Paper

Workshop on Best Practices in Green Productivity in Agriculture
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, 7–11 December 2013
Krishi Jyoti Project
A holistic development approach for improving agricultural green productivity
in Mewat. Haryana. India
Pawan Kumar
Program Leader – Agricultural Development
S M sehgal Foundation
Plot No.: 34, Sector: 44, Gurgaon, Haryana 122002. India
Phone: +91-124-4744105 www.irrad.org

2 The Best practicesinGreenProductivityinAgriculture –Indiacase study2013
Abbreviation
BCR – Benefit cost Ratio
DP – Demonstrated practices
EM- Effective Microorganism
FP- Farmers Practices
FG- Farmers Group
GP- Green Productivity
ICT- Information and communication technology
ICRISAT- International centre for research in semi arid tropics
IRRAD- Institute of rural research and development
IWRM- Integrated water resource management
KJ- Krishi Jyoti
KL- Kilo litre
NGO- Non government organization
PPP- Public private partnerships
PRI-Panchayati raj Institutions
SHG- Self help group
SMC-School management committee
VLI- Village level institution
VHSC- Village health and sanitation committee
WHO- World health organization

Executive summary
The green revolution made India self sufficient in food production, simultaneously it
promote chemicalization in agriculture that resulted in to constant productivity of
major crops in past five years. The gap between demand and supply for food is
widening and there is a need for a new revolution in agriculture called “green
productivity” which increases crop productivity using process which is
environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially acceptable. Green
productivity is more important in rainfed area like Mewat district of Haryana state
where agriculture is the mainstay of livelihood. The major challenges in agriculture in
Mewat are low productivity, poor quality soil, deforestation and limited water
availability.
“Krishi Jyoti’, - a joint initiative of IRRAD and Mosaic India Pvt Ltd, started in 2008
with two villages and extended to 30 villages. Krishi Jyoti applied some green
productivity concept in agriculture and water management and improved the
livelihoods of small and marginal farmers
Village holistic development approach is used in the project that improves crop
productivity and soil quality, increase access, availability and quality of water for
drinking and irrigation. The adoption of green productivity measures such as
integrated nutrient and pest management, composting techniques, sprinkler and drip
irrigation techniques increases crop productivity by 46% in wheat, 47.61% in pearl
millet and 32.56% in mustard. The benefit cost ratio between traditional to new
practices comes to 4.19, 3.79 and 5.21 respectively for wheat, millet and mustard.
The water intervention such as soak pit, check dam, recharge well, rain water
harvesting has increase ground water recharge by 1,38,3984 kilolitres per year. The
concentration of nitrite, fluoride and iron has reduced below the permissible limit of
World Health Organization (WHO).
The social issues such as leaderships, ownerships and community participation were
also addressed in the project through training, strong community mobilization and
regular meeting with Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), Village Health and Sanitation
Committees(VHSC’s) , School Management Committees ( SMC’s) , Self Healp
Groups (SHG’s) and farmers groups. The dissemination of information at mass scale
is done through Alfaz-e Mewat (the voice of Mewat) community radio situated in
project area. This is done to create awareness in the community about the project
and various government welfare schemes to ensure all benefits should reach to poor
to create good governance in the villages.

1. Introduction
The S. M . Sehgal Foundation has adopted intervention supporting green
productivity in Krishi Jyoti (Krishi means agriculture, Jyoti means light) project in 30
villages of district Mewat.
“Krishi Jyoti’, - a joint initiative of IRRAD and Mosaic India Pvt Ltd, started in 2008 in
Mewat, Haryana. The overarching goal of the project is to improve livelihoods of
small and marginal farmers using environmental and economically sustainable
practices in agriculture and water management.
The project aims at addressing the critical needs of the community for increasing
farm productivity and water availability for agriculture to improve the agri based
income of the household. The support services are used to improve health and
sanitation, village infrastructure and improve governance situation in the villages.
The capacity building of village level institutions such as panchayati raj (PRI), village
health and sanitation committee (VHSC), school management committee (SMC),
women self help groups (SHG) and farmers groups (FG) is done to increase
awareness, participation and ownerships towards project interventions . Community
radio is used for mass scale dissemination of information on sustainable agricultural
practices, education health and welfare schemes. The project started with two
villages in 2008 and now moves to 30 villages.
2. Issues and challenges
The major issues and challenges are divided in to three categories along with cause
and effect on farming communities are, as given in the table below
Category Issues and
challenges
Cause and Affects
Economical
Low
Agricultural
income
 No integrated nutrients and pest
management practices (IPNM) , less
organic matter- Low productivity
 Excess use of fertilizers, pesticides ,
water and labour - High cost of
cultivation
 Lack of awareness and poor extension
services - Poor access to credit and
subsidy
Environmental
Limited water
availability
 Saline ground water – Saline water
irrigation increasing soil salinity
Poor soil
quality
 No use of micronutrients , green manure
crops, crop rotation, pulses – nutrients
severe deficiency
Deforestation  Fuel and fodder shortage- Uncontrolled
grazing , pruning and thinning

Social
Lack of
leadership ,
participation
and
ownerships
 Strong socio-political dynamics – no
consensus
 Lack of institutional engagement- Dismal
behaviours of religious leader
3. Methodology
3.1 Village selection
The village selection done on the basis of following four criteria -
1. Agriculture should be main source of livelihoods or majority of the population
should be farmers
2. Need assessment analysis support the need of proposed intervention in the
projects
3. The PRI agreed to work , support and contribute in all development actives to
be undertaken in the projects
4. The community willingness to participate in the project – At least 2/3
population should agreed to participate and work with implementation agency
3.2 Approach
A holistic development approach is used in the project to address the issues related
to agriculture development, water augmentation and waste water management with
support services to create good governance, capacity building of village level
institutions and rural communication for information dissemination. The various
village level institutions - panchayati raj, school management committee, village
health and sanitation committee, women self help groups and farmers groups were
involved in planning, monitoring and implementation. The following flow diagram
shows the integration of various experts along with the target beneficiary and
interventions done in the villages.

3.4 Implementation
Problem GP solution provided and benefits
Low
Agriculture
income
 Increase crop productivity - Balance fertilizers use (PoP),
micronutrients , quality seed, increase water availability ,
use of quality organic matter , agri advice and
micronutrients
 Reduce of cultivation- Reduce fertilizer use , seed rate ,
less pesticides , water saving by drip, sprinkler , mulching ,
furrow irrigation, seed drill, zero tillage
 Strengthen linkages with government schemes and banks
– Increase access to credit and subsidy
Limited water
availability
 Increase ground water availability - Check dam,
recharge well, farm ponds, rainwater harvesting ponds
Poor Soil
quality
 Reduce soil salinity- Increase use of gypsum, green
manure crops, crop rotations, salt resistant variety, quality
organic matter
Deforestation  Reduce fuel wood and fodder demand -Community led
forest protection , tree plantation, cyclic grazing, thinning
and pruning, Biogas formation -
Lack of
leadership,
participation
and
ownerships
 Increase issue based consensus - Community level
meeting, separate village level committees meeting- PRI,
SMC, VHSC, GF, SHG
 Positive attitudinal change in religious leader - Regular
meeting with religious leader and participation

4. Project Impacts
4.1 Agriculture Impacts through adoption of GP practices
4.1.a Increase agri income and productivity
To increase crop productivity, customised package of practices demonstrated on
farmer’s field. The customised package of practices comprises soil testing,
recommended doses of fertilizers, micronutrients, and appropriate seed quantity and
on farm advised. Farmers are allowed to use the given input for half acre and
remaining half acre used with traditional practices to compare the results. This is
followed by use of well decompose organic manure using EM solution. The average
productivity increase is 30-42% in Wheat, Pearl Millet and Mustard. The coverage of
project is given in the following table
Krishi Jyoti Project
Total villages 30
HH covered 4784
Land covered (Acre) 10575
Total Demo 6693
Total Population 45000
School repair 6
Composting methods 25
Sprinkler demo 10
SRI methods in cereal
crops
20 acre
Crop- Wheat, Mustard, Millet, Tomato, Onion, Eggplant
The total 20000 farmers get benefits in terms of increasing crop productivity from
demonstrated practices and farmers practices. The BCR analysis is done between
farmer’s traditional practices with new package of practices. The yield increase and
BCR (in parenthesis) for wheat, mustard and pearl millet are 46 %( BCR: 4.19),
47.61% (BCR: 3.79) and 32.56% (BCR: 5.21) respectively.
4.1.b Fodder nutrition
The soil defciiency also affacts the nutrient content of dry bio mass used as fodder
. The soil health management prcatices increases the nutritive values of fodder for
animals . The availability of zinc, iron, potash and megnissum is high in
demonstrated fodder than farmers prcatices . The analysis is done in ICRISAT
laboratory, Andhra Pradesh.
4.1.c Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation

The Best Practices in Green Productivity in Agriculture- India case study
The 75% water through drip and 45% water
through sprinkler are saved compare to
traditional flood irrigation. The 10 acre drip
unit and 25 acre sprinkler unit set up in
project villages.
4.1.d Composting techniques
The traditional methods of preparing compost
take 120-160 days and 70% of their nutrient
lost due to rain and direct sunlight. The new
methods decompose the fresh cowdung and prepare manures in 45-60 days. The
compost is prepared in compost bad using EM (Effective Microorganism) solution to
decompose faster.
4.2 Water Impacts through adoption of GP practices
4.2.a Increase ground water recharge and availability
Water management interventions increase the access to freshwater for drinking
and domestic use, improve water storage and distribution, manage wastewater,
and replenish depleted groundwater levels. These models are implemented in
project villages. There is measurable improvement in the availability and quality of
water and reduction in water borne diseases. Availability of water in schools
increases student attendance.
Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) modules uses innovative and
cost-effective interventions include check dams for subsurface water augmentation,
rejuvenation of village, rain water harvesting, community water tanks, and
groundwater recharge wells. Safe drinking water provided using bio-sand filters.
Total 52,5,900 kilo liter water is recharges through check dams , soak pit , hand
pumps , recharge well, roof rain water harvesting .
4.2.b Decrease ground water contamination
There has been reduction of nititartes , Iron and Flouride concentration due to
building of check dams .This water infiltration through the sub soil diluted the
concentration of harmful elements which is dangerous for humen and animal
health. The following figures shows that execpt iron, nitrates andflourides content
down below the WHO permissioble limits
4.3 Capacity Building of Village level institutions
The capacity building of village level institutions such as- Village Health and
Sanitation Committee , School Management Committee , Panchayati Raj Institute
women Self Help Groups and Gram Sabha ( village Council) done through training,
sensitization meeting and community mobilization to increase awareness towards
the adoption of green productivity for long term sustainability of the intervention
and knowledge . Total 10940 people participated in 906 meeting done with these

institutions and groups. The capacity building of these institutions able to mobilize
the government funds of US$ 634844 in three year. The funds are used for making
village roads, toilets, school repairing, and water recharge in village and sanitation
works in the villages. Total 1392 toilet constructed in the villages.
4.4 Good governance and communication
The supportive role played by governance program and community radio-Alfaz-e-
Mewat. The program related to soil and water conservation, environmental
sustainability, education and health are broadcast at regular interval. The
community radio covering 184 villages with over 400 programs on agriculture where
as governance program covering 432 villages including Krishi Jyoti villages.
Conclusion
The adoption of green productivity concept has substantially contributed in
increasing agricultural productivity by using new practices, technology and
information which is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. The
various GP option applied in individual village depending on the community needs
and economic feasibility. The successful outcomes of the project interventions
reveal that use of GP processes increase the agriculture productivity and should be
the part of all developmental projects. Considering the growing demand for food will
have a static pressure on food production and continue to exploit natural resource
globally. Apart from the environment friendly tools, techniques and technology of
green productivity, the training, mobilization, use of ICT tools and effective
communication are equally important to increase awareness, knowledge and
participation and increasing understanding of GP processes. The involvement of
government line department in the project intervention is the key for long term
sustainability and wide replication. The involvement of the village level institutions in
baseline survey, planning and monitoring of the interventions are proved very
successful and leaving a knowledgeable community behind after the project. A
successful PPPP (public private people’s participation) model -government funds,
community contribution and corporate funds is highly replicable and scalable model
globally to promote GP in agriculture and for village integrated development. The
financial support provided by the Mosaic (India) Ltd is a good example of NGO-
corporate partnerships for rural development prove potential and need of such
partnerships for applying GP in agriculture as well as in other industries and
organization.

References
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