₹

1,60,000.00 3,17,500.00

2,00,000.00 ₹ 6,17,000.00 ₹

1,60,000.00 ₹ 5,57,500.00 ₹

₹ ₹

₹ ₹

₹ 1,26,52,075.00

2,00,000.00 ₹ 8,67,500.00 ₹

B. Farmers Component SRT Early Adpoter Pack SRT Other Pack Training cost for early adopter farmers Local Level Farmers Meet Krushi Melava Sub-Total [B]

₹

₹

26,32,825.00

8,50,700.00 2,50,000.00 11,00,700.00

-

33,62,405.00 360.00 9,506.68

₹

₹

₹ ₹ ₹

55,100.00 ₹ 50,000.00 ₹ 1,05,100.00 ₹

27,26,100.00

4,00,200.00 50,000.00 4,50,200.00

32,100.00 ₹ 50,000.00 ₹ 82,100.00 ₹ ₹

2,72,200.00 ₹ 50,000.00 ₹ 3,22,200.00 ₹

₹ ₹ ₹ 25,25,100.00

91,100.00 ₹ 50,000.00 ₹ 1,41,100.00 ₹

C. Analysis Soil Analysis Residue Analysis Sub-Total [C] ₹

₹ ₹

₹

24,56,450.00

23,11,600.00

1,36,305.00

-

₹

₹

₹

₹

₹

₹

-

31,51,355.00 230.00 13,962.41

2,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ 6,36,305.00 ₹

1,26,255.00

₹

₹

2,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ 6,26,255.00 ₹

₹

20,034.53

150.00

33,17,180.00

90,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ ₹ 3,90,000.00

2,00,000.00 ₹ 3,00,000.00 ₹ 6,15,580.00 ₹

1,15,580.00

₹

Total [A] + [B] + [C]

₹ ₹ ₹

D. Administration Charges Administrative overheads 5% of Total [A] ₹ +[B] + [C] Staff Training ₹ Management Cost ₹ ₹ Sub-Total [D] E. Capital Items Laptops Motor Bikes Sub-Total [E] ₹

₹

Total Budget P roposal New Farmers Per new Farmer