Aga Khan Rural Support Programme-India

Ahmedabad, India

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?

Community Type

Rural

Organization type

Nirlaba

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Forests

Freshwater

Oceans/Coasts

Population impacted

4623

Size of agricultural area

2496

Production quantity

n/a

People employed

234

Describe your solution

Amrit Pani, a liquid organic decoction which is used for pest and nutrients management. It contains; bio-fertilizers Azotobacter, PSB, Azosprillum, nitrogen (0.3%), phosphorus (0.22%), potassium (4.09%), sulphur (0.4%), calcium (5.6%) and micronutrients (Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) (lab testing data). Farmers can adopt Amrit Pani for foliar application or soil application with manure or fertigation. As one of the constituent of making this decoction is Azadiractin and Calotropis leaves the decoction is also a good pest repellent and can be strongly recommended for integrated pest management. The decoction has the following ingredients; gram-flour, jaggery, Azadiractin & Calotropis leaves, cattle manure, cattle urine and water in a fixed ratio. The materials mentioned are left to decompose in an anaerobic condition for 15 days later the decoction is used. It can be produced by the farmers with a cost as low as $ 0.2 per litre. When used in a crop it can cost up-to $2 including the labor cost. The decoction has also experimented for enhancement of the quality of the compost as it enhances the microbial counts by inoculation. As the method was being practiced by some traditional marginal farmers it was standardized with farmer’s help, lab tested and promoted to other farmers. Extension was done by training and organised demonstrations in farmers’ field days.

Describe your implementation

demonstrations were then discussed with the farmers in field-days where farmers freely criticized or appreciated results. This phase gave learnings; over doze of the product can lead to burning effect on the plants so to some extent product can be used for broad leaves weed management; right amount of concentration (2.5% solution) to be used for effective results, and standard composition of the product. In 2nd phase; the lead farmers, SHGs were trained in production of the products. Hand holding support was done in extension targeting questions of how to make, why to make, for whom to make and how it can help other farmers. This stage was also meant for the promotion of the product to other farmers and many farmers saw fantastic results in their crops and cost reduction. Over 2000 farmers adopted the product for management of pests and nutrients and a new learning was also seen as many farmers were getting this advantage of keeping their crops safe from the wild bull damage because of its pungent smell. In the 3rd phase major challenges which we were facing was of lack of interest of farmers in making the product at their own due to lack of time, availability of raw material, so we thought of promoting individual and SHG based small enterprises. Support was given in basic material for set up, training, development of communication materials and generating demand. Each village based enterprise is now selling Amrit Pani in nicely packed bottles to the other farmers. The product is sold by the farmers, SHGs to the farmers in their vicinity at a cost of varying from $0.75-1.2 per liter. The Radio programme of government of India was also used for extension of the messages on availability and benefits of the products.

External connections

The major key partner for the intervention was the community members particularly women organized into self-help groups and independent entrepreneurs. The SHGs were supported in training of the production of Amrit Pani, materials identification, packaging, labelling and marketing. Some of the enterprising women SHG members are now earning up-to $30 per month. Apart from the producer of the product farmers were also trained how to use the product in their field and how it is beneficial for their crop. Demonstrations were conducted with the farmers for seeing results of the product on their crops. Based on the learning of the demonstrations sharing was done in group of farmers. Apart from the producer retail shops were also asked for keeping the product with the shops thus helping in scaling of the product. Sale of the product has also been started from the platform of registered Farmer’s Producer Companies promoted by organisation. The innovative method has been promoted on various platform of local partner civil society members as well as some government department has also promoted the product through their extension of new techniques and products. The efforts taken to reduce the chemicals from the food cycle has also substantially reduced the toxicity of the food chain, although its impact on the soil toxicity has not been observed or measured but for sure it has reduced the toxicity in the soil ecology.

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

Sustainability

The intervention is economically viable as it is run by handful of SHG based enterprises enabled in production packaging and marketing at a suitable price. The benefits of product have been extended on large scale which is why SHGs are doing well without the direct presence of the AKRSP-India. Although an initial grant was undertaken for the newer areas where the product was promoted and set up was made with the SHGs later on completely undertaken by the village based enterprises. The product does not seek government subsidy while it seeks identification of the product for use in crops, as it is a bio-product and government has been approached for promotion of the product in their extension programme.

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.

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.

Overview