PJRB-SPARC Water Efficient, Toxin Free, Profitable Agriculture Conference

Pandit Jagat Ram Bhargava School of Profitable Agriculture and Resource Conservation

1st Punjab State Conference

PROFITABLE, WATER EFFICIENT, TOXIN FREE AGRICULTURE Options, Challenges and the Way Forward

PWET-PS-1

July25-26, 2019 Conference Room PJRB-SPARC Ghugial, Hoshiarpur Punjab

SPARCbank

Conference Proceedings, Learnings and Recommendations

Knowledge Series

ThinkTank PJRB SPARC is a part of the national award-winning FORCE group of Non-Profits.

Address: Ghugial village, Hoshiarpur Dasuya Road (Opp Kangmai bus stop), PO Bhunga, Hoshiarpur 144210.

Ph: 8745017926 Email: contact@pjrbsparc.org: website: www.pjrbsparc.org

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Chairperson’s note

Smt Jyoti Sharma

We live in a human-centric world. All our choices are based on whether that choice will benefit us regardless of whether they benefit others as well or not. We do not think twice before burning forests, killing wildlife, yanking water and minerals out from the ground if we feel that destroying them will give us some additional benefit. The underlying belief is that we are superior to all other living and nonliving forms on earth.

The same philosophy has turned life giving agriculture into a cesspool of poisons and creator of deserts. In desperate pursuit of higher yields and profits, farmers have grown ecologically inappropriate crops, flogged their farms into yielding multiple harvests a year and indiscriminately used chemical fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides to coax life out of the tired soil.

If we continue with the same farm practices, we ourselves will be in danger. The poisons in our soil, water and air will kill us. And if we somehow survive those, the poison in our foods will kill us.

In the interest of our own survival, the time has come to make the pro-earth choice. We need to choose to shun harmful chemicals; stop over-exploitation of soil and water.

PJRB-SPARC is committed to learning and contributing to a shift away from self-destructive agriculture. Our first Conference is a small beginning in that direction.

I look forward to your partnership in this mission. Thank you!

Jyoti Sharma Chairperson, PJRB-SPARC President, FORCE Non-Profits

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Words of Wisdom

Sh. Pawan Adia MLA, ShamChaurasi Hoshiarpur

Farming is the major occupation of Punjab. Many families thrive on their livelihood. Agriculture is an important heritage of our culture however; with the passage of time we are losing its essence. One of the reasons is loss in profitability of agriculture. It all happens because we have followed the technology without evaluating the consequences.

There is dire need of new ways by which profitability and water efficiency in crop production can be enhanced. The schools, NGO’s and other nodal institutes must come forward and address the challenge of current scenario.

One of the biggest issues is stubble burning. Though, the government has taken many steps including penalizing farmers still, the trend is continued. Experts, Professionals and other technocrats must come together so that this issue can be curbed.

Along with this, the government is planning to endorse a law in which house and colonies with rain water harvesting unit will only be passed. Maps without rain water facility will not be approved. We have to work together and on all fronts to tackle the water crisis facing us. I am with all of you in any such efforts you take up.

I must congratulate all the speakers and management of PJRBSPARC for touching a sensitive issue. The way the speakers have pointed out the pain points along with solutions was really commendable. My best wishes are with the PJRB-SPARC team. I am always available for any consultation or support you want. As long is the cause is to help improve the state of farmers, the poor and our land, my time and support is there for all .Best wishes.

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Words of Wisdom

Dr. Sutantar Kumar Aery Director, Agriculture Punjab The primary work of the agriculture department is to promote good agriculture practices and to ensure that recent findings endorsed by PAU must reach the farmer’s field. Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been developed with an aim to research and replicate any good agriculture practice so that it can be adopted at all levels. The thrust areas in today’s agriculture includes bringing more area under Diversification of the crops, increasing area under sustainable agriculture and promoting water efficient technologies for irrigation.

Under diversification plan, maize crop has been identified as a crop that can replace paddy in the kharif season. However, the crop is partially accepted by some farmers only. The farmers from the Malwa region of Punjab continue to grow paddy as main crop despite of the fact that the soils are not meant for paddy. But despite all the hurdles, the area under maize is increasing every year which is a good sign.

Current agriculture practices use excess chemicals and other farm resources which not only harm the environment but also create financial burden on farmers. Organic farming contrary to this, uses natural resources, increases organic matter of soil and has climate resilient qualities. Organic farming has also created opportunity of self-employment for the youth. It has huge potential in the market. To educate farmers on right use of fertilizers, each block agriculture office is provided with soil map for a particular block. The farmers can consult these maps and apply only those nutrients for which the soil is deficient. The department has also identified 9 chemicals which has long residual period in paddy. The department through its various extension programs has created awareness in order to discard these chemicals as it lowers the export potential. In addition to all of the above, the department has raised many demo plots with drip irrigation facility. Farmers can visit and analyze the results as well.

To make their agriculture profitable, farmers have to shed the conventional approach and have to adopt the new water efficient, climate resilient approach to agriculture.

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Contents

Background Note Conference Objective.

Key Speakers & Participants Inaugural Session Welcome Address by Trustees Kalash Ceremony Keynote Address by Guest of Honor – Dr Sarbjit Kandhari, Jt.Dir, Agriculture

Pg.07 Pg.08 Pg.08 Pg.09 Pg.10 Pg.11 Pg.12

Technical Session: Defining meanings of Profitable, water efficient & Toxin free Agriculture Pg.14 Views by Dr. Gurkanwal Singh, Ex Director Horticulture, Punjab Pg.15 Views by IM Chhiba, RGR Cell, Tata Trusts & Retd. senior soil chemist, PAU Pg.17 Technical Session: Options and Challenges in water efficient agriculture Views by Smt. Jyoti Sharma Chairperson, PJRB-SPARC Views by Ms. Naima Akhtar, Scientist Central Ground Water Board Views by Dr. Anurag Tewari, Dean, Chitkara University Views of Mr. Harpreet Singh Kahlon, Senior Correspondent, Jag Bani Views by Mr. Sanjeev Sharma, Associate Marketing Director, KVM

Pg.18 Pg.19 Pg.21 Pg.25 Pg.27 Pg.28

Technical Session: Options and Challenges in Toxin free agriculture Views by Ms Lipika, Secretary, Kheti Virasat Mission Viewsby Mr. Varun, President Jai Kisan Welfare Society Views by Dr Rajiv Ranjan, Deputy Project Director, ATMA Views by Ms. Rupali Gupta, Expert Waste water treatment

Pg.30 Pg.31 Pg.32 Pg.33 Pg.34

Session 4: Case Studies in Water efficient, Profitable and Toxin Free agriculture Views by Sh. Avtar Singh (Innovator Phagwara Good Growing Cropping System) Views by Dr. CL Vashishth (Retd. Deputy Director Agriculture, Punjab) Views by Dr. Sarwan Singh (Agronomist, Jain Irrigation Systems Pvt Ltd) Valedictory Session Valedictory address of Sh Harprem Vashisht, Farmer Leader & State Awardee PJRB SPARC Analysis, Recommendations, Action Points Media Coverage

Pg.37 Pg.38 Pg.40 Pg.42 Pg.43 Pg.44 Pg.45 Pg.54

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Background Note

Over 9000 farmers committed suicide in India last year- most because they felt crushed under the burden of their debt. As exploitative agriculture destroys soil fertility and water sources, desperate farmers get into a debt spiral to buy the fertilizers, water and pesticides that the increasingly hungry soil needs. The nation too suffers.

Consumers eat pesticides laden, nutrition deficient food.

Water conflicts increase as a growing economy finds itself pitched against poor farmers for whom availability of water is a matter of survival. Closer home, in Punjab, it is tragic, that Punjab, once the envy of all other states, is now known more for its falling water table, ‘cancer belts’ created by poisoned groundwater and declining soil fertility. It is also tragic, that agriculture, the source of Punjab’s pride, is now the least wanted profession especially by youth.

‘SPARC’ING REVIVAL’ A little-known fact is that the surest route to reducing farming costs is to adopt water efficient practices.

Minimizing water use per crop cuts down the need to use pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. This reduces costs, environmental pollution, improves soil natural health and gives toxins free agri-products. The result- profits for farmer, environmental sustainability and health for consumer.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE The conference sought to invite ideas and discussion on the way forward to mainstream agriculture that gives profit to the farmer, safe nutrition to the consumer and a pollution free environment. With increasing water scarcity, farmer distress and health impacts of environmental pollution, large scale adoption of such alternatives is the need of the hour. Challenges to achieve this need to be identified and overcome The Conference invited participation from Department of Agriculture, Punjab and Central Groundwater Board. It tried to bring together experts from reputed universities, government departments and innovative farmers from various fields related to agriculture and water. They discussed how water efficiency, toxicity and profitability are defined, government policies and schemes, the various methods by which water efficient, profitable and toxin free agriculture can be done. Farmers shared the problems they face when trying to adopt such practices and also shared experiences of successful adoption.

These conference proceedings will be shared with registered participants and speakers on email. Also, white papers based on the proceedings will be shared with government and other stakeholders.

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Conference Objective

The conference objective was to collect ideas and views of experts from various streams related to agriculture.

The focus was on learning from their knowledge and experience about agriculture that gives profit to the farmer, safe nutrition to the consumer and a pollution free environment. The final aim was to see how these learnings can be used to mainstream such climate, consumer and farmer friendly agriculture.

Specifically, the sub objectives were: -

Defining meanings of Profitable, Water Efficient & Toxin Free Agriculture.

Exploring Options and Challenges in Water Efficient Agriculture.

Exploring Options and Challenges in Toxin Free Agriculture.

Learning from Case studies on Profitable, Water Efficient & Toxin Free Agriculture.

Each sub-objective became the theme for a session in the conference.

Speakers and Participants Speakers • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Dr. Sarabjit Kandhari, Joint Director Agriculture, Government of Punjab Dr. Gurkanwal Singh, Retd. Director Horticulture, Government of Punjab Dr. IM Chibba, Retd. Senior Soil Chemist, Department of Soils, PAU Ludhiana Mr. Harpreet Kahlon, Senior Correspondent, Jag bani Ms. Naima Akhtar, Scientist Central Ground Water Board Dr. Anurag Tewari, Dean Chitkara University, Punjab.

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Deputy Project Director, ATMA Mr. Sanjeev Sharma, Associate Marketing Director, Kheti Virasat Mission.

Mr. Varun Vashishth, President, Jai Kisan Welfare Society.

Ms. Lipika, Secretary, Kheti Virasat Mission.

S. Avtar Singh, Innovator of Phagwara Good Growing Cropping System.

Dr. CL Vashishth, Retd. Deputy Director Agriculture, Government of Punjab.

Dr. Sarwan Singh, Agronomist, Jain Irrigation Systems Pvt. Limited.

Participants • • • • • • • • • •

Agriculture Development Officers of Block Agriculture Department, Block Bhunga District Hoshiarpur.

Horticulture development officers from Citrus estate block Bhunga, District Hoshiarpur.

Project officers from Agricultural Technology and Management Agency, Hoshiarpur BSc.(Agri) students from KMS College, Dasuya, Hoshiarpur.

BSc.(Agri) students from SGGS College, Hariana,Hoshiarpur.

Presidents of Farmer Unions.

Members of Farm’s Produce Promotion Society (FAPRO) Members of Phagwara Good Grower Cropping System Members of Jai Kisan welfare Society.

Active Farmers from block Bhunga.

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INAUGURAL SESSION

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PJRB-SPARC Trustees Address

Sh. Hem Raj Bhargava, Trustee & Chairperson, Conference Committee

On behalf of PJRB-SPARC, Sh. Hem Raj Bhargava delivered the welcome address for the conference. Welcoming all– the honored guests, speakers and participants of the conference, he said that this was a unique learning opportunity for all. He shared some childhood memories of when he used to come to his sister’s home in Ghugial village. Most vivid amongst those memories was that of the well in their house that used to be filled to the brim in monsoons. He showed how they used to scoop out water with their hands from the well. That well is now dry. Infact many tubewells, deeper than that well, have also dried up. He said that this was an eyeopener that should make us get serious about conserving water. If in his lifetime the water table has receded so much, it can go as much more below in the coming years too. He emphasized the need for deliberations and serious action on the topic to avert a huge human survival crisis.

Smt JeewanAsha Mohey, Trustee Smt JeewanAsha Mohey delivered the vote of thanks for the Inaugural session of the conference. Thanking the honored guests for their presence, she said that their support has given PJRB-SPARC the encouragement to step up their efforts for water efficient yet profitable agriculture. She congratulated the PJRB-SPARC team for their success in organizing a this timely and unique conference. She assured the team of the continued support of the Board of Trustees for such initiatives in the future.

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Kalash Ceremony All events of FORCE begin or end with the deeply symbolic ‘Kalash Ceremony’ The ‘Kalash’ is actually a large empty earthen pot that represents the barren earth – stripped of all its water, natural beauty and cleanliness. Placed around the kalash, are small pots filled with clear water. These small pots represent the fruit of human effort. During the ceremony representatives of the key stakeholder groups gather around the kalash and pick up each of these small pots. Then, they pour water together into the kalash in the same way as they would give an offering of pure water to their religious deity.

The kalash ceremony symbolizes the power of collective human effort made in a spirit of universal love. It says that no one person or sector can solve the world’s basic problems. Only when we all join hands and make synchronized, spiritually pure efforts, will we find a way to make the earth clean and abundant again.

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Keynote Address to guide the Conference Proceedings Guest of Honor

Dr. Sarabjit Kandhari, Joint Director Agriculture

Water is an important component of plant which is required from maintaining overall growth and development in its life cycle. However, out of the total water usage in India, agriculture consumes around 92% water followed by domestic (5%) and industrial use (3%) respectively.

Globally, we have only 4.25% of fresh water out of which, around 11% of water is at more than depth of 800m.bgl from where the extraction is economically not viable. The available 1% water in lakes and rivers is highly polluted which cannot be consumed directly.

The global projections on water scarcity has indicated that the severity will increase across the globe which might have maximum impact on south Asian countries such as India, Pakistan etc. India owns only 4.25% of world’s freshwater resources to sustain the need of 16-17% of world’s population. Under the current scenario, the per capita availability will be going to decrease which may hit at 1340 cubic meter by 2025.

The situation will be defined as “Stress” as it falls below the per capita availability of 1700 cubic meters.

The conditions are too worrisome for Punjab as well which has around 98% cropping area under irrigation, mostly by tube wells. Punjab occupies top position with total 14 lakh tube wells, which extract ground water more than the required capacity. As per the 2011 report, out of 138 blocks, 110 blocks are over exploited, 04 blocks are at critical stage, 02 are semi critical while only 22 blocks were safe till census were taken.

The only strategy is the use of water saving techniques such as Laser land levelling, stubble management, intermittent irrigations by scheduling on daily basis or based upon soil metric potential and adopting micro irrigation such as Drip, sprinkler or Furrow based methods. He also emphasized on diversification of crops by replacing water consuming crops with less consuming crops.

For general purpose, water can be restored by augmenting roof top rain water harvesting & through artificial recharge. He also emphasized on changing our daily habit of saving water from the start of day till the dawn.

The increase in global food production is exponentially high as compared to global population however; around 850 million people have to sleep without meals because of improper distribution of food.

Punjab, popularly known as “Food bowl of India” witnessed tremendous growth in production during early 60’s.Thanks to “Green Revolution” which raised the status of Punjab being state with highest productivity of wheat & rice with largest contribution in the central pool. But, in real the green revolution has also bought problems to the producers as well.

Green revolution prompted the use of pesticides and fertilizers along with monocropping of wheat and rice.

This has raised serious concerns such as Stagnant Productivity, Increased cost of cultivation, Adverse

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Keynote Address impact of climate change, Shrinking & deteriorating land water resource, Rural urban distress migration, Production and Market Risk The possible solution for this is to adopt the climate smart way of agriculture instead of conventional methods.

The traditional methods of cultivation were based upon the soil and climate of local climates and moreover, were climate friendly as well.

Following methods can be adopted as possible solutions in current scenarios.

Organic Farming -The need of an hour: Organic farming can be defined as an integrated farming system that strive for sustainability, enhancement of soil fertility & biological diversity, prohibits synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, GM crops and growth hormones. The productions systems must respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity (NOP Final Rule, part 205.2). Site specific farm means considering each unit as unique and individual on the basis of Soil – texture, type, condition; Climate – temperature, rainfall, etc.; Crops, livestock, production system; Living entities of that niche; Farmer objectives and market needs Natural Farming: It is an ecological farming approach established by MASANOBU FUKUOKA (19132008) a Japanese farmer and philosopher. This is also known as Spiritual Farming. This method involves mulching, intercropping and use of several preparations which includes cow dung and cow urine. These preparations promote microbes and earthworm activity in soil. In India, Sh. Subhash Palekar (Padam Shri) has adopted and promoted this method widely.

Rishi Kheti: This is an Indian version of natural farming. This includes use of cow dung like buttermilk, milk & curd. The cow urine is used for preparing natural growth promoters.

Bio-dynamic Farming: Developed by Rudolf Steiner, this technique emphasizes the use of manures and composts but excludes the use of artificial chemicals. The biodynamic approach defines soils, plants and animals as a single system. Application include astrological sowing, use of biodynamic horn preparationsBD 500, BD501 -Crushed powdered quartz etc.

Biofertilizers & use of organic manuring: Biofertilizers use includes use of Azolla, Anabaena etc.

Use of bio pesticides: It includes the u sage of neem base pesticides or neem manure etc. Also, use of beej amrit, jeev amrit, panchgavya must be promoted.

Implementing Integrated pest management practices or IPM: Integrated pest management practices include:1. Close Monitoring and evaluating Economic threshold levels.

2. Bio Pesticides 3. Habitat Modification 4. Crop Rotation 5. Alternative tillage 6. Mechanical pest removal.

The benefits of toxin free agriculture are vast and have upward spiral effect on enhancing biodiversity such as earthworms in soil & insect population on crops along with improving quality of food.

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TECHNICAL SESSION Defining Water Efficient, Toxin Free, Profitable Agriculture

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Session – Defining and setting the context Session Chairperson

Dr. Gurkanwal Singh - Retd Director Horticulture, Govt. of Punjab

Dr Gurkanwal shared his experience on water efficient, profitable and toxin free agriculture.

Punjab is consuming 60 billion cubic meter of water in overall sectors. There are 14 lakh 76 thousand tube wells. We are extracting water equivalent to 3 aquifers. 14 billion cubic meter water from ground along with 21 billion cubic meter, 14 billion cubic meter is available in canals, 10 billion cubic meter water is available from rain( The total water available in aquifer is 300 billion cubic meters. Every year we are extracting 14 billion cubic meters of ground water. If we continue to extract ground water in this pace, then We will exhaust all the available ground water in next 20-21 years.)

Water efficient Agriculture: Citing an example, every resident of Punjab 5600Ltr water /day while per capita consumption of water in Israel is 675Ltr water/day .It is high time to modify existing habits of water use or adopt good practices from Israel before the state turns into Dessert.

Irrigation should be provided in such a way that it can only create wetness but not any sort of water logging as this will interfere in normal functioning of these microorganisms. Proper moisture conditions created favorable conditions for these microorganisms which helps in translocation of nutrients to plants.

Efficient irrigation methods must be adopted for irrigating crops. We should not confine ourselves to the existing methods such as Drip or sprinkler, instead, we should explore other methodologies adopted by the farmers in other regions as well. For instance, Direct seeding of rice and bed planting can be exploited as water efficient methods of cultivation.

Toxin Free agriculture One study says that every Indian citizen inhales 1 grams of pesticides in 3 days whereas an American citizen inhales 1 gram of pesticides in 132 days. Hence it is the right time to take actions before it gets too late.

To raise toxin free produce, we must take into consideration 3 parameters • • •

the Proper nutritional balance in soil system, judicious use of water as per the requirement only and use of sunlight and the around 1 crore microorganism per gram of soil.

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Session – Defining and setting the context •

Industries, especially chemical industries are responsible for contaminating water. For example, the dyeing industry of Ludhiana. Similarly industries engaged in manufacturing of chemical fertilizers are also responsible for massive contamination. Therefore, it is the high time to raise the bar with stricter norms .

The power generation is another example. In Punjab every year, 4 crore 38 lac tons of coal is consumed in power generation which produces around 1 crore 10 lac tones ash. This ash contains 3.5ppm Uranium. This ash is one of the major contributor to cancer in the nearby regions.

Profitability in agriculture: Area under vegetable should be increased under diversification of crops. However, the government needs to play a vital role in fixing minimum pricing for the crops and also ensuring risk coverage.

Irrigate as per requirement, do soil testing and apply nutrient accordingly. Paddy straw contains silica, which has several interesting properties. Such as, it is antibiotic, increases immunity against diseases, pests and harsh climate. . Paddy/Wheat straw when mixed with farm yard manure and supplemented with bacterial culture can be used as manure. This will help to minimize the dependency on chemicals and thus reduce the cost on inputs.

In Israel, Integrated Income approach is followed. In this approach, one family members engages in Agriculture while rest do different jobs.

Finally Dr. Gurkanwal ended his lecture by emphasizing on the need of local experts & professionals in local areas. He embarked that only experts which have knowledge on localized issues can give an effective solution. It is time to establish and engage institutes and organization at all levels which can provide a platform to address the problem.

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Session - Defining and setting the context Expert Speaker

Dr IM Chhibba, RGR Cell, Tata Trusts & Retd. Soil Chemist, PAU

Dr. Chhibba, an eminent soil scientist emphasized the importance of soil health.

According to him, the organic matter in Punjab soils are very less, it’s because indiscriminate use of fertilizers and chemicals. This has also impacted the water retention capacity of soils. The water retention capacity has been reduced. Moreover, more fertilization can be translated into excess irrigation due to increased requirement.

Farmers usually, have habit of copying the practice adopted by the fellow farmers in their respective fields.

For instance, if fellow farmer is using heavy dose of Urea in his field, the farmer will also follow him without knowing the consequences on soil health. Moreover, it adds an extra burden to his pocket.

Farmers unknowingly or knowingly spread cow dung along with the mix of polythenes and other plastic wrappers on their fields. These inorganic substance when decomposed, interferes in normal life cycle of micro organisms and limits there activity. Moreover, it is creating pollution as well. Farmers must ensure that they should remove all the inorganic materials before applying on the fields.

While discussion paddy, He told that paddy in actual, requires only 15 days of standing water after transplanting. However, farmers keep fields filled with water for many days which is a wrong practice. Many new varieties have been developed by PAU which are short duration and requires less irrigation as well.

Farmers must have first hand information on the physical and chemical properties of soil. Interestingly, this may vary from farm to farm. A detailed soil test gives complete information on the physical and chemical properties of soil. Thus, by analyzing the report, farmers can skip the application of nutrients or fertilizers which are already present in the soil in available form. A lot of money can be saved by this.

Dr Chibba in the last asserted that 100 per cent subsidy on electricity for irrigation must be removed. Instead, farmers must be billed for the electricity they consume on irrigation. In Punjab, there are 14 lakh tube wells which are used for irrigation. These are enough to extract 100 per cent ground water. The governments must make legislations so that uncontrolled extraction can be regulated.

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TECHNICAL SESSION Options and Challenges in Water Efficient Agriculture

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Session– Options and Challenges in Water Efficient Agriculture Session Chairperson

Smt. Jyoti Sharma, Chairperson PJRB-SPARC Agriculture accounts for 70% of water use globally followed by Industry and domestic use which accounts 23% and 7% respectively. Irrigation water is being drawn faster than it is being replaced and pollutants entering water streams. The demand for industrial and domestic use is increasing exponentially.

India accounts for 16% of the global population but has access to only 4% of global fresh water resources.

In fact, 54% of India faces high to extremely high water stress. Out of 32 big cities of India, 22 face a water crisis.

Defining Water Foot Print: The water footprint is a measure of humanity’s appropriation of fresh water in volumes of water consumed and/or polluted.

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Green - is water from precipitation that is stored in the root zone of the soil and evaporated, transpired or incorporated by plants. It is particularly relevant for agricultural, horticultural and forestry products.

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Blue water that has been sourced from surface or groundwater resources and is either evaporated, incorporated into a product or taken from one body of water and returned to another, or returned at a different time. Irrigated agriculture, industry and domestic water use can each have a blue water footprint.

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Grey amount of fresh water required to assimilate pollutants to meet specific water quality standards.

The grey water footprint considers point-source pollution discharged to a freshwater resource directly through a pipe or indirectly through runoff or leaching from the soil, impervious surfaces, or other diffuse sources.

It looks at both direct and indirect water use of a process, product, company, sector or region and includes water consumption and pollution throughout the full production cycle from the supply chain to the end-user.

Examples • Jeans 11000 litre • Leather 17093 litre / kg • Beef – 15400 litre/kg • Beer 75l / glass 250 ml • Bread 1608 l / kg • Chicken meat 4325 /kg • Black coffee 132 l/125 ml cup • Lettuce 237 l /kg Just by substituting beef with chicken you save 11000 liters per kg. Or having tea instead of coffee (black) you save 240 liters per cup!!! A change in the diet of a nation could intensify or nullify virtual water imbalances.

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Session – Options and Challenges in Water Efficient Agriculture India specifically, water is also a major issue. The water footprint of India is 1182 million cubic meters a year, the second largest in the world behind China and closely followed by the United States. 38% of the world’s total water footprint is in these three countries. (National Water Footprints 2011:19).

India has the largest blue water footprint, with 243 million cubic meters, 24% of the world’s total. Irrigation of wheat, rice, and sugarcane make up around 75% of their total. India’s per capita water footprint is 1089 cubic meters/cap/yr., while the global average is 1385 cubic meters/cap/yr. (National Water Footprints Appendices 2011:24).

The water withdrawal by sector, which overall was 761 cubic kilometers, was 91% withdrawn by agriculture and livestock, 7% by municipalities, and 2% by industry. (FAO-2 2010).

If India has to grow and prosper, then adequate water must be made available for domestic, agriculture, industry and power purposes. And, we must also allow enough water to flow freely through our natural systems so that environmental needs can be satisfied. All this cannot be done without reducing the water footprint of all activities. Agricultural products form a critical component of most of the products and services we use. Hence, reducing the agriculture footprint will automatically reduce the footprint of all products.

Agriculture water efficiency can ‘free up’ water for a brighter tomorrow for all.

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Session – Options and Challenges in Water Efficient Agriculture Expert Speaker

Ms. Naima Akhtar, Scientist Center Ground Water Board, Chandigarh

India ranks 120 among 122 countries on water quality index which can be evident from the fact that 70% of fresh water is contaminated and unfit for use.

According to composite water management Index (CWMI) 2018, 21 major cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad are running towards Zero ground water levels by 2020. In addition to this, states such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi & Rajasthan consumes much ground water than annual recharge. The ground water depletion has been increased by 23 percent between 2000-2010.Moreover, country consumes 24% of global ground water, highest among all.

Punjab has a flat alluvial plain except a narrow belt along the southwestern parts where stable sand dunes are seen dotting the landscape. The area occupied by the mountains (Himalayan foothills) in northeast, is about 1243 sq. km. Perennial Rivers Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and ephemeral river Ghaggar drain the state.

Geological Set up: The State forms a part of the vast Indo Gangetic alluvial tract, which abuts against the Siwalik Hills in the north and northeast. The State is covered by alluvial deposits of Quaternary age except the northeastern parts where Shivalik rocks of Tertiary age are exposed. Stratigraphic succession is as below.

Age Recent

Formation Newer Alluvium

Lithology Active flood plains and abandoned flood plains

Quaternary- Sirowal Pleistocene Kandi

Silt and clay with subordinate amount of sand and gravels Boulders, pebbles, gravels and sand mixed with clay and clayey contents

Middle Miocene – Lower Miocene

Sandstone, pebbles bed, conglomerate and shale bands.

Upper Shivaliks

boulder,

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Session – Options and Challenges in Water Efficient Agriculture

Hydrology: The state can be divided into three zones • • •

Kandi Zone – Sub mountainous Punjab Central Zone – Central Plains of Punjab South West Zone -Plains of South West Punjab

Broad Features of Groundwater in Punjab Fresh water Aquifer

Saline water Aquifer

Single Aquifer System Kandi Formation

Single Aquifer System

Single Aquifer with limited freshwater at shallow depth.

Areas: Areas : Muktsar,Parts of Faridkot, Ferozpur, Pathankot, Parts of Ropar,SAS Sangrur, Bathinda, Moga, Mansa Areas: Nagar and Hoshiarpur Districts.

NIL. Multiple Aquifer System (2-3)

Multiple Aquifer System (2-3)

Areas: Areas: Amritsar, Barnala, Fatehgarh NIL Sahib, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, SBS Nagar ,Patiala , Tarn Taran, Parts of Faridkot, Ferozpur, Sangrur, Bathinda, Moga,

Water Areas

Logged

Areas: Muktsar, Parts of Bathinda, Fazilka and Mansa.

Illustrative Diagram showing that Ground water stress in 30 blocks

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Session - Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture

Options to Increase water efficiency •

Under ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR, a national project on aquifer management has been prepared which ensures sustainable management of ground water by managing aquifers.

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Punjab has given top priority in which around 50369sq km area of the state will be benefited. It is implemented by CGWB along with other government agencies.

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The program includes mapping of aquifers to evaluate the available quantity of water & quality as well then, integrating various geo scientific information such as geo morphology, geology , hydraulics and

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Session: Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture •

ground water quality etc. to form a management plan involving supply side and demand side managements.

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The state has been divided into 4 clusters and the scheme is implemented in 4 phases. o o o o

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Phase-I : 8499 Sq Km, 4 districts (30 blocks) mostly freshwater multiple alluvial aquifers.

Phase-II : 15235 Sq Km, 6 districts (28 blocks) mixed of Freshwater and saline alluvial aquifers.

Phase-III : 17724 Sq Km, 8 districts (50 blocks) mixed of fresh water and saline in alluvium aquifers.

Phase-IV : 8911 Sq Km,4 districts (30 blocks), mostly of fresh water multiple alluvial aquifers.

Strategy for sustainable management of over draft has been worked out for both district & block level.

Supply Side

Demand Side

Artificial recharge to groundwater

Prevention of water losses by laying of pipelines in place of open water courses

Construction of recharge ponds – Crop diversification from paddy in kharif “Khet ka pani khet mai Rooftop rainwater harvesting: Water saving techniques for wheat in Rabi Urban and rural households.

Recharge shaft along highways

Use of drip and sprinkler irrigation.

Village Ponds

24

Session: Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture Expert Speaker

Dr. Anurag Tewari, Dean Chitkara University, Rajpura Punjab

An agriculture program can only become a profitable entity when it takes account of consumer along with producer. In another words, a demand based program must be implemented which will help to pique the net profits.

Paddy is one of the important crops of India which is consumed by majority of the population. However, out of the total 89% of water used in agriculture, around 60% of irrigated water is consumed by paddy only.

Though India and China contributes half of the total global production, However, for producing 1kg of Rice, 5600Ltr of water is consumed in India while, China produces same quantity in 400Ltr. The journey of paddy starting at the time of transplanting to till harvesting is not easy. The crop faces many challenges during its life cycle.

• • • • •

The crop is attacked by many insects and pests.

Indiscriminate use of chemicals on the crop.

Less turnaround time.

Prone to lodging Costly Manual labor.

To overcome these challenges, one of the solutions is Direct Seeding of Rice instead of cultivation by puddling methods. Studies have shown that apart from saving water, Direct Seeding of Rice or DSR helps to prevent lodging of the crops.

IFC-TILDA Basmati Conservation Project in Haryana: Salient Features of the program were • • • •

Developing DSR Based cultivation in Haryana where 59% area is over exploited while 26% area critical.

To enhance the quality & production of crop.

To reduce the crop loss due to lodging at the time of maturity.

Identification and establishment of ATSP’s (Agri Technology Service Providers) to build awareness on Good agriculture and water efficient practices.

25

Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture

Modus Operandi Basmati Growers

Booking for DSR

DSR Machine & Technical Expertise

Agri Technology Service Provider with his own Tractor, Driver & Fuel

Impact of DSR vs. Puddled Rice • • •

Yields obtain by using DSR was comparatively same as in Puddled Rice.

The percentages of broken grains were considerably less in DSR grown Rice.

Quality of Produce was high

Impact of ATSP model

Advantages of ATSP model

Traditional Challenges • • •

Costly Seasonal with slow adoption High risks

• • •

Benefits to ATSPs

Cost-effective Quicker Adoption Easy platform

According to Dr. Anurag, one of the way to continue with paddy as main crop is to adopt water saving techniques such as DSR. If relied on conventional methods, it would become impossible for the farmers to continue with paddy in the future. Paddy fetched better market price due to assured lifting by government.

26

Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture

Mr. Harpreet Singh Kahlon, Senior Correspondent, Jag Bani

Mr Kahlon started his conversation by narrating a story of movie “Erin Brockovich” in which a lady (main character) fought against the energy corporation after finding that company has contaminated the ground water with “Hexavalent chromium” a carcinogenic substances without intimating the locals who suffered from tumors and other form of cancers.

According to him the current situation of Punjab is very much same.

The universities and other institutes have kept double standards and misinformed the farmers. Citing an example, he said that first universities educated farmers to burn paddy straw as a good practice later they pressurized farmers to follow stubble management. Farmers alone is not responsible for current situation.

Similarly, Eucylyptus or safeda was promoted earlier as cleansing agent for environment but, later it was declared as most water consuming crop.

According to him there was no need of green revolution or white revolution in Punjab. This has lead to degradation of natural environment. Diversification was not successful in Punjab though many campaigns were thwarted during recent times. One of the reasons is poor marketing system. Farmers are not assured for proper price. Farmers who were cultivating vegetables earlier are now shifting towards cereals. It is happening because unstability in prices along with unexpected pest attacks that may render complete crop failure.

Kali bein river- a 160 km long tributary of beas once was reduced to drain due to contamination by industrial and domestic waste. Sant Balbir singh seechewal with his volunteers, cleaned the tributary with his volunteers and made the water available to locals. Out of all blocks, only Sultan pur lodhi has water level above the maximum limit because of the efforts of Sant Seechewal. The water level in near by natural bodies have been increased as well.

To curb the impact of Pollution, a man made forest has been raised in Lahore with 8kms stretch.Our governments must follow this model and raise some artificial forests which will help in curtailing pollution levels.

The cancer has become a worrisome problem in Punjab. Almost every household is impacted by this.The indiscriminate use of agro chemicals and inorganic fertilizers is the root cause. The government has to bring an action plan to control this menace before it gets too late.

27

Session Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture Expert Speaker

Mr. Sanjeev Sharma, Associate Market Director, Kheti Virasat Mission

Mr Sanjeev started his lecture by weighing importance on the mission “TANDRUST PUNJAB” as it is the uttermost need of today. The people of Punjab are not fit and healthy as it was in past. “Our food is adulterated with toxins and we are living in toxic environment” he said.

After the green revolution, the use of inorganic pesticides and fertilizers was surged to indiscriminate levels.

In fact, Punjab topped the country with maximum use of pesticides as compared to other states. This has lead to massive intoxication of ground water and soil as well.

Pesticides are in form of precipitates or small molecules when sprayed, get inhaled and goes into human system. This direct intervention has many serious repercussions on human body. In addition to this, systemic insecticides have long waiting periods in the crop, once harvested, these chemicals were consumed along with the crop. It is not wrong to say that our food is adulterated and not fit for consumption.

There is an indirect effect also. These inorganic chemicals contaminate our soil and groundwater which have drastic affect on soil flora and fauna. The groundwater once contaminated, become unfit for drinking and irrigation. For example, the problem of blue babies arose due to high nitrate content in soil.

He also mentioned that despite of severe legislations on the use of hazardous chemicals, still some chemicals are sold without any check. Citing an example of Glyophosate, a systemic weedicide which has been banned due to its carcinogenic nature, still in use in some areas of Punjab. Farmers are required to be taught on safe use of chemicals as they have long term residual effects.

According to MR.Sanjeev,IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) has accepted that Green revolution was a blunder of its time as it was not required. Instead, efforts could have been made to develop strategies for controlling pests & disease. Uncontrolled use of pesticides and fertilizers has given rise to the problem of pesticide resistance & pest resurgence. He said that IRRI once claimed that it was a mistake happened in the past.

He emphasized on adopting scientific approach of “Economic Threshold levels” and IPM techniques.

Economic threshold level (ETL) is the density of pests in a crop at which management has to be implemented before it causes economic losses. IPM or Integrated Pest Management which means use of mechanical, biological and cultural control along with chemicals for controlling pest population.

28

Session Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture

ETL is part of IPM and hence by knowing the value of ETL necessary control can be administered. This helps in saving time, money and producing toxic free crops.

Biofertilizers and Biopesticides which were ignored in the past can be a good alternate for inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. With these in use, the application of inorganic chemicals can be limited to certain levels. In addition to this, monocropping must be replaced by multicropping. This can be done by adopting intercropping, crop rotation, and bio diversity.

In the last, Mr Sanjeev said that it is the high time to adopt Toxin free agriculture and promote organic farming.

Many countries have already transformed into ‘Organic Countries’ however, we are still following conventional agriculture. India should also follow the same path to give healthy and toxin free future to coming generations.

29

TECHNICAL SESSION Options and Challenges in Toxin Free Agriculture

30

Session Options and Challenges in Water efficient agriculture Expert Speaker

Mrs Lipika, Secretary, Kheti Virasat Mission

Ms. Lipika, in her speech stressed for adopting organic farming. She focused on in-house techniques of organic farming such as Organic kitchen gardens. More than 5000 women across 50 villages in Punjab are engaged in organic kitchen gardening. These women have organized themselves into a group which is known as “Women Action Group�.

As said by speaker, the easiest route to start climate friendly agriculture is to adopt stubble management on farms. This include mulching, crop residue management & use of Zero tillage for sowing crops. Organic compost, a suitable alternate for fertilizer can easily be produced from leaves and trashes of plants. The colleges and other institutes having enough vegetation usually burn dried leaves thus creating pollution.

Instead, they can make use of fallen leaves and dead tissues of trees to make compost which can be used on plants as bio fertilizer.

One of the biggest barriers which hampers the adoption of Organic Farming in India is lack of proper training on organic farming. Farmer field schools and farmer training centers must be raised which should provide training on manufacturing of Bio fertilizers and bio pesticides, use of predatory insects and on other agronomic aspects and proper marketing of produce. She informed that KVM has started training farmers on organic farming in which farmers are taught to prepare organic fertilizers such as jeev amrit, beej amrit and compost.

Organic Farming was part of our tradition. It cannot be taken as an induvial entity but it was a part of our culture. As our cultural values changed with the time, our agriculture was also changed. Hence, it is very important to revive our traditional culture as well. This can be done by organizing traditional food festivals, cultural festivals, Natural farming schools, conserving seeds through seed bank movements etc.

Organizations must engage in promoting these initiatives and individuals must be honored.

She closed her session by weighing the need on traditional farming and conserving culture which will definitely help in making our farming profitable and gives a healthy society.

31

Session: Options and Challenges in Toxin Free agriculture Expert Speaker

Mr Varun Vashishth, President, Jai Kisan Welfare Society

Mr. Varun started his session by defining toxins as substance that cause disturbance in organisms, usually as chemical reaction or at any other molecular level when organism absorbs in sufficient quantity. In agriculture, Pesticides can be defined as toxic substances. Agriculture toxins not only pollute soil and water but also remain persistent in our atmosphere for a considerable period of time. In many diseases such as Cancers, Blue Babies, Asthma etc., the role of pesticides is proved.

Challenges in establishing Toxin free Punjab: These can be classified into 4 parts.

•

Input related: It defines non availability of bio pesticides, bio fertilizers and other inputs such as organic manures at the time of sowing and during the plant life cycle. If available then, it is very costly.

Information related: It means that farmers do not have much knowledge about bio-inputs. Neither they are aware nor there are enough agencies to guide them. In the lack of proper resources, they are bound to follow their fellow farmers.

Socio culture related: Organic farming advocates manual operations instead of use of chemicals, this in result, increases the cost of cultivation which is paramount factor in deciding the type of farming to be adopted. Secondly, due to poor soil potential, productivity during early phase will be low which lowers the morale of farmers. In addition to above, small land holdings, increased pest resurgence and poor markets limits the spread of organic farming.

Miscellaneous problems: These include localized issues such late payments, unfavorable weather, nonavailability of seeds and skill involved.

• •

•

Solutions for promoting Toxin free agriculture • • • • •

•

Organic markets should be raised to ease the market of organic products. Till date, we do not have demarcated organic markets.

Expert advice/consultancy must be available at all times.

The demand of organic products must be the base upon which cultivations programs can be projected.

Certification drive or programs should be carried out to add value to the organic product. Without proper certifications, the products will not the desired value.

Timely availability of inputs must be monitored and ensured.

Export opportunities for organic products must be exploited.

Lastly, Mr Varun suggested that people must be aware about ill effects of pesticide use and how they are affecting their health and environment. He has also suggested that government must also come forward and support by incentivizing the organic farming. The farmers must be extracted from the euphoria of Green revolution and they must be trained to combat real time situation of current scenario.

32

Session: Options and Challenges in Toxin Free agriculture Expert Speaker

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Deputy project director, ATMA

Dr. Ranjan correlated organic farming with “bacterial farming” since most of the biofertilizers and bio pesticides contain friendly bacteria as an important resource. According to him one of the ways to adopt toxin free agriculture is to adopt that the way our ancestors cultivated their farms.

Use of bacterial culture or bio fertilizers can help in developing toxin free climate friendly agriculture. Unlike, chemicals there application is completely safe to environment and humans since they do not have any residual effects. Bio fertilizers are the substances that contain microorganisms living or latent cells. Bio fertilizers are classified into 3 types:• Nitrogenous fertilizers • Phosphatic fertilizers • Potash fertilizers Nitrogenous fertilizers: These contain nitrogen fixing bacteria which takes nitrogen from atmosphere and fixes it in the soil. For example- Azotobacter used in wheat, maize, mustard, Azopirrillum which can be used in millets, maize, sugarcane etc.

Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) : These bacteria helps in additional 40-45% fixation of phosphorus to plants by decomposition of complex organic material.

Potash Solubilizing Bacteria (KSB): It helps in increasing availability of potash through decomposition of available organic material in soils.

A basic dose of 3-4kg of biofertilizers is usually sufficient for one acre. Liquid form is more effective than powdered form and cheap also. The liquid biofertilizers can be mixed with manure/organic fertilizers which gives comparatively better results.

There are some limitations as well. The impact of biofertilizer is not instant but required at least 2-3 years.

He suggested farmers to limit the application of inorganic fertilizers and compensate with biofertilizers. In this way they can completely eliminate the use of inorganic chemicals and replace with biofertilizers. This however, require lot of patience and will power.

Dr. Ranjan suggested farmers to get their soil tested and based upon the report recommended doses of fertilizers must be applied. In the last, he urged farmers to start using bio fertilizers though in little quantities.

This would help them to understand its use and importance.

33

Session: Options and Challenges in Toxin Free agriculture Expert Speaker

Ms. Rupali Gupta, Expert Waste water recycling

Ms. Rupali in her speech emphasized on the quality of water and its implications of human and environment. There is no secret that we have limited resources of fresh water and in agriculture there is no alternate. The quality of water applied ensures the quality of produce which further decides the health of population.

According to her experience in waste water management, the contaminated water which is used in irrigation carries industrial and municipal waste which flows through rivers and canals and contaminate nearby fields.

The unattended industrial wastage is actually the root cause of polluted water.

Waste water can be classified inti 4 categories based upon source of contamination.

34

Session: Options and Challenges in Toxin Free agriculture Ms Rupali also shared the maximum permissible limits that is required to check before re-using water for agriculture purposes.

Sr No

Parameters

Permissible Limits (in ppm

1 2 3 4 5

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD Fecal Coliform (FC) Total Dissolved Solids (TDS Total Suspended Solids (TSS)

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

pH Cadmium (Cd) Lead (Pb) Zinc (Zn) Copper Arsenic Uranium Chromium Mercury Fluoride

30 250 1000 2000 100 6.5-9 0.01 5 2 0.2 0.1 NA 0.1 0.001 1.0

The impact of contaminated irrigated water has shown hazardous effect on environment & human health.

• • • • • •

At every trophic level, the concentration of contaminant magnifies Cancer has become one of the major causes of death in India.

Crop is not carrying the right amount of nutrients causing malnutrition 1/3 stunted (low height for age) children of the world, live in India (~5 Crore) 1/4 wasted (low weight for height) children of the world, live in India (~2.5 Crore) Only 21% of food produced in India is found to healthy

Options to the current Problem • • • • • •

Use of Treated water for irrigation.

No use of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides Preparation of manure naturally Use of Organic seeds Use of Technology to treat waste water-For example MBBR technology for waste water treatment, Soil biotechnology for Effluent treatment, Phytorid technology for sewage treatment Self-motivation drives to motivate farmers to re-use water.

Some Self - intiatives by Farmers •

Haryana, Gurgaon

35

Session: Options and Challenges in Toxin Free agriculture The salty underground water is converted to fresh water by farmers on their own, also increasing the ground water table.

•

Uttar Pardesh Jakhni The farmers themselves treat the waste water and reuse it for irrigation purpose

•

Maharashtra, Marathwada Drip irrigation is used to grow grapes Hiware Bazar Make water budget and grow crops accordingly

•

Telangana,Peddapalli The farmers have created source of water other than the rainfall by digging trenches from the fill.

•

Odisha,Angul The farmers left farming due to water scarcity, got back to agriculture with water conservation initiated an NGO

36

TECHNICAL SESSION Case Studies in Water Efficient, Toxin Free, Profitable Agriculture

37

Session: Case Studies in Water Efficient, Toxin Free Profitable Agriculture Expert View

S.Avtar singh, Innovator Phagwara Good Grow Cropping System

S. Avtar singh ji is a progressive farmers and innovator of Phagwara good grower cropping system that is based upon the concept of “BHAGWAN”. According to him term BHAGWAN stands for BH-Bhumi (Land), A-Agni (Sunlight), G-Gagan (Sky), WA-Wayu (Air) N-Neer (Water).

S. Avtar Singh defines his way of cultivation as “Use of science with maximum cooperation of Mother Nature.

In his speech he discussed about naturalization of rice cultivation but with special reference to the water usage as compared to conventional method. This discussion later on was concluded by Dr. CL Vashishth.

To start with, he said that conventional cultivation of rice using puddling method has lead to water crisis in Punjab. Rice in actual, is a native of coastal areas of south east Asia but not of northern plains. The existence of rice in northern areas is because of manipulating fields through flooding and puddling since our soils had different pedology. We modified our soils as per the requirement of paddy and hence, destroyed the naturally existing soil structure.

According to S. Avtar singh, puddling and transplanting stands against our environment. Hence, they develop a new way of cultivating rice and given the term ‘Anerobic sowing of Rice or ASR technique’. In ASR method, anerobic conditions are given to the rice without puddling the field.

The objectives of ASR technique were;1. Increasing water use efficiency in rice by minimizing its usage.

2. Saving cost on water and increasing net returns of the farmers.

Procedure of ASR application •

The field must be irrigated after 15th may. Note that field should not be ploughed or no stubble burning happened after the harvest of rabi crop (Wheat).

•

At the time when field reaches to its field capacity or wattar , it should be planked with heavy planker. To add more weight, 2 bags of sands are kept at both the sides of planker.

38

Case Studies in Water Efficient, Profitable and Toxin Free Agriculture • • • • • •

Planking helps in compressing the soil and removing air thus creating anerobic conditions in the soils.

Planking operations are repeated 6-7 times.

Field is check for readiness by taking a walk over field. In case of air, the soil will be pressed. Under anerobic or no air conditions, the soil will remain intact.

Tractor drawn seed drill is used to sow seeds. Around 8kg seed per acre is used. The field is again compressed by using planker but without adding additional weight of gunny bags filled with sand/soil.

Irrigation was carried out at 21 days after sowing which could vary depending upon the rainfall.

This approach is also called Moisture in -Air out approach for paddy cultivation.

S.Avtar singh ji concluded his speech by defining ASR as futuristic, compatible, nature nourished, water saving and sustainable form of paddy cultivation in Punjab.

Pictures of different phases where ASR technique followed

Compressed land after preparation

Germination after 21 days

Paddy seed germination

Irrigation after 21 days

Germination after 14 days

Paddy after 35 days

39

Case studies on profitable, water efficient & toxin free agriculture Expert Speaker

Dr CL Vashishth, Retd. Deputy director Agriculture

Dr Vashishth continued the discussions on ASR technique and presented comparative analysis on ASR with conventional puddled transplanted rice method. The comparison included the basis agronomy involved, Pest control method, cost of input and net returns gained. The objective this case study was to establish ASR as a better and water saving alternative to the current adopted method.

A comparison of ASR and Conventional Puddled Transplanted Rice (CPTR) Method of Cultivation Nursery raising Date of transplanting

C.P.T.R • •

ASR

Puddling & transplanting of Nursery • was raised on 20-05-2018 and transplanted on 20-06-2018.

Expenditure Rs. 5000 Per Acre.

•

Anaerobic Seeding Method (ASR) needs no nursery raising of paddy. It was sown directly on 21-05-2018 Expenditure Rs. 1500 Per Acre.

Irrigation Techniques

Standing water/Flooding is required. • Water is made to stand continuously for 2 weeks after transplanting as per • recommendation.

Weed control

Weed control practices i.e. No weed control measures adopted as chemical/Physical methods need to be weeds do not emerge due to anaerobic followed as per recommendations conditions up to 21 days. However, after irrigation if weeds germinate; only then apply weedicides as per recommendations. However in this case weedicides was not applied.

Fertilizer used Electricity consumption Underground water withdrawn

Urea 2.5 bags of Rs. 675 160 hours A 10 HP motor with a delivery of 4 inches, depth of the tubewell 280 feet draw out water @ 3600 litres water per hour ,Thus withdraw a total 5.76 lac litre of water

Water saving

Only moisture is needed.

Irrigation of the field after 21 days.

No Standing of water is required.

Urea 2.5 bags of Rs. 675 12 hours Total 43,200 litres of withdrawn.

water

Approx. 5.33 Lac litres per acre

40

was

Labour Saving

CPTR is labour intensive which is No labour cost involved. In addition required for paddy transplanting i.e. cost 20days labour saving which was around 4000 per acre. required for irrigation.

Micronutrient Pesticides (Fungicide+Insecticide)

Rs. 350/Rs. 630/-

Rs.350/Rs. 630/-

Yield level Expenditure Estimated

21.0 qtl/acre Rs. 10,655/-

21.5 qtl/ acre Rs. 3155/-

Difference Expenditure

in

Total Returns Rs. 36,540/- per acre Net Return Rs. 25,885/- per acre % of increase of Net Return ASR/CPTR (Estimated) 32.33 % % of decrease in water consumption ASR/CPTR 1233.33 % (Approx.) % of decrease in Electricity consumption ASR/CPTR 1233.33 % (Approx.)

Rs.10655 - 3155= Rs. 7500/- i.e. Rs 7500/- saved in Expenditure in ASR Method Rs. 37,410/- per acre Rs. 34,255/- per acre

Conclusion by Dr. Vashishth As per scientists observation, for production of 1 kg Rice needs approx. 3000Litres of water in conventional system of Rice Production. It is evident from above that in ASR Systems for Production of 1 kg Rice requires only 230 litres of Water. Hence, it can be said that ASR is at par yielding with CPTR system. Furthermore, It is more profitable than conventional rice cultivation. In addition, ,It is stress and strain free with good quality of economic product.

41

Case studies on profitable, water efficient & toxin free agriculture Expert Speaker

Dr. Sarvan Singh, Agronomist, Jain Irrigation Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Dr. Sarwan shared his views on the benefits of cultivating paddy under Drip method.

In drip method, irrigation in form of droplets is provided to plants through the network of pipes.

Drip irrigation conserves around 30-60 per cent water as compared to conventional methods of paddy cultivation. He told that direct seeding of rice using drip method of irrigation is possible that only saves water but also increases productivity by 60%.

In the drip method, fertilizers are given with irrigation which is called as ‘Fertigation’. Fertigation saves around 50% of electricity and a lot of water. Excess wastage of fertilizer is also eliminated as in case of broadcasting in existing methods.

Many farmers of Punjab and Haryana have adopted drip method. Government agencies are providing around 80% subsidy on installing Drip which suits to every farmer. There is no negative impact on yield as well.

On enquiring about the quality of pipes, Dr. Sarwan informed that for making drip pipes special HDPE material is used which has a average life of 8 years. If proper care is taken then the shelf life of these pipes can extend up to 16 years. The problem of puncture in pipe is common which can be avoided with little care as well.

Farmers had also raised queries about the process to get subsidy which was answered by Dr. Sarwan. He shared complete roadmap to attain subsidy.

Addressing the queries, Dr.Sutantar Kumar aery, Director agriculture, Government of Punjab informed the audience that the department has raised many plots as ‘demonstration farms’ to educate farmers. Farmers can get required information from the nearby block agriculture departments.

42

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

43

Valedictory Address and Points to Ponder on

Sh Harprem Vashisht State Award Winning Innovative Farmer & Farmer Leader I am happy and proud that, because of the visionary efforts of PJRB-SPARC, village Ghagial may well become the epicenter of a much-needed change in Indian agriculture.

The fact is that the Indian farmer is suffering. I am a farmer myself and am also a leader in the farming community. I am a Punjab state award winner as an innovative farmer. Yet, like all my other brethren farmers, I find it hard to make profit from agriculture. We feel that neither the government, nor the consumer is truly understanding how badly we suffer. We are at the mercy of the both nature and man. On one hand, climate changes impact our productivity and on the other traders control the rates we get for what we produce. We feel helpless. Our children see no future in farming. They are leaving the village. Sadly, we are not even able to provide them the kind of education others provide, to equip them to earn a good livelihood outside.

Certainly, things need to change. And it must start with government policy and support. Farmers movements across the country are asking for implementation of the Swaminathan commission and for bringing more crops under MSP. We need to feel secure ourselves to make our country food secure.

We ourselves are worried about the rapidly deteriorating water and soil situation. No farmer wants to exploit nature. But we need guidance and support for how to do so. Also, the assurance that our earning, already so low, will not drop further.

We welcome the efforts of PJRB-SPARC. As the Committee leader of the area, and on behalf of the Sarpanch, Ghagial, I congratulate all the speakers for the excellent ideas they shared with us. We will be happy to join hands with PJRB-SPARC to promote Profitable, Water Efficient, Toxin Free agriculture.

44

PJRB SPARC ANALYSIS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

45

PJRB -SPARC Analysis

The conference has set a milestone in the field of agriculture and we believe, the journey to give it a better shape which has just begun will surely reach a beautiful destination, with PJRB-SPARC being a proud torch bearer to lead the way. The event was embraced by intellectuals, students, farmers and experts from various fields. The turnout in such large number proved that, it will surely become a strong bridge to connect all those who can join hands to create a water abundant, food abundant, prosperous and healthy future for farmers and for the nation.

Some key discussions listed below give us a glimpse of the expanse of the topics covered during the Conference: To better understand the outcomes of the rigorous brainstorming sessions, we can divide it into 3 parts: Current Scenario, Way Forward and Challenges each, under head of Profitability, Water Efficiency and Toxicity

Profitability in Agriculture

Current Scenario

Way Forwatd

• Human capital under utilized. Conventional agriculture exploitative.

•Around 44% of population engaged in agriculture contribute on 17% in GDP. •Current agriculture is unplanned, resource exploitative and contaminating.

•Technology inclusion which must fit into the pocket of farmer must be available to reduce the cost of capital and adjust for decreasing availability of labour.

•Adoption of climate smart agriculture using traditional and new technologies.

• Innovative production and marketing needed to enhance returns and share risk.

•Choice of right quality of seeds and inputs should be done, with new innovations to reach the land from the labs.

•Soil health is a critical factor. Needs to be protected and enhanced

•Declining soil health, heavy chemical inputs use and pressure on farmers •The farmers, the departments and the research institutes are working in silos since agriculture being an unorganised sector.

•To bridge the three is a major challenge posed, to reach the target of doubling the Challenges farmers income by 2022

46

PJRB -SPARC Analysis Water Efficiency

Current Scenario

• India has share of only 4% of fresh water to feed 17% of world's population.

• Groundwater, is the most important source of fresh water - 90% use is in agriculture •Every year around 25% more water is extracted however only 7% water is replenished

•Field preparation, seed varieties, cropping patterns, irrigation methods and processing methods to increase water efficiency in agriculture.

•Reuse of recycled waste water in agriculture & other sectors Way Forwatd •Rain water harvesting & revival of water bodies for recharging ground water.

•Adoption of "More Crop per drop" by implementing water saving techniques •Creating consumer demand for Water Efficient Agriculture will help motivate farmers

Challenges

•Four challenges need to be overcome for its sucess. These are finances, awareness, skilled execution and personal will of the farmers.

•Existing micro irrigation techonology is out of pocket for the farmers.

•Lack of knowldge among farmers restricts its implementation on ground level.

Toxin Free

Current Scenario

Way Forwatd

Challenges

• According to Global nutrition report(2018), only 21% food in India is healthy. Rest contains one or two substances which are hazardous in nature.

•Agriculture both contributes to and is a victim of contaminated soil, air and water.

•Soil and water get contaminated through indescriminate use of chemicals such as pesticides and other chemicals during plant growth.

•Contamination in water is also because of industrial waste and human contamination.

•Sale of chemicals and fertilizers should be regulated based on crop & soil requirements.

•Free electricity for extracting ground water for agriculture must be restricted.

•By promoting climate smart agriculture such as Conservation Agriculture the over use of pesticides and fertilizers can be curbed.

•Consumer demand for Toxin free food has incentivised adoption of organic practices.

•Bio fertilizers must be produced in higher quantities. Current production is not sufficient to satiate the existing requirements.

•Integrated Farming approach as an alternate to conventional agriculture must be promoted as natural farming takes time to heal as comparison to conventional form.

•Lack of stringent laws and regulatory approach.

47

PJRBSPARC Analysis

ACTION POINTS & Way Forward for Toxin free, Profitable & Water efficient agriculture The presentations and deliberations held over the two days of the conference were of a very high quality. The speakers were experts and passionate in their commitment to agriculture, water and agriculturists. There was much to learn from each of them. Some of our key learnings and conclusions are mentioned in the paragraphs below.

We agree with the viewpoint of Sh. Pawan Adia ji in where he emphasized the need for a broadbased involvement of other sectors especially of local NGO’s and institutes in creating awareness on water conservation. A mass movement for water conservation is needed.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT - We suggest that yearly outreach plans be made to engage such sectors. Targets based on those should be set for implementing awareness on water conservation & promoting toxin free agriculture. PJRB-SPARC offers its unstinting support for a mass movement for water security.

Diversification of crops to include those which consume less water and reduce more water consuming crops is suggested by Dr. Aery.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT & AGRI MARKETERS - We totally agree with the suggestion of crop diversification towards water efficient crops. We suggest that the government and market players should help create demand for such crops, provide easy access to markets where both producers and consumers can get good value for their money.

We also agree with Dr. Aery who started the use of “Block soil maps” for effective and judicious application of fertilizers. This not only saves input cost but also reduces soil stress.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT - It is our observation that most farmers are unaware of the availability of and the benefits of Block Soil maps. We suggest that Farmer field schools and awareness camps must be held in villages. We also suggest that Block soil maps be placed at each Panchayat House to maximize their visibility to farmers.

Dr Kandhari emphasized the adoption of organic and natural farming as alternate to conventional form of agriculture.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT & MARKET ENTITIES We in PJRB-SPARC, agree with Dr Kandhari’s view. However, farmers need to be able to sell their produce easily. Markets and marketing support to sell the organic produce should be created. Since initial production during early stages will be low hence, farmers must be given a subsidy to compensate for his initial losses.

Dr. Kandhari also emphasized on water saving practices such as laser levelling, mulching and other methods like rainwater harvesting to increase water supply in villages. He said that each farm must

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PJRBSPARC Analysis be considered as a unit and must be cared accordingly However, the package of practices devised by state university do not highlight these practices enough.

ACTION POINT- FOR GOVERNMENT AND VILLAGE LEADERS -We must aim for selfsufficiency in water. Each field and each village must aim to balance its water needs with supply sources. Farm Ponds, Village Ponds, Recharge through dugwells and tubewells, farm bunds etc should be adopted for water conservation within the village. We also suggest a special thrust in making region and crop specific Package of Practices on such water saving agriculture methods. These should be popularized through KVKs. Government must also make rainwater harvesting mandatory so that groundwater extraction is always accompanied with groundwater recharge.

Dr. Gurkanwal raised the need for an experienced, committed workforce. He highlighted the fact that skilled technocrats are not available, which in fact, restricts the timely implementation of efforts and schemes by the government. The necessary work force must be raised and engaged for the sake of execution.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS - PJRBSPARC also believes that trained & motivated human resources, efficiency enhancing machines & processes and rewarding market & social systems all are needed. They feed into & strengthen each other. Training institutions should be asked to include water efficiency in their curriculum. Innovations should be encouraged and mentorship provided.

We also agreed with Dr. Gurkanwal’s viewpoint that agriculture must be taken as a “profession” instead of family tradition. One member of each household should feel secure enough to adopt agriculture as a profession. To make it happen, the newer generations must be given training and assurance for smooth future in farming.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT AND TRAINING INSTITUTION - This is completely aligned with our point of view. PJRB-SPARC was infact set up with the intention of creating an international hub for new – profitable and climate smart - avenues in agriculture. Success case studies should be made and shared; social awards should be given and income security to farmers should be provided. This will encourage people to take this up as a profession.

PJRB-SPARC supported the viewpoint of Smt. Jyoti Sharma that a small change in habits can bring a positive change in forming water efficient & water wise society.

ACTION POINT – FOR NGOs, VILLAGE LEADERS - We feel that NGOs should create awareness about the need for water efficiency at all levels – individual, community, society, government and business. They must work towards changing water usage behaviors that reduce the water footprint of all products, services and lifestyles

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PJRBSPARC Analysis

Dr Chibba observed that most of the farmers do not prefer to get soil tested of their fields. Instead they follow their own philosophies or copy fellow farmers. Dr. Chibba said this was a negative because soil test not only helps to know about the nutrient status but also gives information about its physical properties. This helps a farmer decide the optimal package of crop and cropping support.

ACTION POINT- FOR GOVERNMENT - Agreeing with this fact, we suggest that the agriculture department should adopt famers from the blocks and implement package of practices based upon soil test report. The field results with respect to yield obtained, total input cost and amount of fertilizer used, can be compared with non-soil tested plots in the area. The observations can be shared with the farmers.

We highly appreciated Ms. Naima’s detailed presentation on groundwater scenario and how a better understanding of sub surface soil and water conditions can help plan groundwater usage better.

ACTION POINT – FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS - We agree that sustainable management of water can only be achieved if measures to reduce losses are implemented at both supply and demand sides as suggested by Ms. Naima. ‘Gaon ka Paani Gaon Mein’ for rainwater harvesting should be promoted and supported. PJRB-SPARC’s parent organization – FORCE – specializes in groundwater conservation. We offer impart learnings to the farmers and village heads Ms Rupali gave us an entirely new perspective on how recycled wastewater can be used for agriculture. She spoke about the different ways of treating wastewater and the typical chemicals present in treated wastewater of different types.

ACTION POINT – FOR GOVERNMENT, VILLAGE LEADERS, TRAINING INSTITUTIONS & NGOs - PJRB-SPARC recognizes this as a critical element in the way forward for water efficient, toxin free agriculture. It offers a viable solution for the water crisis facing Indian agriculture. More importantly, it creates a bridge of co-operation between two critical sectors – industry and agriculture. Over the past few years, water has become a major point of conflict between these two sectors. Recycled water use in agriculture removes that source of conflict and turns it into co-operation for water. We suggest that government should come out with a policy that incentivizes industry to supply treated waste-water for agriculture.

Also, independent, free of cost for farmers & consumers, laboratories to verify the quality of that water and the produce that grows using them should be set up. At the same time, NGOs and training institutions must work to remove misconceptions regarding use of safely treated waste water should be removed from the minds of farmers and the consumers.

Dr. Anurag’s presentation on experiments with growing Basmati rice using Direct seeding of rice showed that water efficient agriculture is not just climate smart, it is also highly effective. He showed how it helped save 10-15% of water. More importantly, Dr Anurag showed many proofs that adopting DSR also led to an increase in the quality of Basmati Rice thus allowing the farmer to get a better price in the export market and face lesser rejections of lots.

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PJRBSPARC Analysis PJRBSPARC Analysis ACTION POINT FOR GOVERNMENT, TRAINING INSTITUTIONS AND NGOs - This presentation confirmed the premise on which PJRB-SPARC was founded viz that water efficient agriculture is also profitable agriculture. We would strongly recommend government bodies, training institutes and NGOs to plan their communication campaign for water saving in agriculture with such examples that show the farmer how he can actually become more profitable by being water wise.

Mr. Hapreet kahlon and Mr. Sanjeev sharma both said that Indiscriminate use of chemicals and fertilizers are the main culprits of cancer in Punjab.

ACTION POINT FOR GOVERNMENT & VILLAGE LEADERS - We agree with them that a strong legislation is required to control the usage of chemicals in agriculture. In the absence of regulatory mechanism, companies give lucrative discounts to dealers to push chemical sales. Due to easy availability in the markets, and because farmers take the advice of these dealers, the sale and excessive usage of potentially harmful products remains unchecked.

Government must regulate the availability of a chemical input in a market or the amount a dealer is allowed to sell in an area (depending on its cropping pattern). A penalty should be imposed on excessive chemical sale or use. Village leaders must report incidents of excessive chemical sale or use. Also, government should impose taxes such that more harmful inputs are more expensive than the less harmful ones.

One of the key barrier in mainstreaming toxin free farming is lack of proper training and mentorship.

According to Ms.Lipika, one of the solutions is to organize farmer field schools and farmer fairs at each blocks.

ACTION POINT FOR TRAINING INSTITUTIONS & NGOs - We totally agree with her. We feel that agri extension and innovation centres, NGO’s and private institutes should all be working jointly. The technology designed in innovation centres should be made available to all NGOs and training institutions so that it can be shared fast with the farmers. NGOs must focus more on farmer field schools and farm fairs.

Dr Ranjan’s presentation on biofertilizers was an eyeopener. There are many bio-products for agriculture in the market. His talk educated all on the vast potential for smart farming that they offer and also their limitations. One of things he mentioned was that a reason which limits the adoption of toxin free agriculture is low/non availability of bio fertilizers and bio pesticides in most markets.

ACTION POINT FOR GOVERNMENT & TRAINING INSTITUTIONS - We agree with Dr Ranjan that bio-products are the way to climate smart agriculture. It is also true that bio fertilizers and pesticides are not as readily available in the market as conventional pesticides and fertilizers are. Even if available, the prices are too high. This market anomaly needs to be corrected. Government needs to support farmer education and publicity of such products so that more farmers start demanding such products in markets, This in turn will force dealers to stock them in their outlets. Further, we see biofertilizers preparation as a potential thrust area. Farmers and farming experts can be trained on production of bio products. They

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can further be provided with incentives and subsidies for their venture. Government may also consider a ruling that mandates farm input dealers to keep at least 40% of their stock in organic products.

We agree with the thoughts of Mr. Varun who suggested that along with trainings, it is necessary to raise organic markets which will help farmers trade easily organic products. Along with this export potential must be explored in which as there is huge demand of organic products globally.

ACTION POINT FOR GOVERNMENT & MARKET ENTITIES - Ease of processing and marketing of organic and water efficient products can be a gamechanger Government needs to make policy that allows for easy and low cost marketing of climate friendly agriculture.

The key take aways from S. Avtar Singh’s & Dr. Vashishth’s presentations were that naturalized methods of agriculture have a strong, robust scientific base. They apply the fundamental principles of natural sciences to local environments such that a friendly ecosystem is created for crops. They emphasized the need to recognize that the success of farming lies in the choosing the crop which suited to the natural climate of that area.

ACTION POINT FOR GOVERNMENT AND FARMERS- We agree with their views. PJRBSPARC also promotes the fact that any deviation from the alignment between a crop and all the elements in its natural habitat will impact productivity and will lead to unsustainable stress on natural resources. Government must promote Naturalization of agriculture as the way forward for water efficient, toxin free, profitable agriculture. Farmers too must adopt it..

Drip method of irrigation saves a lot of water and also enhance productivity. According to Dr. Sarvan, adoption of Drip can reduce 50% of electricity costs and 30-60% water. It is in the benefit for farmers to adopt drip since the governments are providing heavy subsidies on installation. Moreover, Drip is successful on all type of crops including Maize & Paddy.

ACTION POINT FOR VILLAGE LEADERS & NGOs - The effectiveness of micro irrigation has been proven not just in India but in all parts of the globe. PJRB-SPARC too endorses it and will work with such organizations for larger adoption of micro irrigation practices. NGOs, Village leaders and Training Institutions must encourage people to adopt them..

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Summarizing the Key Learnings and Recommendations The talks given by expert speakers reinforced our belief that profitability of agriculture can be enhanced by making it water efficient, aligning it with natural agro-climatic conditions and with minimal or no use of chemicals. This has been repeatedly proven by innovative farmers and scientists all over the world. Also, there are many agriculture methods and products available to help practice such agriculture.

There is a pressing need to spread such methodologies because the toxins in chemical inputs and the over-exploitation of water and soil resources is leading to a health crisis for the consumer, a financial crisis for the farmer and destruction of our environment.

However, many challenges exist. Lack of knowledge among farmers and their negative perceptions regarding crop yields is a barrier to adoption of climate smart agriculture. An exploitative mentality, brought about by a desperation to earn enough to survive, has made the farmer ignore his own soil fertility. This has pushed him deeper into a vicious cycle of chemical use. A market system that encourages overuse of chemicals adds to this tendency.

Dead & poisoned soil, depleted & poisoned water sources make it difficult for him to practice climate smart agriculture even if he wants to. Availability of bio-products, appropriate machinery, know-how, package of practices, skilled labor and trained advisors further makes this difficult for him. In the rare case that he does manage to practice such agriculture, he is usually unable to find a convenient and rewarding way to market his water efficient, toxin free produce profitably.

To overcome these challenges, the way forward rests on the four E2I2 pillars: 1) Educate – Information and education hold the key to benefitting from the science behind Water Efficient, Toxin free cultivation methods. All stakeholders need to be informed – farmers, farm labor, experts, students, extension workers, consumers and marketers. Old and new – all methods with specially developed education tools must be used.

2) Enable – This is perhaps the most critical success factor. It is important to create a support ecosystem that makes it easy, profitable and respectable for a farmer to adopt Water Efficient, Toxin free agriculture. Government policy, capital and machinery availability, processing and marketing support and trained human resources are all contributors to this ecosystem.

3) Innovate – To find seeds, inputs, field preparation methods, farm products and machines that a farmer can use to produce, process and market water efficient, toxin free crops conveniently and cost effectively 4) Inspire – Through high impact communication in multiple ways the success stories of such agriculture need to be shared with farmers. Negative perceptions regarding such methods need to be removed. If we can inspire a farmer to want to be climate smart, he will himself know the right path to take.

PJRB-SPARC will now work with renewed vigor with the E2I2 formula for

Water Efficient, Toxin Free, Profitable agriculture.

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Media Coverage

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Special thanks to expert speakers from

PJRB SPARC is a part of the national award-winning FORCE group of Non-Profits.

Our Vision:- To catalyze food and water abundance by enabling a shift to water and resource efficient agriculture.

Our Mission :- To Educate, Innovate, Inspire and Enable; Sustainable, Profitable, Health giving agriculture that doubles farm income and reduces water wastage by 20%.

Address: Ghugial village, Hoshiarpur Dasuya Road (Opp Kangmai bus stop), PO Bhunga, Hoshiarpur 144210.

Ph: 8745017926 Email: contact@pjrbsparc.org: website: www.pjrbsparc.org FORCE H/O: C-8/8035, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. Ph: 01149536418, Email: force@force.org.in. Web: www.force.org.in 55