A compilation of Ecologically Sensible Good Practices
Imprints of Ecological Footprints ‌. A compilation of Ecologically Sensible Good Practices Aug 2016 Authors: MV Rama Chandrudu Beneta Mahanta Waseem Mohammad Anitha Reddy V MB Vali Saab Editors: K Suresh MV Rama Chandrudu Visuals:Cheriyal Nakashi Artists Family - Shri D Vaikuntam and his family members Mrs. D Vanaja (wife); D Vinay and D Rakesh (sons). Design and Layout : Ankush Copy Left : These case studies could be used for non-commercial use, with proper acknowledgement. Supported by : Indian Foundation for Humanistic Development, Bengaluru Produced by : WASSAN (Watershed Support Services and Activities Network) Produced for Leaders For Nature Program. This program is collectively organized by CII; Hivos; IUCN; Wild Life Trust of India. IFHD is anchoring the Leaders for Nature Program. Published by: IFHD, Bengaluru
Acknowledgements I am very happy to present "Imprints of Ecological Footprints ‌. A compilation of Ecologically Sensible Good Practices". I take this opportunity to thank all organizations and individuals who contributed to the process of documenting these good practices. They were kind to frankly share with us their experiences, thoughts, challenges and achievements. They also shared relevant data to substantiate any critical point from their experiences. Some of them even prepared the first drafts of these case studies. They also revised them, based on our feedback. All the organizations/ individuals happily gave consent for publishing these case studies and using them for learning purposes under "Leaders for Nature" program of IFHD, IUCN, CII, Hivos and Wild Life Trust of India. The entire process of producing this compilation was an enriching and fruitful experience. It is also a humbling experience for us to learn several lessons from these interactions and visits to several villages/ sites. We genuinely believe that this compilation truly enriches the learning processes of "Leaders for Nature" program. The Writeshop was one of the important events of this process. We got guidance and feedback on the '0' drafts from the participants of the writeshop. This was useful in refining the initial drafts. The participants of writeshop also made important suggestions on the presentation and utility of these case studies. From their busy schedules, they spared few days for refining these case studies, which is a very kind gesture. I thank everyone who participated in the writeshop. Their inputs are invaluable. I thank Ms. Aruna Rangachar Pohl, IFHD for having faith in WASSAN and entrusting us the responsibility of compiling these case studies. She is an active team member at all critical stages of the project and guided us on choice of case studies, structure/ framework, presentation, etc. The partnership with IFHD is really cherished by all of us, at WASSAN.
I also thank the family of artists of Cheriyal - Shri D Vaikuntam, Mrs D Vanaja, Mr D Vinay and D Rakesh, who visualized these experiences in their own unique style. My team -MB Vali, Anitha Vustela, Waseem Mohammad, Benita Mahanta, Radhashree who spent considerable time on this agenda. I also thank K Suresh for providing editorial inputs and support at various stages of this process. MV Rama Chandrudu WASSAN Aug 2016
Foreword It is almost three decades back, the threats to "Our Common Future" were formally identified and deliberations started gaining more steam and support from governments too‌ (Our Common Future,Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1987). Climate Change and its implications were also slowly getting recognized during this period. The need for "producing more with less" was also part of this thinking process, as a means to address the challenges of the future. Over a period of time, the world witnessed more economic distress, unemployment, political turmoil and ecological disasters across different countries and regions of world. Those early predictions seemed to be less threatening than the current reality. The global gloom got predictable companions - unscrupulous industrial growth, irresponsible urbanization, careless global politics, dishonest governments, self-centric citizenship, which tried to glorify the current trends as achievements and inevitable solutions. In the middle of such despair and misery, there is a hope. "Imprints of Ecological Footprints - A Compilation of Ecologically Sensible Good Practices" is a compendium of good practices that brings the efforts made by relentless civil society organizations, citizens and community based organizations, to change the direction of this trend. These experiences bring cheer and hope in the lives of thousands of rural, tribal and urban citizens in India, who are part of these experiences. They were able to take a different path that is less travelled and troublesome. There were several challenges, at each step and milestone. But they continued their journey and proved that "producing more with less" is possible. They also ensured that the ecological and environmentally sustainable processes are feasible for improving economic standards and quality of life of poor communities. These case studies give a hope and confidence that we can face the cruel world and transform the same into a comfortable place for all - including endangered species, poor and marginalized communities. While Corporate Social Responsibility is gaining more support
from governments, corporate agencies and development agencies, these experiences provide guidance and help them to think about alternatives. These experiences help the willing and discerning development agencies and investors in social change, to transcend the mundane "photo stories" of majority of current CSR interventions. They provide an array of options, strategies and ideas that proved themselves in different parts of the country. I thank all the organizations and agencies who shared their stories - highs and lows of it, with us frankly and completely. I thank them for providing leadership on the chosen theme - promoting biodiversity; conservation and governance of natural resources; promoting ecologically sensitive production processes; enhancing livelihoods by developing environmentally harmonious economic models and several others. These experiences are invaluable and are certainly useful for provoking thoughts in the minds of participants of "Leaders for Nature" programs, which are jointly organized by IFHD, IUCN, CII, Wild Life Trust of India, HIVOS and other like-minded organizations. I thank WASSAN for producing this compilation of case studies and supporting us in this endeavor.
Aruna Rangachar Pohl IFHD, Bengaluru Aug 2016
11 Taming the water, drop by drop‌.
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here is twinkle in the eyes of Aatmaram, a farmer in Hatvalan, Maharashtra. There is a sense of victory in his eyes as he was able to bring back his 2 acres of waste land into agriculture. This was possible by changing the way he applied water to his fields. Sunil Popat Atole is another young farmer from Kathadi village, Pune district, who also overcame his water problem. He followed a new method of water application and irrigation in his field and is happy with the results. These two belong to a new cadre of farmers in Maharashtra, who are learning to tame water, drop by drop‌ No one knows the importance of water, as farmers in Maharashtra like Aatmaram and Sunil Popat. Droughts and long dry spells are most common and unwanted guests to the rural areas of Maharashtra. Farmers in some of the regions of the state are also victims of market economy that pushed them to adopt inappropriate agricultural practices. Continuous use of external chemical fertilizers and pesticides, inappropriate cropping pattern, unpredictable climate (uneven, unequal and ill distributed precipitation, changes in temperatures, etc.) and ruthless markets are Taming the water, drop by drop‌.
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pushing the farmers into distress, including suicides. With the increasing awareness and experiences related to climate change, farmers are forced to find out new solutions to both old and new problems. Water management is an important part of agriculture. Farmers need better technologies and agronomical practices that address the critical concerns of farmers - timely availability of water, efficient and effective field application (without waste), financial viability and environmental sustainability. Dr Reddy's Foundation is precisely trying to fill this gap in current agricultural practices, by promoting appropriate technologies for water application. Dr Reddy's Foundation promoted two streams of water management- a) creating proper drainage, when lands are water-logged due to excess use of chemical fertilizers and water for a long period (for sugarcane crop), and b) supplying water to root zones of crops without wastage, in case of rain-fed crops. Aatmaram and Sunil are two farmers who benefited from these two streams of action. Aatmaram Dattatray Jagtap owns 4 acres land by the riverside in Hatvalan, Maharashtra. Out of 4 acres of land, 2 acres of land is cultivated and the other 2 acres is uncultivated. Sugarcane crop would yield only 4 to 5 tons/ acre in the uncultivated 2 acres as opposed to 50 tons/ acre. Aatmaram did not know how to use these 2 acres of land for agriculture. For Aatmaram Dattatray Jagtap, the turning point was the exposure visit and training program at Farmers Training Centre in Daund. Dr Reddy's Foundation conducted training program on land & water management at this centre to farmers like Aatmaram. Apart from class room sessions on water management, they also visited fields of successful farmers who are practicing these methods. During the training, Aatmaram got to know that 122
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the saline content of his soil is too high due to water logging and he decided to implement sub-surface drainage. Based on the advice from Dr Reddy's Foundation, he conducted soil tests, developed contour map of his land and decided where to lay the channels for subsurface drainage. This removes the excess water and salinity in the soils and drains them into the drain-pipes below. As a result the soils become fit for cultivation again. The soils become dry, porous and have fewer salts that hamper the growth of crops. Aatmaram borrowed some money from his relatives and bought the necessary material. His total expenditure excluding the labour cost was Rs. 30-40,000. By May, 2014, the laying of pipes was over. Sugarcane was planted with spacing of 5 feet by 2 feet in June with intercropping of sunflower, onion and coriander. He did not practice intercropping earlier. "I see that he crop growth is good now. The excess water is percolating into the drain-pipes below the land. Due to the sub-surface drainage system the soil is now conducive to crop growth. Also, the wider spacing in the sugarcane crop helped me to intercrop onion, sunflower and coriander, which provide us with an additional income. By testing the soil and water, I came to know how much and what kind of fertilizer I should apply. This not only reduced the costs, but also increased the fertility of soil. The land, from which we earlier harvested only 4-5 tons/ acre, is now expected to yield at least 40-50 tons of sugarcane/ acre. I feel that if there is an appropriate solution then the farmer would be ready to invest and get good yield," says an extremely happy Aatmaram. There is nothing like cultivating more crops and more area with less quantity of water. It is efficient and environmentally beneficial. Presently, technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation are becoming popular Taming the water, drop by drop‌.
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among the farming community. But the scope to scale up these innovations is limited due to type of water source. For example, drip irrigation is not possible in canal irrigated areas and also in lift irrigation because of distance of delivery of water. With wells and borewells, drip irrigation is possible but it requires uninterrupted and unfluctuating electricity to maintain the pressure in tubes for equal distribution of water with sufficient discharge in soil. Errant/ sporadic electricity supply is also limiting the expansion of drip for cultivation. With this background, Dr Reddy's Foundation evolved "tank based irrigation systems" that work on gravity. In this system a water tank (Syntex tank or masonry tank) is erected at an elevated place (3 to 4 ft above ground level). The capacity of this tank depends on the area that it intends to irrigate (10000 lts to 20000 lts). This tank is connected to a drip system with main and lateral pipes, which supply water at the root zone of the crops. Farmers pump water and store it in these tanks and irrigate the crops, whenever needed. The stored water in the tank gives confidence to farmers that they can overcome problems like erratic power supply and dry spells. As this drip system works on gravity, they do not need electricity to run the system. Since drip is also efficient in water application, farmers could irrigate more areas with less water. Through this drip irrigation system, the requirement for water is reduced by 50%. When supplemented with polythene mulching and right inputs, getting additional income through second or third crop is very much possible in the identified regions. This would propel the economy of the villages and the farmers can lead prosperous lives. Mr. Sunil Popat Atole is a young farmer of 27 years from Kauthadi village of Daund block in Pune district. He has 5 acres of agricultural land and cultivates seasonal rainfed crops. They have common well as source 126
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of irrigation water and 5 farmers irrigate their land on rotational basis. This area comes under drought prone area and average rainfall is 400 mm. Water scarcity is a major problem in the village. Sunil was able to cultivate one acre of land for 8 months with flood irrigation method. He wanted to increase the area under cultivation by efficient use of available water. Inspired by experiences of Mr Balkrishna Renke (Solapur) in using "tank (gravity) based drip irrigation", Dr Reddy Foundation started organizing exposure visits of farmers to Solapur. Mr Sunil was one of these farmers, who visited Mr Balkrishna's field. This model inspired Sunil and he decided to implement it on his farm. He constructed 15000 litre capacity tank at the elevated point in his farm. These tanks are connected to main pipes and lateral pipes of drip irrigation system. After that he cultivated onion crop in half acre of land on raised beds. He was filling the water in tank when the electricity is available. Thus he was able to irrigate the land whenever needed. The total investment for tank and drip was Rs 100000. After harvesting onion crop he got a net income of Rs 70000. With this he dug a borewell and got additional source of irrigation water. Thus he was able to increase the area under cultivation to 2 acres. He grows several crops like sugarcane, papaya, bitter gourd, chilli and brinjal on his farm. Depending upon the availability of water he is deciding the cropping pattern. Since 2012, he is adopting this practice and using the available water efficiently. He does not waste water and is using every drop of water for crop production. "I am doing year round farming and using each and every drop of water for crop," says a beaming Sunil. When water use in agriculture is made more effective, efficient and locally relevant, there is a positive impact on water resource use and 128
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environmental aspects of agriculture. When more and more farmers adopt these practices, the agriculture production system would have positive water balance. These experiences indicate that this is possible…
Tarun Shukla, Dr Reddy’s Foundation Edited by: M V Rama Chandrudu, WASSAN
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About Cheriyal Paintings Shri D Vaikuntam and his family members Mrs. D Vanaja (wife); D Vinay and D Rakesh (sons) are keeping the tradition of Cheriyal Paintings of Telangana state, for generations. All members of the family are engaged in protecting and conserving this rare art form, that is not likely to survive for long. This is the only family in the country that is still engaged in this traditional art form. The Cheriyal Art has a unique character - red color background; vivid presentation of figures (men, women, animals, flowers, plants and others) with unique strokes and style. This art form belongs to "nakashi" form of paintings in India. But Cheriyal paintings contextualized this nakashi format to local Telangana and improvised it, with their unique styles. Apart from paintings and scrolls, Cheriyal Masks are also very attractive and unique with their bright colors and large eyes. D Vaikuntam received several awards from Central/ State governments, for his unique contribution to Cheriyal Art. D Vaikuntam and his family members agreed to present the key messages of these case studies. They spent time with us to understand the essence of each case study and presented it in their own style. These pictures further enriched the experiences, which are already exemplary in several ways. WASSAN thanks the family of artists of Cheriyal for their support in visualising these case studies. Pictures of some of the paintings/ scrolls and masks could be seen on this blog: http://vaikuntamnakash.blogspot.in/
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"…..In the middle of such despair and misery, there is a hope. "Imprints of Ecological Footprints - A Compilation of Ecologically Sensible Good Practices" is a compendium of good practices that brings the efforts made by relentless civil society organizations, citizens and community based organizations, to change the direction of the trend. These experiences brought cheer and hope in the lives of thousands of rural, tribal and urban citizens in India, who are part of these experiences. They took a different path that is less travelled and troublesome. There were several challenges, at each step and milestone. But they continued their journey and proved that "producing more with less" is possible. They also ensured that the ecological and environmentally sustainable processes are feasible for improving economic standards and quality of life of poor communities…"Aruna Rangachar Pohl, IFHD, Bangaluru. "……these experiences are invaluable and are certainly useful for provoking thoughts in the minds of participants of "Leaders for Nature" programs, which is organized by IFHD, IUCN, CII, Wild Life Trust of India, HIVOS and other likeminded organizations.The entire process of producing this compilation was an enriching and fruitful experience. It is a humbling experience for us to learn lessons from the interactions and visits to their villages/ sites. We genuinely believe that this compilation truly enriches the learning processes of "Leaders for Nature" program" - MV Rama Chandrudu, WASSAN