An Overview Of Our Solution
Amrit Pani is a nutrient and pest management product made from an indigenous knowledge. The knowledge was further refined to be adopted by small and marginal farmers. We had identified dual problem in local farming, first being exorbitant use of pesticides and fertilizers and second being high investment of money in external inputs particularly pesticides. Unscrupulous use of these inputs has increased not just economic cost of the farmers but also cost of environment and food toxicity. The environment costs include potential run-off of these pesticides in drinking water sources and high levels of food toxicity in local vegetables when sent for lab testing. The solution Amrit Pani which means elixir, was promoted through village based women entrepreneurs and it has emerged as an alternate to environment conservation and reduction of cost of farming.
Who is this solution impacting?
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent:
General Information
Organization type
Nonprofit
Population impacted
4623
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
2496
Production quantity
n/a
People employed
234
Solution
Describe your solution
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Implementation
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External connections
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Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The challenge which the farmers have been facing in our region is that they are being duped by the local retailers by selling them fake bio-controls. These fake bio-controls have been found to contain technical pesticides such as Aldrin, Endosulphan (banned in India for production, manufacturing and import). The farmers have been using these products as they are highly effective against the pests. These products can cost as high as $77 per acre of vegetable production and it also has been seen to add toxicity to not only local water sources but also to the vegetables being sold in the market by the farmers. A high level of Aldrin a banned pesticide has been seen by a lab testing reports. These pesticides are potential carcinogen and can make our community vulnerable to these carcinogens cancer. There are two challenges which we are trying to meet; first preventing the use of fake bio-pesticides and second by giving farmers an alternate product - Amrit Pani.
Describe the context in which you are operating
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme is working in central India mostly with the native small and marginal farmers on the issues of land, water and forest management. The three regions face a gamut of livelihood challenges such as recurrent drought, soil salinity, distress migration, poor productivity from the farm. The average land holding of ranges from 0.04-0.8 hectares making a majority of population dependent on subsistence farming. The household income of these farmers vary from $300- 1000 per year from which they have to take care of their livelihoods. We work with over 0.2 million households in 2033 villages spread across these locations where over 6182 institutions are operational for community led development. We are promoting sustainable agriculture practices in 20077 hectares. For nutrition and food security we are working with 2673 households with interventions such as System of Crop Intensification, Landless Garden, Nutritional Garden and Backyard Garden. We have also worked towards sustainable development goals by working for soil and water conservation in over in 966 hectares of land with a cumulative of 49267 hectares.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
The product has now been widely adopted by the farmers and has been benefitting the farmers and environment in several ways. The crops particularly vegetables has phenotypically seen to have develop green lustre and shine. The farmers have reported to have reduced dependency on pesticides as the pest attack has reduced. The financial benefits as reported by the farmers are at least $31 and sometimes even more. This is a result of reduction in the cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers have reaped huge benefits in soybean, maize, groundnut and pigeon pea. Around 30% farmers reported that they have stopped purchasing pesticides and insecticides from market. Soil biology has enhanced as the farmers are also using it in irrigation. Vegetable farmers have reduced pesticide usage up-to $538 per acre of land in Brinjal cultivation. It has not only added to rural economy but also to local ecology and is sustainably doing so. The use of this product has also lead to enhancement in the bio-diversity of friend insects in the field like Preying Mantdis and Lady bird beetel which also further controls the insects in the field.
Language(s)
Gujarati, Hindi
Water
Although a baseline of the local water sources has been taken on pesticide toxicity but not yet tested. A long term evaluation can be done for it after another 2 -3 years of adoption of Amrit Pani
Food Security/Nutrition
The use of the product has seen to enhance the production of various crops from up-to 40 per cent in crops such as Paddy, Soybean, Pulses, Vegetables, Millets as reported by over 4000 farmers in over 200 villages of 3 states of AKRSP-India program
Economic/Sustainable Development
Cost of production has also reduced for the farmers as used in pesticides ranging between $30-500 per acre for various crops ultimately being used for other needs. The intervention was sustainable as it has generated employment to as many as 216 women self-help groups and individual entrepreneurs producing Amrit Pani and selling locally earning up-to an average of $107 per month locally
Climate
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Sustainability
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Return on investment
The cost of promotion of Amrit Pani to a newly formed SHG can cost as low as $25. The per liter selling price of the Product is ranged from $1-1.5. Per liter product an SHG or entrepreneur can earn minimum $0.3-$7. Promotional activities like demonstrations and information dissemination may cost in the form of wall paintings $20. In the beginning there is need of some investment for setting up the production unit with the SHGs or enterprise which they can also bear from the SHG loans which is very small in nature. The return of investment can be seen in the cost of production reduction of the farmers in a few case the farmers have seen reduction of up-to $230 per acre of vegetable cultivation put from the case booklet.
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Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
The product can be replicated in else-where part of the country and Africa where the raw materials such as Calotropis, Azadiractin, cattle dung, urine and in abundance. The use of the product will not only enhance the production but will also be helpful for the increasing soil counts of important bacteria and micro and macro nutrients. The enhanced crop production can lead to food security and marketable surplus to be sold in the market. For the promotion of the same, partners such as NGOs, potential seed donors for the farmers based research and training. Support will also be needed in grant form for the seeding of the enterprise as hand holding support of building set up, training of production, developing suitable communication material and marketing. To set up a unit of the product it can cost as low as $125.