Experience sharing of seed village programme in Pavagada location
By : Ramappa K T
Introduction: Pavagada is one of the 10 Taluks of Tumakur district. It is one of the most backward Taluks of the district in all aspects. The taluk is having four hoblis covering 33 Panchayat and 145 villages. The last 10 years average annual rainfall recorded is merely 415 mm; this itself is enough to know the intensity of drought in the taluk. The total population of the taluk is 246255 of which 43.6 % belongs to SC/ST community. As per the 2001 census the literacy rate of the taluk is 56.5% much lower than the state average of 67.5%.
The total cultivable area of the taluk is 77709 Ha of which oil seeds cover 85 % of the cultivable area. Though the taluk is having 57.5% of small and marginal farmers their share in total land holding is just 18.5%. Ground nut is the major crop which covers 92.1% of the total oil seeds and is the only life line for farmers. Because of its drought resistance nature and suitability to the sandy mixed soil, majority of the farmers are well adapted to this crop and it is very difficult to change the mindset of the people for other alternative to this crop.
What is seed village programme? The seed village programme is one of the main activities of the NSP (National Seed Project), a project set up by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), New Delhi. It is the process of involving the majority of the farmers of a particular village to take up one particular crop, mainly for seed production purpose. For the operational viability of the activity, a minimum of 30-50 farmers of the particular village has to cultivate a particular crop for seed production purpose. The objectives of this activity are.
To increase the seed replacement ratio: A look in to the states average percentage of seed replacement of any crop shows only 12%.Almost all the farmers are using their own crop seeds repeatedly year after year for the crop cultivation. These results in poor crop yield due to susceptible to pests and diseases and reduce the soil fertility.
To increase seeds production: Presently the seeds requirement of the state is taken care by state agriculture department and the Karnataka Oil Federation (KOF). But hardly 10-15 percent of farmer’s need is met by both the organizations.
To ensure seeds requirement of the Farmers: The state’s Agriculture department is in a tremendous pressure to supply the certified good quality seeds to all farmers during the monsoon season. The condition will be even severe if there is a continuous drought for 2-3 years. Farmers are facing problems to procure good quality seeds
Why this programme is initiated in Pavagada?
Pavagada being the draught prone area and the largest producer of groundnut crop, the farmers are facing lot of problems for getting the quality seeds during the monsoon season. Because of scanty rainfall and no other irrigation facilities, the crop yield is also not up to the mark. The worst hits are the small and marginal farmers. The big farmers may have their choice to keep aside some grown seeds for the next season but for small and marginal farmers cannot do it because the quantity got is not enough to meet the year long consumption. Usually government supplies the seeds during the season at subsidized rate but it can meet only 10-15 % of demand, that to not timely. People spend lot of money in search of good seeds from long distance and they are not sure of getting good quality seeds. If the seeds are not available at the time of first rain in the month of June, they will be loosing precious time of sowing and consequently affects adversely the crop yield. As Dhan foundation is working in this taluk since 5 years, it was one of the main issues to tackle to assist farmers for getting good quality seeds.
Because of the growing demand from the farmers and to do something to meet the farmers demand, our team got link with the NSP for doing this activity. Though the NSP is having the idea of doing this activity on its own, it is engaged in doing this activity in and around the UAS campus only. Due to manpower shortage and the remoteness of the area they couldn’t concentrate all around the state and do it to help farmers.
Salient features of the programme:
Seeds distribution at 50 % seed cost: In order to facilitate farmers to take up this activity, NSP is supplying seeds to the farmers at 50% seed cost. The remaining 50% amount can repay at the time of marketing. This arrangement is mainly to get confidence among the farmers and also to have option of getting the produce at NSP only.
Regular monitoring and technical support to farmers regarding package of practice and post harvest handling of crops: At regular interval the NSP official visit the farmer’s field for the crop monitoring. As per the requirement they will also guide farmers for suitable recommendation for pest and disease attack. They will also suggest farmers for some intervention at critical period of crop for better yield.
Buy back of produce at fairly good price: Here the market price for the produce will be fixed well in advance and the NSP is abiding for that price whatever may be the market price. In order to attract farmers during higher market price compare to NSP, there is a possibility of revising the agreed price so that farmers must sell their produce at NSP to meet the purpose.
Seed certification arrangements: The one of the main purposes of the seed village programme is to ensure seed requirement of the state. In order to bring authenticity and for quality ensuring of the farmers produce, 5the NSP is making arrangement for certification of the produce. The district certification agency will be informed well in advance to make necessary arrangement to look in to the quality aspects before certifying the seeds for future marketing.
Our approach of programme implementation: Though the NSP hasn’t insisted us to go like this or other way, we have followed our own way to implement the programme. As we been promoting the people institutions to implement the any intervention and we have the net work of these in to cascade and federation we felt it is appropriate to implement the project through federation so that it brings identity to the people institution and can acts as 1st initiatives by the federation so that it brings confidence to the people to take up many more programmes in the future. The processes followed are as follows
All activities undertaken through the federation: The Pavagada Taluk Keregala Jalasamvardhane Vayalagam Okkoota (PTKJSVO) is the network of 41 TFAs, which are promoted to implement JSYS project in Pavagada. Though this is first of its kind, the response we got from the farmers is overwhelming as we got very good cooperation from all the members of our TFAs and the federation is running towards sustainability. As an entry point activity of the federation we thought of taking this activity and discussed with the federation leaders. The leaders accepted the idea and all the activity of the seed village programme are taken through the federation. The activities like seeding the concept, decision taking, cash collection etc are done through the federation.
TFAs and Cascade meetings are act as bridge between farmers and federation: The networking is of three tire systems where TFA and Cascade are the other two to link under federation. There are two members representation from each cascade in the federation executive committee and the farmers selected for the seed village programme are from these villages only. So for any information dissemination these people institutions act as bridge between farmers and federation to make life easy and smooth functioning.
Federation leader’s service has been utilized for proper implementation: As the activity involves lot of risk and hard work, we have utilized best possible services of the federation leaders so that all are worked like a unit to make this event successful. The leaders worked proactively and responded positively for all requirements.
Federation and cascade meetings are utilized for information dissemination: As our entire working area village representatives are there in the cascade and TFAs, the meetings of these institutions are utilized for information collection, dissemination and for collective decision.
Process followed for the programme implementation: This is the 1st time NSP has taken up this activity on large scale. Though the NSP has been in this business for quite a long time, but it is only through bits and pieces. It is just to demonstrate farmers regarding the concept of seed production. This is also first time they have done this activity by involving NGOs. The processes followed during the entire programme period are as follows
Concept seeding/ orientation about the programme
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Advance seed amount collection (50% of seed cost in cash)
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Continuous contact with NSP officials for follow-up for good seeds
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Seed distribution to farmers
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Monitoring the crop sowing with seed treatment
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Regular crop monitoring and suggesting recommendation for pest and diseases
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Field day celebration at the time of harvest by inviting VC, UAS, Bangalore
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Orientation on post harvest handling of crop (Stocking, Cleaning, winnowing etc)
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Procuring seeds from the farmers
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Quality testing of the produce
Physical observation(Maturity of seed, Size etc)
Grading
Sample weight( 75: 25 ratio of seeds to shell and 80% SMK)
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Payment through cheque
What are the benefits to the farmers? From the farmers point of view the benefits from the programme are many. Farmers are visualized the benefits and are so happy that they haven’t imagined. Some of the direct benefits people recognized are listed below.
Getting quality seeds in time: Getting quality seeds in time during the monsoon season itself is a very big achievement. As there is lot of demand for the seeds and the department is not supplying the required demand, people felt very happy that they got good quality seeds in time. They also expressed that this one of the main prerequisite for better yield.
Less investment on seeds (Only 50% initial costs): As the NSP is supplying seeds at 50% initial seed cost, it is additional advantage for the people who are struggling a lot for the initial investment. As the taluk is experiencing frequent drought and majority of the farmers are small and marginal, this option is really a boon for the down trodden.
Technical support on crop management: Because of the programme initiation, the NSP officials as well as DHAN professionals sought continuous support to the farmers on crop package of practice. There will be continuous field visits from these officials at regular interval of the cropping period to monitor the crop. From this farmers get timely advice in controlling the pest and disease attack.
Better yield because of quality seeds: Quality of seeds is the one of the most important parameter which has direct impact on crop yield. It may be from better germination or from resistance to pests and diseases. So by getting quality seeds farmers are definitely benefited by better yield. As per the farmers view there was 0.5 to 2 quintal better yield per acre because of quality seeds, good rain and technical support.
Avoiding middle men for marketing: As majority of the farmers of the same village are involved in this programme, there is every possibility for collective marketing. Because of fragmented land and independent farming people bound to depend on middlemen for the produce marketing, this system definitely help farmers in avoiding middlemen and fetch good price.
Less transportation cost due to collective marketing: Again it is a group activity under the association; the marketing is also of collective one. So there is cost sharing of transportation cost which is very less as compare to individual transportation cost. In this way also this programme helps farmers to reduce the expenditure of transportation which in turn maximize the profit.
Getting precise weight for the produce (Weighing by digital balance): Farmers are easily deceived by the traders through different means in getting the precise weight for their produce. Again there is a custom of deducting 1-3 kg per quintal of produce in traditional marketing system. So farmers also benefited by this menace as here we have used digital balance for weighing the produce.
Avoiding Coolie/ Hamali menace: It was decided collectively by all the farmers that, coolie/ hamali has not been allowed for loading and unloading of the produce. After initial resistance by the coolies, we could succeed in dealing with this issue. Only farmers themselves are involved actively in loading and unloading of their produce so that they get benefited by avoiding the coolie cost.
Better price: During the initial period itself, the price for the produce was fixed at fairly better price. Rupees 2800.00 per quintal were fixed irrespective of market price. Accordingly farmers get an additional benefit of Rs.750.00 per quintal as the market price during the period was between Rs.1800-2300/quintal.
Timely payment: The payment for the marketed produce is not a problem from the NSP. They responded very well and ensure the timely payment for the farmers. By this way also farmers got benefited.
Additional benefits through promotional incentives: In ordered to motivate and encourage farmers to involve in the seed village programme in the future, the government waived off the remaining 50% of the seed cost. Because of this farmer need not pay the balance seed cost Rs.1400 per quintal. But we had collected the amount at the time of marketing and there was mixing of produce by small farmers at village level. So we could not maintain that details so that there was a problem of reimbursing that amount. So in the federation meeting it was discussed that, that amount can retain in the federation as corpus.
Challenges of the programme: Fortunately we didn’t come across any major problems during the entire programme, it is worth discuss the anticipated challenges to fore see to minimize the risk if these bound to happen in the future course of time. Some of the challenges of the programme are listed here under.
Programme success depends on climate: Pavagada has received good rain and there was no major pest/ disease attack in this season. Because of this everything goes in our way and there was fairly good crop yield. At the same time the market price for the ground nut at the time of harvest was between Rs.1800 to 2300 per quintal. As against to this the earlier fixed price was Rs.2800 per quintal. So people felt very happy to sell their produce to the NSP and the purpose of the programme was also same. But on the other hand if there is a crop failure there may be chances of bound back by farmers to say that, the crop failure is because of seed mistake and also they cannot sell their produce if the market rate is higher than the NSP.
Timely supply of seeds: As the programme was on large scale and at large geographical area, the timely supply of quality seeds to all the farmers of different villages is again a big challenge. There was no stock at the NSP to supply the seed at the 1st monsoon, but they struggled a lot to procure seeds and finally succeeded to supply the seeds to the farmers at right time.
Repayment of balance 50% seed cost: This is again a very big challenge if there is a crop failure. We are very much fortunate to have good crop as well as waived off the balance amount so that the federation can gain considerable amount of corpus. But on the other hand it was really a big task to collect the remaining balance amount if there was crop failure for any reason.
Ensuring varietals purity (Avoiding adulteration): There was left out farmers in the same village from this programme and they also grown the crop of their own variety, there is always chances of mixing up with our variety of seeds because of good price the NSP offers. Because of our rapport with the farmers and the careful in handling this situation we succeeded in this aspect also.
Storage facilities for stocking: This is the first time either NSP or Dhan has taken up this type activity on large scale. As all the farmers are going for marketing of groundnut at a single stretch, we have faced lot of difficulties in accommodating the procured produce. But APMC (Agricultural Produced Marketing Committee) officials responded positively by giving 5 go-downs for storing the groundnut.
Security of stored product mainly against pest attack: The stored groundnut is highly susceptible to pest attack. As the seeds are using for deed production purpose, at most care is needed to ensure that there won’t be any damage for the seeds. So safe storage of the produce is again a major challenge.
Cooperation between partners (Farmers, NSP and Dhan): Every development initiative is a dependent activity. For the success of any initiative there must be mutual cooperation between partners. Fortunately we got very good cooperation both from farmers as well as from NSP officials. Both are responded positively for all the demands and at the same time we also have done our best to act as a bridge between farmers and NSP.
Timely payment to the farmers: Timely and transparent financial transaction is one of the main prerequisites for the success of any activity. Though the NSP has first time involved in this type of major programme, the response we got in the timely payment for the produce is appreciable. There was very smooth and steady financial transaction through out the programme period.
Managing people feelings: Working with people is not an easy task. That to with the people of heterogeneous in nature with different economic back ground, satisfying all the needs of the farmers is really challenging one. As this is very sensitive activity and needs intensive monitoring in all the day to day dealings and also managing the people feelings is a very big challenge. People don’t realize their mistakes (in terms of quality of produce) but expect the ultimate benefit.
Learnings of this programme: This is the first time we have been involved in this programme, the learnings from the programme are immense. Every day brings new learnings and they are exiting. Some of the important learnings of this programme to quote are as follows.
Proper planning must be there through out the programme: There are so many activities through out the programme like cash collection, seed distribution, material procurement, quality control; storage etc., there must be proper planning for all these activity for the smooth running of the programme.Pro-active thinking and fore seeing the things are very much required to make the programme successful.
Success is possible only through good grass roots agency (For NSP): The programme is fully people participatory and requires good response from the people side. And NSP is operating from far distance (UAS, Bangalore) with less man power; it is definitely not possible for the NSP to involve on its own in all the activities. NSP’s strong feeling about the programme is that, the grassroots agencies like DHAN Foundation’s service is very much essential to make the programme successful.
Grader facilities should be sought well in advance: The ground nut grown under this programme is mainly for seed production purpose. To ensure good quality sound groundnut pod, the grading of the produce is very much essential. In order to ensure the quality of seeds, efficient grader machine facility should be sought well in advance.
Storage facilities should be sought well in advance: Safe storage is very much essential to maintain the quality of the stored product. So clean, safe and hygienic storage facilities can be arranged well in advance for smooth operation of the programme.
Impact created: From the point of view of people institution (Federation), the seed village programme has created very good impact both at village as well as block level. This is one of the unique events under taken in Pavagada taluk for the first time and around 430 small and marginal farmers from 34 villages have participated in the programme.Some of the positive things about the programme are as follows.
Very good identity to the federation and to the Dhan Foundation: The programme has created very good identity to the people federation as people of the Pavagada now recognize that there is one such people institution is existing in the taluk.The programme success also witnessed the requirement of such people institutions in smooth functioning of this type of collective initiatives. It also opens up the strength of the people institution in doing this collective action.
Possibility of sanctioning KVK in Pavagada: The visit of Vice Chancellor, UAS, Bangalore during field day has yielded result as he promised the people of Pavagada to set up Krishi Vignana Kendra (KVK) in the near future. He made this statement by knowing the potential of the taluk for groundnut production and to facilitate farmers to face the drought situation through various researches.
Very good exposure to line departments: The programme also gave very good exposure for both federation leaders as well as people towards various line departments. The various functions conducted in between the programme have helped people and the department officials to know each other and the facilities available. Officials of the line department also came to know that one such people federation covering around 30000 farmers is available in the taluk to make use of that whenever necessary.
Bring confidence for collective action: The programme helped the people of Pavagada, to know their strength in collective action. It has really brought confidence among the farmers that, from the federation they can take up many more such programmes in the future for their benefit. It also helped the federation to come to a conclusion that people will respond positively for the collective initiatives.
Seed village programme details: Some of the important statistics of the seed village programme are stated as under. Though the exact production of the groundnut was not known, but there was crop yield of 5 – 7 quintal per acre of crop.
Area covered under groundnut crop : 720 acre
Groundnut crop varieties selected : TMV-2, JL-24
Groundnut seeds supplied : 331 quintal
Farmers benefited from the programme : 430No.(47big,258 marginal, 125 small)
Villages covered under the programme : 34
Panchayat covered under the programme : 12
Total crop production (Approximately) : 4320 quintal
Seeds procured from farmers : 3050 quintal :
Total financial transaction of the programme: There was mainly three types of financial transaction have happened during the programme.Firstly the initial seed cost born by the farmers for 331 quintals of seeds invested under 720 acre crop coverage. In turn the seeds purchased from the farmers accounts to 3050 quintal. Out of 3050 quintal seeds, 1400 quintal is arranged for seed certification. The details of the financial transaction are as follows.
S.No Particulars Quantity Rate Amount
1 Seeds supplied 331 Qtl 2800.00 9,26,800.00
2 Seeds purchased 3050 Qtl 2800.00 85,40,000.00
3 Seed certification incentives 1400 Qtl 1000.00 14,00,000.00
Total 1,08,66,800.00
Service cost/corpus generated from the programme: As this programme is under taken as an entry point activity of the federation, the idea was to generate some corpus for the federation for its self sufficiency. All the important decisions including corpus/service cost generation are taken in the federation meetings. Though the balance 50% seed cost was waived by the government but at the last moment after the repayment, the federation decided to keep it as federation corpus because of disbursement problem. The exact farmers list couldn’t maintain because some of the farmers were covered under some other’s name. Same has happened under certification incentives. Rupees 1000.00/ quintal incentives got from the government for 1400 quintal (collectively).Out of that Rs.400.00/quintal spent as programme expenditure (Rs.100.00 for certification fee, Rs.150.00 for NSP service cost and Rs.150.00 for other expenditure)
S.No Particulars Quantity Rate Amount
1 Repayment of 50% balance seed cost 331 Qtl 1400.00 4,63,400.00
2 Service cost as per resolution 3050 Qtl 65.00 1,98,250.00
3 Certification incentives 1400 Qtl 600.00 8,40,000.00
Total 15,01,650.00
Incremental benefits per acre: As per the earlier discussion regarding the benefits, an attempt has been made to know the incremental benefits got by the farmers per acre of crop cultivation. Though the additional yield is between 0.5 to 2 quintal/ acre, 0.5 quintal/acre is taken in to consideration. On an average 5 quintal/ acre yield is taken for calculating the incremental benefits of this seed village programme.
S.No Particulars Quantity Rate Amount
1 Additional yield 0.5 qtl 2800.00 1375.00
2 Saving from hamali/coolie 2 kg/bags 22.00 200.00
3 Savings from weight loss 2 kg/bag 28.00 616.00
4 Additional price 5 qtl 550.00 2750.00
Total 4941.00
Events undertaken:
Field day celebration: During the harvesting stage of the crop, the field day was conducted in one village called Gundarlahalli. The main reason for selecting this particular village is easy mobility to all the other villagers. For this programme the Vice Chancellor, Agriculture University, Bangalore was the chief guest. The purpose of this programme was for cross learning and motivating farmers for further propagation of seed village technology. The response from the farmers for this programme was overwhelming. The VC has promised to set up a KVK in Pavagada for further agricultural research.
Ground nut sandy day: In order to motivate and facilitate farmers for ground nut marketing, ground nut sandy day was conducted. The farmers sell the left out ground nut during the event. The purpose of this event is to buy back the ground nut as much as possible to meet the seed requirement of the state. This programme is also gave very good result as around 200 quintal ground nut has been procured from the farmers.
