BAIF’s Story of ExcellenceFOR TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT
HORTICULTURE
Dr. R.N. Hegde and Dr. S.D. Suryawanshi
BAIF DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH FOUNDATION
ABOUT THE BOOK
Most of the tribal villages in India are still devoid of basic infrastructure such as good roads, public transport, safe drinking water, education and health care facilities. Under such a situation, BAIF Development Research Foundation, a voluntary organisation committed to sustainable livelihood of the rural poor through the promotion of appropriate technologies, promoted horticulture-based development as a means to improve the livelihood opportunities of tribal families, blending with micro watershed development, livestock husbandry, community health and inculcating good practices of market economy. Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA), an Associate Organisation of BAIF, is implementing all the development programmes in Maharashtra on behalf of BAIF, including the wadi model of tribal development, through the establishment of agri-horti-forestry on 17057 ha of degraded lands owned by more than 45,000 families from 2703 villages, resulting in the successful development of orchards of mango, cashew, amla, guava, lemon and citrus fruits.
The book describes the present situation of tribals in India, policies and programmes of the Government for tribal development, importance of horticulture with regard to food security, economic prosperity and mitigating global warming. The project concept, design and process of development in converting degraded lands into lush green orchards by small farmers are explained in detail. Further, the results of various impact assessment studies conducted by various academicians and research scholars on this unique approach have been documented. The success stories of tribal participants are truly inspiring.
The BAIF model has created economic asset in the form of orchards to generate rural employment and regular income apart from nutritional security in the tribal region. As a result, the diet of the tribal households who were suffering from malnourishment, has shifted from low calorie value cereals to milk, fruits and vegetables resulting in a balanced diet and improved health status. The programme has also helped in reduction of migration and contributed to environmental protection. The Government of India has adopted this development intervention as a model for rehabilitation of tribals in India with scope for wider replication in developing countries of Asia, Africa and Pacific where a large majority of the rural poor own small farm holdings.
This project was implemented under the bilateral assistance from KfW through the Government of India and NABARD. Based on the scientific study undertaken by the Authors as a part of the Ph.D. thesis, this book has been published. BAIF is grateful to KfW, Government of India and NABARD for the support.
FOR TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT BAIF’s Story of Excellence
HORTICULTURE
Dr. R.N. Hegde and Dr. S.D. Suryawanshi
BAIF DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH FOUNDATIONDr. Manibhai Desai Nagar, Warje, Pune 411 058
Phone: 020 25231661, Fax: 020 25231662 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.baif.org.in
The Cover Page covers the sequential process of wadi development from barren land to a productive orchard of Raju Mahdu Gavit, a farmer from Palashi village in Peint taluk, Nashik district of Maharashtra.
Copyright: BAIF Development Research Foundation
Year of Publication: December 2011
Designed by: Edge, Pune
Printed by: Ashish Advertising, Pune
Price: Rs. 120
Preface
A Word from the Authors
1. Tribal Development in India - An Overview 1
2. Horticulture Development - A Tool for Poverty Reduction 22
3. BAIF’s Genesis and Philosophy 29
4. History of Orchard (Wadi) Development 37
5. Project Concept and Design 46
6. Process of Development 64
7. Success Stories 83
8. Building Grassroot Institutions for Sustainability 95
9. Studies on the Project Impact 105
10. Awards and Recognitions Received by BAIF 111
Bibliography 113
Annexures 115
CONTENTS
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TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA - AN OVERVIEW
The tribal people are the most deprived sections in Indian Society. They have rich culture but they are socio-economically disadvantaged and marginalised. Most tribes are concentrated in thick forest areas that combine inaccessibility with limited political and economic significance. Tribal economic organisation has always been labelled as primitive communism in anthropological literature. Natural resources including land have been used for their livelihood but have never been owned by individual families. The tribal society does not have the division of labour, prevalent in hierarchical caste society. As a result, the tribals performed all the tasks necessary for their living in a spirit of cooperation.
A tribe is a social group or community characterised by a common territory, dialect, name and cultural heritage. Attributes of tribal communities are: they trace their origin from the oldest ethnological sections of population; they usually confine their settlements and place of residence to specific areas; they have their own dialects which do not have any script; members of the tribal society profess to a primitive religion known as animism; every tribe bears a particular name; Tribal Societies lead a very simple life; they have less link with city markets; status of tribal women is higher then women from other communities; production for consumption and not for market is another feature of tribal communities; some of them have nomadic habits and love for alcohol and dance.
The tribal economy has traditionally been a subsistence economy in which food security is derived from collection of forest products, fishery and seasonal cereal production using primitive technology. Historically, tribals have never been producers of food as they could collect enough from the nature. The inseparable relationship between tribals and foresters has been proved during famines as they do not suffer as much as the farmers as the former continue to receive food from the forests.
Population Profile The total tribal population in India constitute 84.32 million (2001 census), accounting for 8.2% of the total population (Table 1.1). They are the people who have been living in isolated remote areas, in hilly regions and forests with very poor infrastructural facilities such as roads, communication, health care, education, drinking water, etc. But most of the tribals share certain
CHAPTER 1
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common features like malnutrition, seasonal migration, illiteracy, economic backwardness, social and cultural deprivation and low population density.
Table 1.1: Population of Scheduled Tribes in India
Year(Millions) % ST population
to the totalTotal population ST population1961 439.00 30.00 6.901971 538.00 39.00 6.901981 685.00 54.00 7.901991 840.60 60.70 8.082001 1028.61 84.32 8.20
Source: Census 2001
The statewise distribution of tribals presented in Table 1.2 shows that the tribals are in majority in the North Eastern states like Mizoram (94.5%), Lakshadweep (94.5%), Nagaland (89.1%) and Meghalaya (85.9%). Other states having significant tribal population, are Chhattisgarh (31.85); Jharakhand (26.3%) and Orissa (22.15). Out of the total Scheduled Tribe population in India, Madhya Pradesh accounted for the highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes (14.5%) followed by Maharashtra (10.2%), Orissa (9.7%), Gujarat (8.9%). Rajasthan (8.4%), Jharkhand (8.4%) and Chhattisgarh (7.8%). In fact, these 7 states contribute for nearly 68% of the Scheduled Tribe population in India. There are around 636 tribes as per the notified Schedule under Article 342 of the Constitution of India, with the higest number of 62 tribes from Orissa. Based on the pre-agricultural level of technology, low level of literacy, declining or stagnant population, 75 tribal communities in 17 States/UTs have been identified and categorised as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs).
Tribal Development IssuesTribals in India, geographically and culturally are at widely different stages of social and economic development. Their problems differ from area to area within their own groups. The identity of interest between the individuals and the community is real, having a profound bearing on their attitudes. It makes for the emergence of essentially human qualities like camaraderie, fellow feeling and social awareness. Due to these reasons, the British adopted the policy of isolation and tried to keep them away from the mainstream of Indian life. The Scheduled District Act of 1874 had kept most of these areas administratively separate. The same situation was allowed to continue under the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935.
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Table 1.2: Tribal Population in India
Sr. No.
India/StateTotal Population
(ooo’s) % of Decadal Growth
ST Population (ooo’s) % of
Decadal Growth
% of STs in States
Total Population1991 2001 1991 2001
0 India 838583 1028610 22.66 67758 84326 24.45 8.21. Andhra Pradesh 66508 72210 14.59 4199 5024 19.64 6.62. Arunachal Pradesh 864 1097 27.00 550 705 28.13 64.23. Assam 22414 26655 18.92 2874 3308 15.10 12.44. Bihar 86374 82998 -- 6616 758 -- 0.95. Chhattishgarh* -- 20833 -- -- 6616 -- 31.086. Goa 1169 1347 15.21 376 566 50.53 --7. Gujarat 41309 50671 22.66 6161 7481 21.41 14.088. Haryana 16463 21144 28.43 -- -- -- --9. Himachal Pradesh 5170 6077 17.54 218 244 12.02 4.010. Jharkhand* -- 26945 -- -- 7087 -- 26.311. Karnataka 44977 52850 17.51 1915 3463 80.82 6.612. Kerala 29098 31841 9.43 320 364 13.47 1.113. Madhya Pradesh 66181 60348 -- 15399 12233 -- 20.314. Maharashtra 78937 96878 22.73 7318 8577 17.20 8.915. Manipur 1837 2166 17.94 632 741 17.24 34.216. Meghalaya 1774 2318 30.65 1517 1992 31.29 85.917. Mizoram 689 888 28.82 653 839 28.42 94.518. Nagaland 1209 1990 64.53 1060 1774 67.23 89.119. Orissa 31659 36804 16.25 7032 8145 15.83 22.120. Punjab 20281 24358 20.10 -- -- -- --21. Rajasthan 44005 56507 28.41 5474 7097 29.64 12.622. Sikkim 406 540 33.06 90 111 22.56 20.623. Tamil Nadu 55858 62405 11.72 574 651 13.43 1.024. Tripura 2757 3199 16.03 853 993 16.42 31.125. Uttarakhand* -- 8489 -- -- 256 -- 3.026. Uttar Pradesh 139112 166197 -- 287 107 -- 0.127. West Bengal 68077 80176 17.77 3808 4406 15.7 5.528 A & N Island 280 356 26.90 26 29 10.08 8.329. Chandigarh 642 900 40.28 -- -- -- --30. Dadra & Nagar
Haveli 138 220 2.2 109 137 25.46 62.2
31. Daman & Diu 101 158 55.73 11 13 19.39 8.832. Delhi 9420 13850 47.03 -- -- -- --33. Lakshadweep 51 60 17.30 48 57 19.01 94.534. Pondicherry 807 974 20.62 -- -- -- --35. J & K -- 10143 -- -- 1105 -- --Total 838583 1028610 67758 84326 -- 8.20
* States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were created in the year 2000 after reorganisation of the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Source: Census 2001
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The tribes in India, for a long time, were generally known as “Primitive Tribes”, “Adivasis”, “Natives”, “Aboriginals” and “Janjati”. The 1931 census of India recorded them as Backward Tribes. However, the need for a separate programme for the tribals was recognised only after independence. These groups came to be known as Scheduled Tribes (ST) under Article 342 of the Constitution which empowers the President of India to declare the list in consultation with the Governors of different states. The tribal communities are governed under the Vth and VIth schedule of the Indian Constitution. For the purpose of Article 342, for a group to be included as Scheduled Tribe, the Government of India has recommended broad parameters such as primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, distinct dialect, animisim, clan system, shyness of nature and backwardness. These parameters conform to the characteristics of an ideal society put forward by Anthropologists from sustained studies of tribal societies all over the world.
Box 1.1Major problems faced by tribals in India
l Unemploymentl Illiteracyl Povertyl Indebtednessl Land alienationl Shifting cultivationl Poor access to health l Addiction to alcoholl Poor housingl Poor communication leading to isolationl Economy affected by industrialisation and urbanisationl Migration
Tribal Culture and HeritageTribals have their own folklore, folk songs, dance, etc. Almost all tribal communities possess rich mythological stories, folk tales which illustrate their affinity and relationship with tradition and traditional characters. Percentage of joint families is higher among the tribals and most of them are engaged in agriculture and related activities, as their main occupation. Historically, the economy of most tribes was subsistence agriculture or hunting and gathering of forest produce. Tribal members traded their products for salt and iron. But, improved communications, roads with motorised traffic and frequent Government intervention are changing their lifestyle.
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Even today in general, our knowledge about tribals is limited, leading us to believe many myths at the cost of their dignity. While a majority of the communities in the world kept changing their lifestyle, there are communities still living in accordance with their traditional values, custom and beliefs. The exploitative mindset of mainstream society made these communities often recede into forests and mountains where they could live in peace with nature and in unpolluted surroundings. In the absence of patience to understand their lifestyles, the mainstream world branded them as aboriginals and uncivilised. The tribals are the children of nature and their lifestyle is conditioned by the ecosystem that they live in. India with a variety of ecosystems, presents a varied tribal population. Social and cultural life of the tribal communities has survived since time immemorial because of higher degree of solidarity, respect for traditions and customs and a very high degree of sense of sharing which binds them together.
The Indian Constitution and Nehru’s Vision of Tribal ConservationThe Indian Constitution, adopted on January 26, 1950, visualised a policy of progress for the tribal communities of India. The Government promoted a plan for development, education and health care of tribal people. Tribes designated for this plan were placed under the heading of “Scheduled Areas”. There was no specific definition for what constituted a scheduled area or scheduled tribe. Policies towards these scheduled areas, carried with them twin objectives. The first was to allow tribal people to maintain their rights and the second was to promote the development of these areas through education and economic assistance. The fundamental principles – ‘Panchsheel’ laid down by the first Prime Minister Late Jawaharlal Nehru in this regard became the guiding force.
1. Tribal people should develop along the lines of their own genius and we should avoid imposing anything on them. We should try to encourage in every way their own traditional arts and culture.
2. Right over land and forest should be respected.
3. Train and build up a team of their own people to undertake the work of administration and development. Some technical personnel from outside will no doubt be needed especially in the beginning. But we should avoid introducing too many outsiders into tribal territory.
4. Do not over-administer these areas or overwhelm them with a multiplicity of schemes. Instead, work in harmony with their social and cultural institutions.
5. Assess results, not by statistics or the amount of money spent, but by the quality of human character that is evolved.
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Tribal Development Policies – A Historical PerspectiveThe constitutional mandate for tribal welfare and development has guided the policy makers and planners to accord utmost priority to the welfare and development of Scheduled Tribes (STs) from the beginning of the First Five Year Plan (1951-1956). The First Five Year Plan laid down the principle for suitably designing such plans and programmes which could adequately and appropriately cater to the needs of all the underprivileged, besides, special provisions for ensuring effective and intensified developmental drives for all-round development of STs. However, during this plan period, specific attention towards the development of Scheduled areas could not be made in an integrated manner. At the end of the First Plan, the Government recognised the need for a concrete, integrated developmental planning for improving the socio economic conditions of STs in the country. Consequently, during the Second Plan (1956-1961), the Government grouped the development programmes in Scheduled areas under four heads – (a) communications, (b) education and culture, (c) development of tribal economy, and (d) health, housing and water supply. An emphasis was laid on economic development, with focus on reducing economic inequalities in the society. The development programmes for STs were planned, respecting their culture and traditions and with an appreciation for their social, psychological and economic problems. The tribal welfare programmes which were designed during the First Plan, took an effective shape in 1961, the last year of the Second plan, when the Government successfully opened 43 Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks (TDBs). The Third Plan (1961-66) continued the programme prescribed during the Second Plan, in order to provide equal opportunity to STs.
The Fourth Plan (1969-74) vowed to realise a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people, ensuring equality and social justice to all. Six pilot projects in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa were set up in 1971-72. The Fifth Plan (1974-78) launched the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) envisaging the percolation of direct benefits of developmental activities to STs. The TSP not only aimed at the promotion of developmental activities to raise the level of living standard of STs, but also envisaged the protection of interest of the STs through legal and administrative support. The TSP also stipulated to ensure accountability and transparency, along with flow of funds from developmental sectors for STs, proportionate to the population. The Sixth Plan (1980-85) sought to ensure a higher degree of devolution of funds and earmarked poverty alleviation programmes for at least 50% of ST families to cross the poverty line. Infrastructural facilities in scheduled areas were expanded. During the Seventh Plan (1985-90), the emphasis was on the economic development of STs by creating two national-level institutions namely Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation (TRIFED), an apex body for State Tribal Development Cooperative
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Corporations, and the National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC). While the former tried to provide remunerative prices for the forest and agriculture produce of STs, the latter made provisions for credit support for employment generation. The Eighth Plan (1992-97) focussed on eliminating exploitation of STs and paid attention to their special problems of suppression of rights, land alienation, non-payment of minimum wages and restrictions on the right to collect minor forest produce, etc. The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) envisaged the creation of an enabling environment conducive for STs to exercise their rights freely, enjoy privileges and lead a life at par with the rest of the society. The empowering process while encompassing social and economic empowerment tried to ensure social justice as well. The Ninth Plan also emphasised on intensification of primary health care services because of the high incidence of leprosy and infectious diseases amongst the tribal societies.
A new Central sector scheme was introduced for an all-round development of these groups from 1998-99 under which financial assistance was made available to the Integrated Tribal Development Projects, Tribal Research Institutes and Non-Governmental Organisations for undertaking the activities not covered by any of the existing schemes. The Tenth Plan (2002-07) focussed on tackling the unresolved issues and problems faced by the tribal society on a time-bound basis. A new scheme of Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana was also introduced from the year 2002-03 to assist Scheduled Tribe women living below the poverty line in small economic activities and to augment their income with a loan of Rs. 50,000 at an interest rate of 4% per annum. The approach of this on-going plan directed the State to design proper and appropriate developmental activities specifically relevant for the development of STs, both within the existing general programmes and cross sectors. The States are required to provide, under TSP funds which are at least equal to the proportion of the tribal population in the State. However, not all the States have followed this while preparing their annual plans of expenditure.
The central annual allocation and the amounts released to the State Governments during the Tenth Plan period and the first year of the Eleventh Plan period indicate that out of a cumulative allocation of Rs. 2,110 crores, a sum of Rs. 1,978 crores has been released. The amount allocated under Article 275 (1) during the Ninth Plan was Rs. 750 crores which was hiked by 2.28 times during the Tenth Plan. The release of funds also witnessed a similar increasing trend during these two plan periods. Inspite of the flow of funds to states under various tribal welfare activities, the implementing states experienced large unspent balances left with them, indicating that the
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welfare schemes had not been implemented expeditiously. Though the Five Year Plans have continuously emphasised on schemes and programmes directed towards socio-economic development of ST population, the benefits have not percolated down to the ground level as effectively as they were envisaged.
EducationThe all-India literacy rate of ST as per 1991 Census was 29.60% as against the national average of 52.21%. The gap between percent of literacy of tribal women is still wider. It is only 18.18% as against 39.29% of general literacy in the country. Special incentives have been provided to ST students through provision of free text books, uniforms and free education in schools. While residential schools were built exclusively for STs, their boarding and lodging expenses were borne by the Government. Special focus was also laid on ST students under district primary education programme, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhalaya, Mid-Day Meals Scheme and Navodaya Vidyalaya. The main objective of the educational programme drive has been to promote literacy among ST students by providing hostel accommodation to those ST students who are not in a position to continue their education either because of the remote location of their villages or because of their poor economic condition. The construction of girls’ hostel was started during the Third Plan period. The Government also decided to provide quality education to the students by utilising a part of the funds under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution of India for seting up 100 Model residential schools (Eklavaya Model School) in 20 States from Class VI to Class XII in different states. This initiative was launched during 1997-98 with the objective of enabling ST students to avail the facility of reservation in higher and professional education courses as well as in higher level jobs in the government and various public sector undertakings. The statewise number of Hostels, Ashram School and Eklavaya Model Residential School in scheduled areas in India as presented in Table 1.3 indicate that there are 1431 hostels catering exclusively to the needs of ST students, whereas 827 Ashram Schools and 100 Model Residential Schools extend basic educational infrastructure in the Scheduled areas.
An analysis of the share of ST population and the spread of tribal schools across the states (Table 1.4) indicates that the distribution of tribal schools is not in concurrence with the proportion of ST population in the respective states. Andhra Pradesh which accounts for 6% of the ST population, has 10% of tribal schools. The share of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in tribal schools is much more than their share in total ST population of the country. Despite their high concentration of ST population, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan, West Bengal and North Eastern States have a lower share.
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Table 1.3. Number of Hostels, Ashram School and Eklavya Model Residential Schools in Tribal Areas in India
(as on May 2006)
States/ UTs No. of Hostels
No. of Ashram Schools
No. of Eklavaya Model Residential Schools
1 2 3 4Andhra Pradesh 169 85 8Arunachal Pradesh 7 0 1Assam 217 2 2Bihar 6 0 0Chandigarh 2 0 0Chhattisgarh 1 46 8Daman & Diu 4 1 0Dadar & Nagar Haveli
10 0 0
Delhi (JNU/IIT) 3 0 0Gujarat 71 126 10Himachal Pradesh 13 0 1Jammu & Kashmir 9 0 2Jharkhand 50 0 4Karnataka 45 29 4Kerala 39 18 2Madhya Pradesh 236 292 12Maharashtra 32 145 4Manipur 21 2 3Meghalaya 66 0 2Mizoram 0 0 1Nagaland 8 0 3Orissa 153 28 10Rajasthan 179 2 7Sikkim 0 0 2Tamil Nadu 15 21 2Tripura 37 10 3Uttar Pradesh 10 10 1Uttarakhand 0 10 1West Bengal 28 0 7India 1,431 827 100
Source: www.indiastat.com
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Table 1.4. Percentage of ST population and % distribution of Schools across States
(as on May 2006)
States / UTs% of ST population of the
states to the total population of the country as per 2001 census
% of distribution of tribal schools to total tribal schools
Andhra Pradesh 6.0 10.0
Arunachal Pradesh 0.8 0.1
Assam 3.9 0.4Bihar 0.9 0.0Chhattisgarh 7.8 5.8Gujarat 8.9 14.7Himachal Pradesh 0.3 0.1
Jammu & Kashmir 1.3 0.2
Jharkhand 8.4 0.4Karnataka 4.1 3.6Kerala 0.4 2.2Madhya Pradesh 14.5 32.8
Maharashtra 10.2 16.1Manipur 1.0 0.1Meghalaya 0.9 0.5Mizoram 2.4 0.2Nagaland 2.1 0.3Orissa 9.7 4.1Rajasthan 8.4 1.0Sikkim 0.1 0.2Tamil Nadu 0.8 2.5Tripura 1.2 1.4Uttar Pradesh 0.1 1.2Uttarakhand 0.3 1.2West Bengal 5.2 0.8India 100.0 100.0
Source: Census 2001 and www.indiastat.com
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The literacy rate of the general population and ST population from 1961 to 2001 is presented in Table 1.5. While the literacy rates of the general population in India has increased 2.6 times from 1996-2001, the literacy rates for ST population in the country rose significantly by 5.5 times during the same period. It may be noted that the ST literacy rate in 1961 was as low as 8.53%. Its rise to 47.10% during 2001, in comparison to 64.8% for the general population is still at a low level. Further, the gap between the literacy rates of the general population and STs widened from 15.49 in 1961 to 17.70 in 2001, indicating that the literacy drive of the Government has not provided qualitative benefits to all the citizens.
Table 1.5. Literacy Rate of General Population and ST population during 1961-2001
YearGeneral ST
GAP*Male Female Total Male Female Total
1961 34.44 12.95 24.02 13.83 3.16 8.53 15.491971 39.45 18.70 29.45 17.63 4.85 11.30 18.151981 46.89 24.82 36.23 24.52 8.04 16.35 19.881991 64.10 39.30 52.30 40.65 18.19 29.60 22.602001 75.30 53.70 64.80 59.17 34.76 47.10 17.70
*shows the gap between the total literacy rates of STs and of the general populationSource: Eleventh Five Year Plan, Government of India (2007-2012)
Table 1.6. Dropout Rates, 1990-91, 1998-99 and 2005-06
CategoryClasses I to IV Classes I-VII Classes I to X
90-91 98-99 05-06 90-91 98-99 05-06 90-91 98-99 05-06
All 42.60 39.74 26.45 60.90 56.82 49.95 71.34 67.44 61.74
ST 62.52 57.36 40.61 78.57 72.80 62.72 85.01 82.96 77.14
CAP* 19.92 17.62 14.16 17.67 15.98 12.77 13.67 15.52 15.40
*shows the gap between the dropout rates between all category students and ST studentsSource: Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07); Annual Report, Ministry of HRD, 2007-08
Dropout rates are considered to be an important indicator which reflects the lack of educational development and inability of a given social group to complete a specific level of education. In the case of STs, the dropout rates are still very high at 40.61% in classes I to V, 62.72% in classes I to
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VII and 77.14% in classes I to X (Table 1.6). A trend analysis shows that the dropout rates in the case of STs, have been declining. However, the gap between the dropout rates of all the students and ST students is quite large at 14.16% for classes I to V, 12.77% for classes I to VII and 15.40% for classes I to X.
Demography and Economic Status: The sex ratio over various census periods, points out that sex ratio among STs has been higher than the general population. During 1961, the sex ratio for all the population was 1941 whereas for ST it was 987. By 2001, the sex ratio dropped to 923 for the total population and 977 for ST population. Most of the ST habitats are located either in dense forests or in isolated villages and hamlets in undulating plateau lands, coinciding with the forest areas. Often, these habitats lack basic infrastructural facilities such as roads, communication health, education, electricity and drinking water resulting in an adverse effect on their quality of life.
Census 2001 indicates that 81.56% of the total ST workers are engaged in the primary sector out of which 44.71% are cultivators and 36.85% are agricultural labourers. The Eleventh Plan observes that incidence of poverty amongst STs still continues to be very high at 47% in rural areas and 33.3% in urban areas as compared to 28.3% and 25.7% in case of total population in 2004-05. The poverty gap between STs and population living below the poverty line shows that the STs are more backward economically. Most of the STs who are living below the poverty line are landless agricultural labourers having minimal or no access to productive assets. The Human Development Index (HDI) for STs vis-à-vis non-STs, shows that STs are relatively worse off in achieving most of the human development parameters like education, health and adequate income earning to maintain their livelihood sustainably.
Tribal Development Programmes and their ImplementationThe Indian Constitution has given responsibility to the State to promote, with special care, the educational and economic interest, preventing all forms of exploitation. Their development is a special responsibility of the President. The Governors are responsible for reviewing the administration and development of tribal areas and for reporting to the President. The problems of development of tribal areas are primarily linked with the backwardness of these areas, poverty of the people and the concept of integration of tribals with the rest of the population. For promoting the welfare of scheduled tribes and for raising the level of administration of scheduled and tribal areas to the State level, Article 275 of the Constitution provides for grants-in-aid from Consolidated Fund of India to states for implementation of developmental programmes.
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Apart from concentration of population of tribes in different states, individual tribes and subtribes vary from a bare handful to several lakhs. They subsist on a variety of economic activities, belong to several ethnic stocks and speak a large number of languages. According to the Report of the Task Force on Development of Tribal Areas (1975), handicaps of tribal people in different zones in the country may be summarised as follows:
l Northern zone stretching from Ladakh in north-east to Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh has tribes who have been neglected by the authorities since British days, mostly due to remoteness of their habitat and difficult climatic conditions. It is only since the Chinese invasion along the Himalayan Mountains that attention has been drawn to their plight.
l In the eastern, central and western zones, comprising of States of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, problems of tribal development are related to pressure of population on land, problem of land tenure, indebtedness and rights of tribals in forests and practice of shifting cultivation coupled with lower production level. Tribals of this area suffer from chronic scarcity of food, water and employment. Added to these, is the problem of modernisation due to growth of industrial complexes in the heart of tribal areas which has disrupted the traditional lifestyle. This has also led to group tensions due to large scale population movement which industrialisation entails compounded by resettlement of refugees from former East Pakistan among the tribal people especially in Dandakaranya.
l Problems of southern zone tribes are mostly based on their primitive economy of Podu culture (shifting cultivation), or food gathering habits and prevalence of Muttadari system of land tenure.
l Tribals living in the Islands of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshwadeep and Minicoy have their problems arising out of their subsistence economy based on fishing and cultivation of coconut.
In spite of differences between various zones, a few common features of tribal economic and social life merit consideration while formulating development programmes in tribal areas. Some of these common features are listed below:
l Their habitats are in isolated and difficult terrains with primitive transport system and roads, bridges, culverts, etc. are still scarce and do not link the tribal village even to the nearest market available or the block headquarters;
l Agriculture and collection of forest produce together contribute major portion of the income of tribals;
l Barter system of services and commodities still exists in tribal areas, the
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market remains unorganised and commodity loans predominate, making it easier for moneylenders to operate;
l Tribals spend large amounts of their income on social and religious ceremonies, as a result of which they are perpetually in debt;
l Tribals still depend on natural growth of crops with a view to achieve self-sufficiency and lack motivation for making profits;
l Their low rate of literacy makes them vulnerable to unscrupulous personnel in the bureaucracy or forest contractors.
Planned and Systematic DevelopmentThe advent of independence saw a plethora of Governmental programmes launched by various official and non-official agencies for the welfare and development of the tribal people. But the first systematic effort for the development of tribal areas was initiated in 1955 in the form of Special Multipurpose Tribal Development Blocks. A modified version of this programme was taken up on a large scale during the Second Five Year Plan when the tribal development blocks were started. This programme was further expanded during the Third Five year Plan and all areas with more than two-third tribal concentration were covered by the end of this period. About 38% of the total tribal population of the country spread over 504 tribal development blocks was covered. Although it was agreed in principle to extent tribal population, it was not possible to do so during the Fourth Plan. The development effort in the existing tribal development blocks was consolidated by extending the period of their operation. The area coverage, therefore, remained practically unchanged at the end of the Fourth Plan. In the meantime, this programme was reviewed on a number of occasions and it was felt that the tribal development block was too small a unit for planning and execution of long term developmental programmes. It was also found that the developmental effort from the general sector programmes was not adequate in those areas, particularly in the context of their comparatively lower economic base. It was therefore decided to evolve a new strategy for the development of tribal areas.
As a follow-up action, the Planning Commission appointed a Task Force on Development of Backward Classes which considered numerous facets. The Task Force suggested a three-tier developmental structure at micro, meso and macro levels. The meso unit was suggested to be the main building block of this strategy. Area development and tribal development were to be suitably intermeshed in an integrated development programme. The Task Force clearly spells out the problem of tribal development into two parts: (a) that of areas having more than 50% tribal concentration and the scheduled
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areas; and (b) that of areas with dispersed tribal population. Besides these two broad categories, primitive tribal communities at pre-agricultural level of technology were identified as a special group. The strategy for areas of tribal concentration culminated in the concept of a Sub-Plan for these areas. For this purpose, the State and Union Territories have been grouped into the following three categories:
l States and Union Territories having more than 50% tribal population: Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshwadeep, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands.
l States and Union Territories having large tribal population: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tripura come under this category.
l States and Union Territories having scatted tribal population: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Daman and Diu.
The Planning Commission advised the states, with some exception, to prepare Sub-Plans to focus on the development of tribals by providing a very broad frame of reference. For each of the units so defined, an Integrated Tribal Development Project with reference to the problems of that area is to be formulated within the policy framework. The most important feature is that it recognises that there is no uniform solution to the variety of problems facing the tribal areas and communities which are at different levels of socio-economic development. Elimination of exploitation is highest on the agenda. The integrated tribal development project will be a continuous effort for understanding the local situation, evolving suitable programmes, their effective implementation and a constant appraisal of the results on their well-being.
Development Programmes in the PlanThe pattern of central assistance for the plan programmes depended on whether these are centrally-sponsored or state plan schemes. In case of centrally-sponsored schemes, states get 100% central assistance and for those in the state plan, central assistance is available as block grants and loans. Classification of centrally-sponsored and state plan schemes is as follows:
Centrally Sponsored SchemesTribal development blocks; Cooperations; Girls’ hostels; Post-matric scholarship; Coaching and pre-examination training schemes for competitive examination; Research, training and special projects.
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State Plan SchemesEducation: Pre-matric scholarship, stipend, boarding grants, hostels, supply of free books, stationery, uniforms, mid-day meals, etc.
Economic Development: Subsidy for agricultural implements, seeds, fertilisers, cottage industries, animal husbandry, horticulture, pisciculture, minor irrigation, soil conservation rehabilitation, cooperation.
Health, Housing and Others: Housing, drinking water supply, medical and public health, social and cultural activities, aid to voluntary agencies, communication.and miscellaneous.
Major Centrally sponsored Schemes1. Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks
As the first systematic effort for the development of tribal areas, a Special Multipurpose Tribal Block was established in 1955 followed by 43 blocks in different states in 1956 to speed up the process of development in the areas of the largest tribal concentration. These blocks were jointly sponsored by the Ministries of Home Affairs and Community Development. The State Governments were given charge of implementation of this programme. These blocks differed basically from the normal blocks on the following points:
l Development programmes to be implemented were more intensive in character.
l The population and area coverage was to be less than normal blocks.l People's contribution had to be kept to the minimum and limited only
to supply of unskilled labour at a lower rate.l Loan funds were to be diverted as subsidies.l Personnel appointed for these areas had to be suitably trained.
Various centrally-sponsored as well as state-sponsored schemes, as mentioned earlier, were taken up under these Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks. However, after some time, it was realised that the programmes being undertaken under these blocks were not yielding desired results. In order to pinpoint the lacunae and suggest a better alternative, a committee was constituted under Verrier Elwin to study various aspects of the programme. The main observations of the Elwin Committee were:
l The programme had various defects.l Top priority should be given to agriculture and allied subjects, like
irrigation, reclamation and soil conservation.l There should be a serious attempt to relate the programme
implementation with the tribal background.
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A modified version of this programme was taken up on a larger scale during the Second Five Year Plan when the Tribal Development Blocks were started.
2. Tribal Development BlocksIn the Third Five Year Plan period (1961-66), Tribal Development Blocks came into existence, based on the general pattern of Community Development Blocks, but more intensive in character. The objective was to bring about rapid improvement in socio-economic standard of the tribals.
These blocks were originally chosen with a population of 0.1 million to become the units of formulation and execution of development programmes. Later on, this was lowered to 25,000 on an area of 200 square miles. Popular representatives were associated with the Governmental machinery in the block, so that the programmes could reflect the needs and aspiration of the people. Till the end of 1966-67, 484 blocks were set up in various states. Althrough no rigid pattern was laid down, the guidance prescribed that 60% of funds should be earmarked for economic development programmes, 25% for communications and 15% for social services. An assessment of the programme made by the Vidyarthi Task Force indicated that it had fallen short of expectations, though it brought about a change in the agriculture. The following programmes were planned and implemented:
Agriculturel Schemes for weaning away the tribals from shifting to settled
cultivation; l Establishment of grain gola for supplying fruit plants, grafts, vegetable
seeds and seedlings; l Agricultural implements, loans and grants for soil conservation, minor
irrigation, etc.; l Demonstration farms to introduce improved agricultural practices.
Animal Husbandry: Piggery, Poultry and sheep-breeding.
Cottage and Small Industries: Various types of cottage and small industries depending on local availability of raw material.
Social Education: Promotion of existing village institutions as community centres.
Women and Children’s Programmes: Teaching of health and sanitation through recreational and cultural programmes.
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3. Tribal Sub-Plan and Integrated Tribal Development ProjectWith some changes, the tribal development blocks continued into the Fourth Plan and beyond. These programmes, in practice, became too rigid, although varying conditions demanded different approaches to their problems. In the Fifth Five Year Plan, attention had to be focussed on the specific problems of each identifiable group and area, so that definite situations in regions of tribal concentration and areas of dispersed tribal population were distinct. In the regions of tribal concentration, an area development approach had to be adopted, focussing on the problems of the tribal people. Taking these factors into consideration, the concept of sub-plan was evolved.
The long-term objectives of the sub-plan are: (i) to narrow the gap between the levels of development of tribal and other areas; (ii) to improve the quality of life of the tribal communities. Among the immediate objectives, elimination of exploitation in all forms, speeding up the process for social and economic development, building up inner strength of the people and improving their organisational plans represent the totality of public sector effort in that area. The resources of the sub-plan are (i). State plan outlays; (ii). Sectorial outlay in the central ministries; (iii). Special central assistance; (iv) Institutional finance.
Focus of the Sub-Plan: No development activity for benefitting the tribal population will succeed unless exploitation in various forms is prevented. Integrated credit-cum-marketing services, covering marketing of agricultural and minor forest produce, supply of inputs and essential consumer commodities, credit for production purposes and for consumption and social needs, require executive measures. Suitable measures may also be considered for dealing with the resultant liability. Programmes for the prevention of land alienation, restoration of lands already alienated, termination of practices like bonded-labour, solution of the problems created in the zones of influence of modern industrial areas and review of excise and forest policies receive special attention.
Development of Tribal Economy: Tribals, by and large, depend on agriculture and forests for their livelihood. Hence, development of agriculture is given the highest priority. The most important components for the development of agriculture are ownership and its development, provision of irrigation and improved methods of cultivation. Completion of land records will have to be given high priority. Shifting cultivators, forest villagers and forest labourers need special attention.
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Generation of Employment Opportunities: The level of economic activity in tribal area is very low, yet the potential of their resource endowment is only partially utilised. Opportunities for better utilisation of available manpower have to be created through programmes of horticulture, animal husbandry, piggery and allied occupations. Cottage industries based on local raw materials have to be developed with a view to maximise the proportion of semi-mix of the region.
Provision of Basic infrastructure: For speeding up the socio-economic development, basic infrastructure - legal, institutional and physical, is required to be developed on a priority basis. Growth centres, communication network, schools, rural health centres, marketing and credit organisations, rural electrification, manpower resource development and training have to be planned in an integrated manner, keeping in mind the special conditions of tribal areas.
Preparation of the sub-plan involves: (i) identification and demarcation of areas of tribal concentration; (ii) Identification of socio-cultural barriers and promoters of change and development; (iii) Assessment of potentialities, special problems and felt needs of the tribal areas; (iv) Assessing the resources availability for the sub-plan; (v) Formulation of sectorial programmes; and (vi) Devising a suitable administration set up.
As the tribal development block was too small a unit for planning and coordination, it was decided to constitute a project area comprising of a group of development blocks. Therefore, the entire tribal sub-plan area has been divided into a number of viable Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDP). As the situation varied from one state to another and from one area to another in the same state, the project size was decided, keeping in view the specific situation in a particular case. The project covers on an average, about three to four lakhs population and about six to seven blocks. The project represents the total development effort in a particular area and has to accept the problem-solving approach, covering a large spectrum from protection to welfare.
Large Sized Multipurpose SocietiesThese cooperative societies have been set up since 1974 in tribal areas in the country with a view to supplying less than one of the various requirements of tribal people. Their credit-cum-marketing needs are particularly looked after by these societies. The policy of LAMPS is sought to be tribal-oriented by having tribals on the board of directors. Adequate share capital is being provided.
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Inspite of such elaborate Plans and allocation of resources, most of the Tribal Development programmes were not successful as reported by the Shilu Ao Team (1969). Major factors responsible for the failure were:
l Failure of planners to take into account the socio-economic conditions, resulting in mismatch between the needs and proposed activities.
l The delay in implementation of recommendations made by the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission and other high level bodies to protect the rights of the tribals.
l Lack of efforts to correct the existing imbalance between tribe and non-tribes.
l Absence of support from the general development programmes including community development programmes for the tribal development blocks.
l Weak administrative set up to facilitate backward and forward linkages.
Multiplicity of agencies further resulted in diffusion of responsibility, inadequate control, lack of coordination and difficulty in identifying the officials concerned with specific programmes.
In order to give greater focussed attention to the development of ST, a separate Ministry known as the Ministry of Tribal Affairs was constituted in October 1999. The new Ministry, carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, is the nodal Ministry for overall policy, planning and coordination of programmes and schemes for the development of ST.
The Ministry gives grant-in-aid to voluntary organisations working for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes for projects such as residential schools, hostels, medical units, computer training units, shorthand and typing training unit, balwadis/creches (in areas not covered by ICDS programmes), libraries and audio-visual units. The grant is generally restricted to 90% of the approved total cost of project and the remaining 10% is borne by the grantee organisations.
Major Organisations in Development ProgrammesNational SC and ST Financial and Development Corporation (NSFDC)
The National SC & ST Financial and Development Corporation was set up by the Government of India under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 and is functioning with effect from 8 February, 1989, with paid up share capital of Rs.50 crores held entirely by the Central Government. The objective of the corporation is to stimulate economic development of SC and ST and also identify and fill in the critical gaps in the programmes of
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State-Level SCDC and other agencies. It is also to function as an apex institute for the agencies engaged in the economic development of SC and ST. The corporation also pays a catalytic role in development schemes for employment generation and financing pilot programmes which can later be taken up by the state level corporations and other agencies engaged in this field.
National Scheduled Tribe Financial Development CorporationThe National ST Financial Development Corporation (NSTFDC) was set up by the Government of India in April 2001 by bifurcating the National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation. The Corporation extends financial assistance to Scheduled Tribes at concessional rate for income generating schemes costing up to 10 lakh per unit, provides grants for skill development programme for ST and fill the critical gaps by providing backward and forward linkages for activities undertaken by the target group. Members of the Scheduled Tribes whose annual family income does not exceed double the poverty-line income limit, are eligible for financial assistance in the fields of agriculture and allied activities, manufacturing and service sector activities.
Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs): 14 TRIs have been set up in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura. These Institutes are engaged in providing planning inputs to the State Governments, conducting research and evaluation studies, collection of data, codification of customary law and conduct of training, seminars and workshops. Some of these Institutes are also having museums exhibiting tribal artefacts.
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)In order to prevent exploitation of tribals by private traders and to ensure remunerative prices for their minor forest produce and surplus agricultural produce, the Government of India set up the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) in August 1987. During the year 1989-90, TRIFED expanded its activities. It has been appointed as a channelising agency for the export of Gum Keraya and Niger Seeds and has also been declared as the central nodal agency for collection of produce of tree and forest origin. ♣
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HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT - A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION
Horticulture is an excellent long term opportunity to address the multiple challenges of ending poverty, improving nutrition and sustaining rural communities in the developing world. Since the United Nations World Food Conference in Rome in 1974, considerable progress has been made to improve food security at the individual, household, national and regional levels in the developing world. In 2000, the United Nations declared a series of development goals for the new millennium with a broader view, calling for improving access to education, protecting childhood and material health and sustaining the environment. Horticulture has a unique role to play in addressing the millennium development goals. It can directly address poverty and food security issues in both urban and rural areas of the developing world (Serageldin 2004).
Apart from bringing in revenue from exports, horticulture plays a significant role in improving the livelihood of the rural people. If horticulture projects are implemented more in number, it will help the country in a big way to tackle the nutritional crisis. Horticultural products are a rich source of vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and minerals. The per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables in India is only around 46 gm and 130 gm, which is far below the stipulation of a minimum of 92 gm and 300 gm respectively as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Nutrition.
Why horticulture for poverty reductionIn the food production sector, higher growth rate in agriculture and in the national economy are being targetted without addressing the nutritional needs of the producer families. A majority of the farming community live in villages deprived of basic infrastructural facilities such as good roads, public transport, safe drinking water, sanitation and medical facilities. The first thing one can do is to provide livelihood opportunities to generate surplus income which will take care of other problems too. The approach should be holistic to address the issues at the grassroot level. Since rain fed agriculture covers a significant portion of land and contributes a substantial share of total production in Africa, Asia and Pacific regions, horticulture especially the fruit crops could be a complementary activity for bringing economic prosperity and nutritional security and creating capital formation
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in the form of orchards. Horticulture makes more efficient use of small land holdings, scarce water resources and can take full advantage of family labour.
Box 2.1.
Why BAIF Agri-Horti-Forestry Model is Replicable?
Efficient management of Natural Resourcesl Increase in ground water rechargel Efficient soil and water conservation l Bringing fallow land under cultivationl Shift in cropping pattern from low calorie to high calorie and high
value cash crops without affecting food securityl Increase in cropping intensity.
Social Benefitsl Participation of small farmers and farm women in social activitiesl Improvement in educational levelsl Improvement in standard of livingl Improvement in health status l Improvement in housingl Adoption of new technologies
Mitigating Climate Changel Reduction in land degradation l Water availability for longer period due to improved physical
structures like check dams, wells, farm ponds l Utilisation of wastelandsl Perennial tree crops over barren landsl Fodder availability for cattle
Economic Benefitsl Perennial income generationl Increased job creation in the project areal Reduction in migration to citiesl Capital formation in the form of orchardsl Precursor to industrial activities l Better access to market
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Diversification into horticultural crops is becoming attractive for poor farmers around the world. Worldwide production of fruit and vegetables crops has grown faster than that of cereal crops, albeit from a much lower base. Between 1960 and 2000, the area under horticultural crops world wide has more than doubled. China is the most dramatic example of this trend with an area under horticulture increasing more than five fold to about 20% of the arable land area over the last 25 years. Increase in fruit and vegetables trade worldwide has also been dramatic and the total value of horticultural crops traded at present is more than double that of cereal crops, reaching nearly 21% of the total value exported from developing countries.
Recently, FAO and WHO have expressed keen interest in horticulture for reducing health inequality and improving poverty alleviation. There are several reasons for the global increase in production and trade of fruit and vegetable crops. Horticultural production is profitable. Farmers involved in horticultural production usually earn much more income as compared to cereal producers and per capita farm income has been reported to be 5 times higher.
Cultivation of fruits and vegetables allows for productive employment where the labour/land ratio is high, since horticultural production is usually labour intensive (Table 2.1). Depending on the crop, production of horticultural crops requires at least twice the labour and up to five times the labour days per ha as compared to cereal crops. Increasing horticultural production contributes to commercialisation of the rural economy and creates many off farm jobs.
Table 2.1 Average number of labour days per ha for production of cereals and vegetable in Asia
Country Labour days/haCereals Vegetables
Cambodia 81 437Laos 101 227South Vietnam 111 297North Vietnam 216 468Philippines 93 185Bangladesh 133 338India 80 124
Source: Weinbeger and Lumpkin, 2005
Horticulture crops, in general are more knowledge and capital intensive than foodgrain crops. Expanding the scale of horticultural production is often complicated by substantial problems. These can include lack of market access, market information and many biological factors.
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Production features of horticultural cropsl Horticulture covers a wide range of fruits, nuts, vegetables, flowers,
medicinal and aromatic plants, plantation crops, spices, mushrooms and honey. The present discussion focusses on how perennial fruit tree crops can contribute to poverty reduction, food security and nutritional security.
l Fruit crops possess certain distinctive characteristics different from the annual field crops. Understanding these characteristics is necessary to make any further economic evaluation of these crops, their costs, yields, returns and crop cycle.
l Unlike field crops whose production functions are in the nature of point-input and point - output or continuous input and output, horticulture crops are of a different nature. These crops have a longer gestation period ranging from 3 to 5 years on an average. Therefore, decision making to adopt fruit crop cultivation becomes extremely difficult.
l In case of fruit crops, there is thus building up of a capital asset with generally high capital investments in the initial years. Thereafter, these crops require annual recurring expenses which vary from crop to crop. The economic life of these fruit crops is also very long and in some cases even up to 100 years.
l In traditional agriculture with field crops, there is a greater degree of flexibility in crop mix over a period of time but in horticulture one cannot have such a flexibility of crop mix and there is also blocking or locking up of land and money invested for a longer periods. However, it is possible to take up some intercropping during the gestation period. A decision to grow a fruit crop is therefore a long term irreversible decision.
l Successful fruit growing requires skills and techniques of art, science and commerce. Fruits are man’s oldest food prior to the period when he took up organised agriculture. Increased production of fruit crops also open an avenue for industrial activities.
l Owning an orchard is a status symbol among the farming community as it is associated with kings and landlords of olden days. Existing collection of varieties of fruits and establishment of orchards have been developed by erstwhile kings and rich people who had a passion and hobby for raising fruit trees.
l Fruit growing is an interesting and rewarding profession if one considers the returns over the cereals and pulses. They are also considered as protective food necessary for maintaining good health.
However, horticulture requires higher level of knowledge and skills in the areas of cultivation practices, water management, pest and disease control, harvesting and handling practices.
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Importance of Horticulturel An avenue for diversification in agriculture: Among the different
avenues for diversification in agriculture, fruit crops get a prominent place as they produce higher biomass than field crops per unit area resulting in efficient use of natural resources. It is also highly remunerative for replacing subsistence farming for removal of poverty in rain fed, dry land, arid agro-ecosystems. It has the potential for development of wastelands through planned strategies as perennial fruit tree crops require less water when compared to food crops crops.
l Small farmers can participate: Orchards are more commonly a commercial venture. For farmers holding an average farm size of below 2 ha, orchards can be a means to improve their socio-economic status.
l Horticulture creates jobs: On an average, it provides twice the amount of employment per ha of production when compared to cereal crop production (Ali et al., 2002).
l Off farm employment: The horticulture sector also generates off-farm employment, landless labourers will benefit from new employment opportunities which are remunerative as compared to other sectors (Weinberger and Geneva, 2005; Weinberger and Lumpkin, 2005).
l Women to benefit most: Women in general, play a significant role in horticulture crop production compared to starchy staple crops.
l Higher incomes and stronger rural economies: Horticultural crop production provides new and profitable sources of income for farmers, especially for small-scale farmers (Serageldin, 2004). Horticultural production contributes to the overall growth of markets and agri-businesses in rural economies.
l Improved food security and nutrition: Over two billion people, mostly hungry, a vast majority of whom are women and children, suffer from micronutrient deficiencies (UN/SCN, 2004; Gardner and Halwell, 2000). Horticultural crops can play a vital role in solving this global crisis. Healthy diets improve the learning capacity of children and productivity of workers (Weinberger, 2004). Vitamin A deficiency contributes to higher rates of anemia as well as morbidity from common childhood infections such as respiratory and diarrheal diseases (Sommer and West, 1996), measles (West, 2000) and malaria (Shankar et al., 1999).
l Improve maternal health: Horticulture can benefit maternal health directly by improving the quality of women’s diets. Vegetables and fruits are the most appropriate sources of micronutrients in the diets of these women, and are critical in regions where vegetarian diets predominate.
l Ensures mitigating climate change: As a majority of the fruit crops are perennial tree crops, they supplement green cover for barren lands.
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They conserve and protect the soil in hilly and high rainfall regions and thus contribute towards protection of environment.
Present scenario of Horticulture in IndiaThe horticultural sector has an important role to play in the prosperity of India and is directly linked with the health and happiness of its people. India, with varying climatic zones, provides ample opportunity to grow a variety of horticultural crops. This sector has given a new dimension to agriculture by complementing the march towards food and nutritional security. Horticulture has been the mainstay of the rural economy since ages. Presently, horticultural crops occupy around 8% of India’s gross cropped area, producing 223.08 million metric tons of produce during 2009-10. These crops contribute over 18% of the agricultural output and 52% of the total export earnings. Fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers cover 72% of the area and 92% of the production of horticultural crops in India.
In India, over 48 fruits and plantation crops, 50 vegetables crops, 10 ornamentals and about 70 medicinal and aromatic plants are being grown commercially. India is the largest producer of mango, banana, sapota and acid lime. About 41% of the mangoes and 11% of the bananas grown in the world, are produced in India. India has the highest productivity of grapes per unit area in the world. India ranks second in the global production of fruits and vegetables next only to China. Its share in the world’ fruits and vegetable production is about 9.2% and 9.24% respectively. With respect to area and production of vegetables, India stands first in the world in cauliflower, second in onions, and third in cabbage. India has also made noticeable advancement in the production of flowers. During 2009-10, the country produced 1.02 million tons of loose and 66.67 million cut flower stems from an area of 1.83 lakh ha. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products. The total estimated production of spices during 2009-10 was 4.01 million metric tons and the area covered was 2.46 million ha. India is also the largest producer and consumer of cashew nuts. The total production of plantation crops during 2009-10 was around 11.92 million metric tons from an area of 3.26 million ha. The projected production of horticultural crops during 2009-10 has gone up to 226.87 million tons. It includes 73.53 million tons of fruits and 136.19 million tons of vegetables from an area of about 21 million ha. The growth rate in horticultural production between 2004-05 and 2008-09 was to the tune of 7.2%.
The Government has taken many initiatives to give a boost to the horticulture sector in the country. These include National Horticulture Mission (NHM), National Horticulture Board, and Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture in North-East and Himalayan States
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and financial assistance to private sector and Government agencies to set up post-harvest infrastructure such as warehouses and cold storages, etc. Presently, 371 districts in 18 States and 3 Union Territories are covered under the National Horticulture Mission and 13 National Level Agencies are providing support to the developmental efforts. Production of planting material, vegetable seeds in public and private sectors, establishment of new gardens in farmers’ land, rejuvenation/replacement of old plantations, technology dissemination through frontline demonstrations, post-harvest management, etc. are covered under NHM, with a total budget of Rs. 8809 crores in the XI Plan.
Efforts are also being made to ensure convergence with the programmes of other organisations such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Food Processing Industries and Department of Rural Development with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme micro-irrigation and also for providing road connectivity to the crop clusters in the NHM districts.
Cost of horticultural products being less than half of those in other parts of the World due to relatively cheap and skilled manpower, Indian farmers are in an advantageous position to exploit the untapped potential. The horticulture sector in India is likely to grow at the rate of 6 to 7% annually because it has to contribute to the total growth rate in agriculture which is estimated to be at 4%. Health conscious population growth and urbanisation will increase the demand for fruits and vegetables, flowers, spices and nuts. Looking to the growth and increasing need for horticulture crops, many corporate houses have also entered the market especially the retail chains which are mainly dealing with horticulture produce.
Interestingly, 74% of the farming community in India have small farm holdings (2 ha and less). Hence, farming in countries like India cannot be compared with farming of the developed world where it is a commercial enterprise. Under such a situation, orchard crops offer great potential. Hence, there is extensive scope to exploit the available wastelands and give attention to dry land, arid and semi arid tracts against the backdrop of dwindling water and energy resources in the nations of the developing world. It is estimated that India has around 10 million ha of wastelands which is underutilised and can be brought under orchard crops without curtailing the area under food crops. India with abundant sunshine throughout the year, surplus labour and widely varied agro climate conditions, offers high potential for successful and profitable horticulture. ♣
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BAIF’s GENESIS AND PHILOSOPHY
The saga of BAIF Development Research Foundation, Urulikanchan, Pune from cattle breeding to orchard development programme is very long. BAIF took birth at Urulikanchan, then a sleepy village situated 30 km from Pune where a Nature Cure Ashram was started by Mahatma Gandhi. Here, Dr. Manibhai Desai, the Founder of BAIF and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, who accepted the responsibility of managing the Ashram, conducted several demonstrations like reclamation of alkaline soils and then growing cash crops like sugarcane, grape and fruits. Thereafter, he experimented with cattle breeding and wastelands development which with forest species, turned into orchard development with fruit trees.
The success of the programmes is due to the adoption of Gandhian principles in managing the organisation where the head of the organisation becomes a role model by adopting a simple way of life and has a clear vision to guide the organisation. The staff is inspired and motivated by their Founder. Inspite of advanced technologies and improved market access policies raised the Gross National Product (GNP) of several developing countries, there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor. While the policy of infrastructure development in rural areas has largely benefitted the rich and the elite, industrial development has generated additional employment in certain service sectors primarily in urban areas. Thus, millions of rural poor who are already struggling for livelihood will continue to suffer without receiving full employment, leading to migration to cities for wage earnings. Reduction of poverty is a great challenge for every nation in the developing world. In the absence of adequate education, health care and local leadership, the needy families often remain behind while the opportunities are grabbed by a small section of the society. Unless the weaker section of the society takes part in various development programmes, it is not possible to improve the quality of life in rural areas.
The principle of poverty reduction by BAIF stands on four pillars of ‘A’ viz ‘Anna’(livelihood), ‘Akshara’(literacy), ‘Arogya’(health) and ‘Acharan’(moral values). It considers the village natural resources such as land, water, livestock and vegetation as the assets for generating rural livelihood. Every poor household owns one of these resources and they can come out of
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poverty by using the idle manpower through introduction of appropriate technologies. Hence, BAIF’s activities include livestock development, watershed management, community health and promotion of tree-based farming system (orchards) on degraded lands to rehabilitate the weaker sections of the society and eco-friendly technologies to enable families to make efficient use of natural resources while enhancing their income.
The Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) was established on August 24, 1967 at Urulikanchan near Pune, Maharashtra and inaugurated by the-then President of India Dr. Zakir Hussain. BAIF was registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950 as a non-profit civil society organisation. It changed its name in 1989 to BAIF Development Research Foundation. One may wonder what the secret is behind the success of all the programmes undertaken by BAIF. The policy adopted by BAIF was based on Gandhian principles and in tune with the needs of the rural poor. It can be better understood if we know the background of its Founder Dr. Manibhai Desai, a true disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. Though, BAIF was founded in 1967, its seeds were sown at Urulikanchan in 1946. Manibhai had prepared the road map for BAIF and the map of his own life, keeping in mind Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology. The evolutionary process of BAIF began in 1946 when a young Manibhai came to Urulikanchan with Mahatma Gandhi to establish the Nisargopachar Ashram, which annually serves more than 8000 patients even today, from all over the world. But in those days, extreme social and economic backwardness of Urulikanchan threw a great challenge to Gandhiji. He entrusted the mission of working for its upliftment and developing a model for rural development to Manibhai who developed strategies for generating employment opportunities for the people of Urulikanchan. Agriculture and agro-based activities being the mainstay of the villages around, Manibhai demonstrated the profitability of income generating capacities of these activities. He started some agricultural activities at the Ashram. Cultivation of high yielding varieties of food crops, vegetables and fruits were his successful ventures. However, he soon realised that these technologies which benefitted only the well-to-do farmers, widened the gap between the rich and poor.
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Ten Pillars of BAIF Programme
1. Awareness building2. Community mobilisation3. Institution building for sustainability4. Participatory planning5. Mentoring and not merely advising6. Human approach to development7. Transparency in dealing with farmers8. Ownership of community assets by the community9. Employing local field guides, local health workers and barefoot
accountants10. Committed supervisory staff at every level
Gandhiji advised the people to be self-reliant and to solve their problems by themselves. He wanted to reconstruct the villages in this way. The process may be slow but it was the surest way of liberating the people from the shackles of a foreign rule and bringing about a social revolution. Gandhiji believed in human dignity. Surely, every human being has the right to live with dignity. But in case of the poor and downtrodden, this gets lost in their struggle for survival. Our endeavour should be to restore their right to live with dignity.
What are the sources of this endemic which we can call poverty? What are its indicators? Manibhai has identified the indicators of poverty to be population explosion, migration, deforestation, stray cattle, illiteracy, ill-health, infant mortality and poor housing. Having identified these factors, Manibhai prepared an action plan in which he paid attention to each of them. The beneficiaries of the action plan are the tribals, the Harijans, the landless labourer women having their burden of managing their families and the marginal farmers. The plans aimed at ensuring that the rural people could have a reliable source of livelihood throughout the year. Providing a source of livelihood to the people in the village itself, so that they do not drift to city slums is the essence of the plan along with an aim to provide functional literacy, technical literacy, an integrated health programme, upliftment of women and suitable values of life. Such was the multi-faceted programme of poverty alleviation, developed by Manibhai. The villagers who had lost all hopes, developed confidence in BAIF.
Box 3.1
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In 1947, Manibhai had taken a vow before Mahatma Gandhi that his ashes would be laid to rest at Urulikanchan. Earlier in 1945, he took another vow not to marry and remained a bachelor and committed his life to the people. In 1945, his burning desire to devote his entire life to public service, was getting intensified day by day and he went to Mahatma Gandhi. He firmly believed that ownership of physical properties and material wealth will prove to be a permanent deterrent and obstacle for a social worker and consequently, he voluntarily relinquished all his rights on his ancestral properties and wealth – whatever, wherever they may be. It was his clear conviction that unless he voluntarily accepted self-imposed poverty and served as a pauper, the people would not trust him. Unless he sacrificed his self-interest, he would not have any place in the heart of the common man. He was also of the firm opinion that one must be prepared to learn from a common villager, if one intends to become an ideal public servant in the real sense of the term. His voluntary self-imposed impoverishment and renunciation of the lure of the wealth were exemplary. He had no house in his village, no farmland of his own, neither any fixed deposit nor any bank account.
BAIF started its programme from the Nisargopachar Ashram at Urulikanchan near Pune. As Nature Cure goes to the root cause of the disease, Manibhai applied this principle to the development programme as well. In rural development, we find symptoms such as migration, population explosion, high rate of child mortality, illiteracy stray cattle, deforestation. All these are the root causes of poverty. This poverty has come due to main reason of under-employment. When people are drastically under-employed they cannot escape poverty, Manibhai had this firm conviction. To break this vicious cycle, BAIF came forward to create self employment in rural area. People are motivated to participate in the programme willingly. Entry point holds the key. Projects are introduced after taking into account the socio-economic profile of each family as well as advantages and handicaps of the location.
As stated earlier, Gandhiji desired that Manibhai should take up the task of creating opportunities of self-employment for millions of rural families as his life mission. But, Dr. Manibhai added one more dimension and made the challenge more difficult by himself adding the word “gainful” as a prefix to self-employment, which encouraged Dr. Manibhai to develop totally a new approach, based on an admixture of Gandhian values, modern technology and management that became his life mission. It is reflected in the Mission statement of BAIF: “BAIF's Mission is to create opportunities of gainful self-employment for the rural families especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihoods, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values”. To realise the Mission, BAIF’s actions are
33
woven around creation of confidence among beneficiaries, conviction by the participant beneficiaries to continue the activities for its sustainability, women centered actions, people’s participation and motivational role of the Village Organisations to assist to ensure market.
Manibhai considered the following four elements essential for the success of any programme and therefore always insisted on them: The philosophy of the programme, The methodology, Proper direction and Speed in the accomplishment of the work. In support of this he quotes Swami Vivekananda who mentioned them as mantra (Guidelines), tantra (Method), disha (Direction) and gati (Speed). In the functioning of BAIF, he applied the same formula. Thousands of Indian villages are covered under them. The target, so far as dairy cattle development was concerned, was to have at least one million of them. In this endeavour, an army of scientists, technologists and other experts were engaged. They approached the people with their programme in the most friendly manner.
As such, he took up the work of dairy development which he believed would be a very profitable venture for most of the poor villagers as most of the rural households have at least one or two cattle. However, the local non-descript cattle were not productive and hence dairy business was not attractive for the farmers. Manibhai showed the benefits of dairy farming by bringing an elite cattle breed-‘Gir’, all the way from Saurashtra in Gujarat, the home of ‘Gir’, and established a dairy farm at the Nature Cure Ashram, Urulikanchan. Although, the herd produced several champion cows, the dairy incurred losses due to the genetic limitation of the breed. This made him look at the experiences of Denmark, U.K. and Canada and launch an experiment of breeding Gir as well as local non-descript cows with the exotic milch breeds. The new born crossbred cows were able to produce ten times more milk than their mothers. This way a revolutionary programme for poverty eradication started first with dairy development. Most of the farmers who owned non-descript cows were willing to take part in dairy husbandry. Cattle development has ever since become the mainstay of various programmes launched by BAIF. Crossbreeding of local non-descript cattle with high yielding exotic breeds was a grand success. The crossbred calves born were able to come into milk production at the age of 3 and yield 2200-2800 kg milk per lactation.
The next step was to ensure profitability of crossbred cows which could be done by making a saving on cost of feeding. In general, 70% of the cost of milk production is on feeding of the animals. The animals require nutritious feed. The protein required for better performance can come from green fodder or concentrate. However, if the farmers have to purchase concentrate from the fluctuating market, the cost will be high. Therefore, BAIF decided to
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promote fodder production on degraded wastelands without competing for land required for food production. In this process, BAIF introduced one of the fast growing legume trees from Hawaii, Leucaena leucocephala which was earlier called Kubabul. But after demonstrating the utility of conserving barren lands, while producing fodder, fuel and timber, the plant got a new name – Subabul from the-then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. BAIF introduced Hawaiian Giant variety of subabul in 1976 which could grow as tall as 15 m in 2 years on degraded lands without any irrigation and the plant started becoming very popular among dairy farmers.
BAIF then took promotion of subabul for rehabilitation of wastelands and degraded forest lands. In this process, a project of developing barren lands in Vansda district in association with the tribal families was initiated. Under this project, the Government of Gujarat allotted land on lease to these families and BAIF took up the responsibility of establishing subabul for fodder, fuel and timber. The economics of subabul cultivation was profitable. However, the tribals were very reluctant to grow subabul. They had several apprehensions. Firstly, they felt the moment they grow forestry species, the Forest Department would not allow them to make use as the land would be claimed by the Forest Department. Secondly, they felt that they also had plenty of fuel and fodder in adjacent forest areas and hence, there was no point in growing these trees. Thirdly, they felt there would be no market and hence there was a doubt about economic viability.
Realising this concern, BAIF had a dialogue with them and accepted the suggestion of establishing fruit trees along with forestry trees. This was the beginning of a new era of promoting agri-horti-forestry which became popularly known as Wadi. While promoting wadi, it was realised that the fruit trees required assured moisture supply during the first few years. As most tribal areas were receiving rains for only 5-6 months, it was difficult for forestry plants to survive during long drought period and so the watershed development programme was introduced and the programme was extended to other rain fed areas as well. While implementing the watershed development programme, several innovative approaches were adopted from the wisdom of the local communities and by identifying technologies required for addressing local challenges. With this holistic watershed development programme, BAIF could enable farmers to intensify agricultural production and increase the food production by 20-30%. The wadi programme also became an eye opener for BAIF to introduce suitable women empowerment activities as over 70% of labour in agriculture is contributed by women folk in tribal areas. The wadi programme cannot be successful without taking up various activities for women empowerment.
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Dr. Manibhai Desai was born in a farmer’s family at Kosmada in Surat district of Gujarat on April 27, 1920. As a student, he joined Mahatma Gandhi during the Quit India Movement. In August 1945, on an invitation from Gandhiji, he went to Sevagram Ashram in Wardha where he was influenced by Gandhiji’s views on Gram Swarajya. In 1946, Gandhiji established the Nature Cure Ashram at Urulikanchan and entrusted the responsibility to Manibhai. During the next 21 years, Manibhaiji promoted nature cure as a reliable solution for community health and also established BAIF Development Research Foundat ion, an Organisation committed to sustainable development of Rural India.
Today, it is because of the vision of Manibhaiji that over 4.0 million families spread over 60,000 villages in 16 states are enjoying better quality of life and have come out of poverty through dairy husbandry, water resources development, agri-horti-forestry on degraded lands, women empowerment and community health.
In recognition of his significant contribution to Rural Development, Dr. Manibhai Desai was conferred many Awards. Notable among them are:
l Padmashree for rural upliftment and community development (1968)
l D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) by the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Maharashtra (1977)
l Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service (1982)l Jamnalal Bajaj Award for application of science and technology
(1983)l Vishwa Gurjari National Award for rural upliftment (1989)
THE GANDHAN WAY: MANIBHAI DESAI
In the Footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi - Dr. Manibhai Desai
27.4.1920 – 14.11.1993
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These included reduction of hardships by promoting safe drinking water, saving of fuel, installation of hand pumps closer to the house, establishment of anganwadis to enable children to attend school, provision of community health care through immunisation, preventive vaccination, hygiene, sanitation and appointment of voluntary health guides who can provide first aid and establish link with primary health care centres. Formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs), introduction of savings and micro-financing, gender sensitation, capacity building and support for various livelihood enterprises further enabled women to take the lead in livelihood activities and various socio-economic development programmes in the community.
Today, more than 10,000 SHGs effectively govern the livelihood and community development programmes across the country. In the journey of implementing various programmes, BAIF has developed a methodology for effective implementation of development programmes. The programme staff should have an open mind to go to the villages, assess the needs and design suitable programmes. assisted project by the European Union in 217 villages spread over 5 states. This concept was tested through a bilatera during 1996-2004. This unique approach enabled BAIF to bring over 90% of the community participants to come out of poverty, while enhancing the income from 8000 to 50,000 at the end of 5 years.
The uniqueness of BAIF has been to change with the times. Although Dr. Manibhai Desai started with the cattle development programme, today, BAIF is known for its multidisciplinary programme and has established credibility among millions of farmers across the country. Today, farmers have strong faith in BAIF and the programme has spread from a small village at Urulikanchan to all over the country. ♣
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HISTORY OF ORCHARD (WADI) DEVELOPMENT
The entry of BAIF in Vansda district of South Gujarat was dramatic. It was in 1982 that the Sadguru Seva Sangh, founded by Mafatlal, invited their family friend Manibhai to take over its project of Rs. 5 million at Vansda where poverty was perceived as a “bottomless pit” (Bhatt, 1987). Tribals had an extremely hopeless condition and suffered from lack of confidence. Howard (2000) wrote “They say, we are good for nothing, we can’t do anything, we are living because we are not dying”. This was the extent of their frustration and therefore, customary drinking got converted into habitual drinking leading to outright ‘Alcoholism’. Thus, tribals became the victim of a ‘vicious cycle,’ starting and ending with drinking and poverty. They drink due to hard work and starvation and self defeatism and drinking resisted any development (Shah, 1992).
It is very interesting but a less known fact that at the time of transfer of the project by Sadguru Seva Sangh to BAIF, there was an on-going activity of developing the forest and wastelands of the area, involving the local tribals, with the support of Government’s Food for Work programme. The land was given by the forest department. The total land was more than 700 ha. The scheme of wastelands development was to distribute one ha of degraded forest land per tribal family which they would work and develop with the condition that 0.6 ha of land would be returned to the forest department after development while the remaining 0.4 ha would be retained by the tribal family on ‘usufruct’ basis. In the usufruct system, one can enjoy the fruits of the land on a permanent basis but cannot own the land, nor mortgage or sell it. BAIF had continued with its activity because they found that it was the most appreciable and effective approach to poverty alleviation (Bhatt, 1987). Thus, a right type of project was undertaken but it failed to achieve its objective of rehabilitation of tribals prior to entry of BAIF in Vansda district under the leadership of Late Dr. Manibhai Desai.
BAIF’s philosophy and approach were reflected in the strategic reforms undertaken in the wastelands development programme which became known as the ‘Wadi’ (Gujarati word for a small orchard), model for Sustainable Tribal Development. Its notable feature was that it was not imposed from above like a Government programme but had evolved with voluntary participation of the beneficiaries without any offer of subsidy.
Orchards stand for prosperity and status symbol for their owners as only rich people can take risk and afford to establish orchards which is an investment
CHAPTER 4
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with longer gestation. Further, one cannot expect any significant income in the initial 5 to 6 years except from intercrops if it could be taken up, provided irrigation facility is available. The fruit crops yield for a longer period even up to hundred years in case of some fuits. The lesson learnt in Vansda indicated that forest trees cannot match with fruit trees as the former is planted for only biomass and cut one day to derive income while the latter brings perennial income and provides gainful employment to the entire family. So, when BAIF took over the responsibilities of development work from Sadguru Seva Sangh, it thought of completely changing the principle of development through farmers' participation giving respect and values to their opinion and tradition.
Wasteland Development through Forestry turned into Wadi Since the tribals have a deep love for their own land and getting Government wasteland on lease was not easy, farmers' own land was given priority although the original system also continued wherein wasteland was allotted to some tribals. The participation in the project was open to those who gave up consumption of alcohol and who were prepared to work on their land. Thus, elimination of a basic barrier for tribal development was achieved. Most appropriate choice of variety of the fruit was also left to tribals themselves which they regarded as ‘Kalpavruksha’ the God’s gift which fulfils all the desire of human beings. (Desai, 2000). The tribals were starving because there was no work so they had to find self employment. Some of them could do some plantation but could not decide about the fruit or variety. So, it was decided to let these tribals decide which fruit or variety. After getting “mango” as an answer they were further asked which variety of mango they would like to plant. The answer was Alphanso. Thus, Mango production became an anchor. The project became popular as the Wadi Project.
Food security during gestation: Although mango remained as a major crop for the wasteland to assure a perennial income after 5 years, forest trees were also encouraged to be grown along the border. The forest species were mixed with fruit trees so as to meet the family needs for fuel, fodder and small timber. However, after realising that the farmers required to sustain their livelihood during the gestation period of the project, it was so designed that for their labour work on their own farms, participants were given daily wages based on the principle of the National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) of the Government. Thus, labour for working on their own orchard (wadi) was ensured for three years, which proved to be a strong incentive to prevent migration.
Over a period of time, it was realised that the major challenge was to provide protective irrigation apart from land development through fencing
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and land shaping, to make land cultivable. So, under BAIF’s guidance and assistance, simple but cost effective soil and water conservation measure such as contour trenching, small dams and mini check dams for recharging the aquifer below the ground were adopted in the orchards. This reduced the problem of drinking water also. Traditional technologies such as stream bunding through gunny bags filled with sand and soil were also applied. Pumps and pipelines were laid to carry this water to the orchard and adequate water supply was ensured for each orchard of 0.4 ha where 1600 pits were dug for fruit, and forest tree plantations.
The participants were given training, technical guidance and demonstrations on how to fill up the pits with proper mix of soil, manures and fertilisers. Thus, it became a watershed development project based on minimum cost to raise fruit and forest trees. Although mango was their first choice, it was difficult to manage enough supply of good quality grafted nursery plants. It was too expensive to get bulk supplies of these plants right in time at a reasonable cost. BAIF took efforts to work on grafting techniques for production of good quality nursery plants of mango. Then a group of 20 farmers were taught nursery techniques, how to graft those special varieties of mangoes so that needed quantity of planting material would be readily available within the village instead of sourcing from the commercial nurseries outside. This eliminated the heavy cost on transport and damage in transit, and the most important benefit of the scheme was provision of immediate additional income to the participants in the programme. Learning the mango grafting technique and supplying planting material to fellow villagers offered an income to the tribals, particularly the women who became local nurserymen.
During the process of establishment of orchards, it was realised that apart from wage income, some income for sustaining their daily needs was required. So, on the adjacent land and in the inter space in the orchards, the crops with short gestation period like papaya, pulses and vegetables were also taken up. Thus, a source of supplementary income was developed.
Women Empowerment: Women play a significant role in tribal economy. Women work harder than men in tribal society. Tribal women collect minor forest produce, medicinal herbs, fodder, grass, bark, charcoal, fuel wood, tubers, etc. and after selling these produce, they purchase basic requirements like match box, kerosene, salt, sugar, sweet oil, clothes etc. Women in tribal communities are considered as equal economic partners and decision makers. Women in fact perform dual responsibilities in domestic and productive activities beside bearing and rearing children.
The tribal society has some very unique and useful traditions. One of these is Wavli. It is an income generating activity for women predominantly in
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Valsad district of Gujarat. The most striking characteristic of Wavli is that income derived from it can be retained by women and men have no claim on it. Under Wavli system, tribal women have been generating income from vegetable cultivation, selling of calf, goat, poultry, milk, leaf cup plates, bamboo basket, etc. But in recent years, most of these activities have disappeared except vegetable cultivation. Income through selling of goat, calf and poultry has reduced to a large extent due to the impact of Bhakti Movement.
Bhakti Movement is a process of reforms which wass initiated by Guru Govind Singh in the 11th century. Bhakti movement sought innovation in tribal life against traditional diet of having non-vegetarian food, custom of taking liquor, accepting price for brides, not taking bath every day or days together etc. As a result of this movement, tribal women stopped generating income from selling of calf, liquor, goat and poultry. Now, a majority of tribal women concentrate on vegetable cultivation, which also existed in these areas for many generations. Tribal women grow vegetables on backyard, river bank, the adjacent vacant land to their field, as a crop sharer in the field of others, common village land, etc. They grow vegetables for four to eight months with the water sourced through tributaries of rivers, hand pumps, wells and bore wells, which are generally located near their land.
BAIF identified Wavli as the most potent intervention activity to involve women and ensure that they earn a steady income. Under the expanded system of Wavli, BAIF has introduced some activities such as dairy, vermicompost, forest and fruit nursery, handicrafts, mushroom cultivation, sewing, kitchen gardening, tamarind processing, making drip pots, leaf cups, herbal medicines, cattle and goat rearing, etc. along with formulation of women self-help groups to develop saving habit and to create inter loan facility among the tribal women so that they can improve their socio-economic status on their own. Tribal women also developed skills of maintaining records, purchasing raw materials dealing with customers, etc.
The tradition of wavli is such that the income belongs solely to the women, to be spent by them according to their desire and decision. Women made entry in BAIF’s programme, through this system and made a group of 15 women to form a Self Help Group (SHG) in each village who would be formally trained in scientific mango grafting and nursery growing, provided with small working capital and helped to ensure enough water supply. Thus, three benefits were derived, the project was assured of supply of nursery saplings, women got income and the project had participation of women. It must be stated that this type of activity was not pre-designed and hence was a notable innovative development.
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BAIF orchard development project evolved its own technological devices based on traditional knowledge and equipments leading to improved productivity, reduced costs and reduction in drudgery. New techniques of water conservation and water harvesting were designed. BAIF had done pioneering work in these areas not out of any plan but as a part of the experimental process of orchard development project based on the needs. The most significant aspect was the capacity building process of the participants under the orchard development project through which technologies and techniques were successfully transferred to the beneficiaries through training. Finally, it was realised that in the absence of a market, sustainable livelihood even by successful orchard development is not possible. Long gestation period of the orchards delayed the development of market related institutional and infrastructural facilities. A processing unit was established in Lachhakadi campus at Vansda. Tribal beneficiaries were trained to manufacture mango products. Initially mango products were marketed by BAIF. But it was planned that eventually marketing will be looked after by a tribal producers’ cooperative and accordingly such a cooperative was first organised in Lachhakadi.
Entry of BAIF for Orchard Development in MaharashtraIt is a fact that agriculture and health are intricately linked for reducing poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. The World Health Organisation states that agriculture and health are interlinked in many ways. First, good food is essential for good health for adults, mothers and children; agriculture contributes for food, fibre, fuel, medicine and materials for shelter in many countries and also provides an important source of livelihood among the poor. These links between agriculture and health present an opportunity for the two sectors to work together to find solutions to each others problems.
BAIF’s approach to reduction of poverty, malnutrition and creation of assets in rural area is an exemplary example. It was a very unfortunate incident that happened in tribal villages viz., Vavar and Karonda in Mokhada block of Thane district which are situated just 160 km away from Mumbai, the financial capital of India. These villages made headlines in national news papers in February 1992 as 45 children died due to measles disease within a span of two weeks which was caused due to malnutrition. Suddenly the villages were visited by number of officials of the State Government. During March 1992, the state’s Health Minister and Tribal Development Minister visited the villages. The-then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. Sudhakarrao Naik visited the villages in March 1992 by helicopter as there was no approach road. Later, during his visit to BAIF’s Central Research Station, Urulikanchan in August 1992, he requested Dr. Manibhai Desai to establish orchard development programme in Mokhada block to improve the socio-economic status of the tribals based on the success of
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this programme at Vansda. Hence, the orchard development programme was launched in May 1993 in Maharashtra. The evolution of this programme is given in Table 4.1.
CoveragePresently, as in September 2011, more than 62,000 ha of orchards (wadis) have been successfully developed, benefiting over 1,64,,000 families in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Additional 45,000 families are in the process of establishing their wadis. Since then, the expansion of the programme has been so fast that every State Government has been making demand on BAIF to start orchard development programme in their state. The cumulative progress of orchard expansion since 1989 is given in Table 4.3. The cropwise distribution of wadi in different states is presented in Table 4.2. The BAIF programme has turned into a National Programme for socio-economic development of tribals in India. This is a significant achievement because the trees are to be nurtured with love. The strong foundation built by BAIF by motivating and convincing the tribal farmers about the benefit it gives in future, is commendable.
It can be observed from Table 4.3 that the expansion of area under orchards is not uniform in all the states. This is due to the fact that BAIF being a non-profit and non-Government organisation, it has no income of its own to sponsor the projects. First of all, wherever donor agencies like respective State Government from their tribal departments, rural development departments, NABARD Tribal Development Fund, external funding agencies like Kfw, European Union have come forward to fund these projects. BAIF is successfully implementing these projects. In Maharashtra, the State Government supported the programme to develop 50,000 tribal families in 15 districts. But in some districts due to soil type, erratic rainfall and drought, the project has not been extended. It may be observed that Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka states have had major share in the successful implementation of this project. These orchards are assets for the farmers and the nation at large. The land value in these areas has also gone up and no one would like to sell the fruit bearing orchards.
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Fig. 1. Wadi Coverage in Maharashtra
Table 4.1 Timeline - Evolution of the orchard (Wadi) project
Sr. No.
Ref. Period Landmarks
1 1967 Sadguru Seva Sangh entered Vansda as Relief Work Agency through distribution of food, blankets, clothes, etc.
2 1979 Worked almost 10 years as a Development Agency, implemented a wasteland development project with Government programme of Food for Work.
3 1980 Shri. Arvind Mafatlal, Chairman of Sadguru Seva Sangh, realised the poor progress and the fact that they were not interested in forestry.
4 1981 Manibhai took over through BAIF and resumed the project on tribal development on new lines of orchard (Wadi) project with substantial changes.
5 1982 The orchard (Wadi) project launched with National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) to ensure cash wage for wadi labour for soil conservation
6 1985 The second phase through National Wastelands Development Board funds helped in gap filling by provision of implementation for Agroforestry and wage payment to all beneficiaries
7 1985 UNICEF sponsored community health programme gave additional push to integrated development
8 1985 Establishment of Vasundhara Vriksha Van Wadi Jalsinchan Vikas Sahakari Mandali, process of institution building began
9 1988 CAPART funding helped IIIrd stage with women development component in wadi programme and better integration of the programme with Training and Capacity Building
10 1988 Orchard (Wadi) supported by post harvest technology with establishment of CAPART funded processing unit of mango (Vasundhara Cooperative)
11 1993 Project Preparation Report on orchard (Wadi) based tribal Development Programme in Maharashtra
12 1995-96 Dharampur – Kaprada project of Wadi based Tribal Development
13 1997-98 Adivasi Seva Sanstha Award of Maharashtra for Wadi-based Tribal Development
14 1999-00 Recognition of of BAIF-Wadi Project by UNDP as a Replicable Poverty Alleviation Model
15 2000 Baseline study of the project area by Agricultural Finance Corporation
16 2001 First Evaluation Study of the Project – by AFC17 2000-01 International reorganisation of ‘wadi’ model in Germany18 2001-02 Project-wadi extended to Dangs in Gujarat19 2003 Maharashtra state officially accepts ‘wadi’ programme for
Adivasi Development in its budget 2003-0420 2003-04 Maharashtra adopted ‘Wadi’ under ‘Gujarat Pattern’ of Tribal
Development21 2011 56232 hectares of orchards established in India
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Table 4.2 State and Cropwise Distribution of Wadi
State No. of Villages
No. of Participant
families
Area covered
haMajor Fruit Crops
MITTRA Maharashtra 2703 89895 34936 Mango, cashew, amla,
guava, lemon, citrus
GRISERV Gujarat 220 2777 735
Mango, sapota, amla, lemon, cashewnut, guava, custard apple, drumstick, date palm
DHRUVA Gujarat 439 30421 11301 Mango, cashew
BIRD-K Karnataka 972 13775 5137
Mango, cashewnut, tamarind, guava, sapota, amla, lemon, jackfruit and coffee
RRIDMA Rajasthan 674 20898 8359 Amla, mango, guava,
pomegranate, lemon, ber
BIRD-UP UP 104 4115 1031 Amla, mango, bel, ber,
guava
SPESD Madhya Pradesh
84 1981 792Mango, custard apple and guava
BIRVA- Jharkhand 16 244 84 Mango, cashew, litchi,
lemon
BAIF Bihar 15 225 57 Mango, guava and drumstick
BAIF Chhattisgarh 19 258 104 Mango, cashew and litchi
Total 5246 164589 62536
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Table 4.3 Year and Statewise progress of orchards (Wadis) since inception
Year
(Area in Ha)
StatesTotal
Gujarat Maharashtra Rajasthan MP Karnataka UP
1989 50 140 - - - - 190
1990 50 337 - - - - 387
1991 50 - - - 90 - 140
1992 50 34 - - 806 - 890
1993 100 57 - - - - 157
1994 100 146 - - 300 - 546
1995 400 166 - - 405 - 971
1996 800 207 - 100 - 1107
1997 1000 284 46 - - - 1330
1998 1000 117 106 - 300 - 1523
1999 800 241 538 - 525 - 2104
2000 280 422 443 - 220 - 1365
2001 27 868 510 - - - 1405
2002 400 262 161 - - - 823
2003 400 1503 121 - - - 2024
2004 200 2583 481 - 100 - 3364
2005 100 8514 460 - 213 200 9487
2006 100 2086 868 - - 250 3304
2007 240 5365 926 - 300 - 6831
2008 480 7368 694 117 750 - 9409
2009 1600 343 508 623 950 - 4024
2010 60 2771 420 627 870 - 4851
Total 8287 33814 6282 1367 5929 450 56232
*Wadi was introduced in Chhattisgarh in 2010, covering 103 ha. ♣
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PROJECT CONCEPT AND DESIGN
Project ConceptInternational experience shows that chronic, grinding poverty continues to affect millions worldwide. Rural India and the tribals in particular are no exception. It is realised that in the fight against poverty, it is essential to adopt a holistic approach addressing the area specific needs. Most importantly, it is necessary to involve the triabls themselves, in the development process which will build-up their assets – human, material, social and financial. Planning and designing the activities as per the need of the area and the involvement of the participants in every stage of the development process is the crux of the programme. Introduction and implemention of various eco-friendly income generation, mainly land and livestock-based, tailor made to the needs of each participating family is the integrated approach, that needs to be undertaken.
The main features of the approach are:l Addressing the needs of the poorest of the poor families.l Flexible and participatory problem solving.l Plan for each family a basket of interventions, which would raise income
above the poverty line.l Assistance package focussed on food security, livelihood and quality of
life.l Responding to community concerns like health, gender, education and
environment.
ObjectivesThe overall objective of the Orchard Development Programme was to improve the standard and quality of living of the poor tribal families through a holistic and enabling programme approach. This could be achieved by helping the tribal families to develop productive assets such as orchard (‘Wadi’) with an integrated farming system comprising of horticulture, forestry, agriculture and dairy and other non-farm enterprises to enable them to earn substantial and sustainable livelihood over a long term period. Simultaneously, there is need for a thrust to tackle the root causes of poor health and improve the quality of living, particularly of women.
CHAPTER 5
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BAIF’s orchard development programme specifically aimed at the following:
l Food security and poverty alleviationl Improving the health status of the communityl Increasing the asset base of the tribalsl Empowerment of women
Activities undertaken to achieve the planned objectivesl Develop a productive asset in the form of an orchard on 0.20 to 0.40 ha
of land with suitable fruit and forestry species.l Enhance productivity of land through soil and water conservation
measures for enhancing food and income security.l Improve availability of water through construction of small check dams,
ponds and deepening of existing wells and springs, etc.l Introduce crossbreeding and upgrade dairy cattle from local non-descript
cows and buffaloes, wherever feasible.l Facilitate tribals to upgrade their skills and establish non-farm enterprises.l Develop forward and backward linkages for providing micro credit, self-
employment ventures and consumption credit along with the required marketing linkages.
l Reduce vulnerability of the tribal population to sickness.l Poor health of infants and children to be addressed through awareness
generation on hygiene, sanitation and immunisation, training of female health workers as health guides for each hamlet, improving community health and develop clean drinking water sources.
l Empower women through formation of SHGs and develop appropriate training facilities for building their capabilities to take up supplementary income generation.
Programme ComponentsThe BAIF programme helped the entire village community in one or the other form, contributing to its success. Further, participation was voluntary. Individual participation later turned into a community project. A holistic approach to promote sustainable livelihood activities to improve the quality of life was developed, with consideration for the environment, available natural resources, traditional skills and tribal culture. The approach helped to develop a diversified horticulture, agriculture and livestock portfolio for the tribal family to ensure sustainable income in the future. Following are the components adopted in this approach.
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Box 5.1
Key Factors for Success of Orchard Development Programme
l Programme designed to benefit everyone in the village such as small farmers, marginal farmers, landless, women and the village community as a whole
l All family members as target for development - not focussed on any individual
l Women as partners in decision making
l Involvement of family labour as mandatory
l Farmers receive labour wages even when they work on their own farm
l Based on Gandhian principle, abstaining from consuming alcohol as a pre-requisite for participation
l Delivery of inputs through Self Help Groups
l Disbursement of cash component of the project directly to the bank account of every participant
l No handling of cash by BAIF staff
l Promotion of fodder and fuel trees along with fruit tree plants
l Life protective irrigation to fruit trees during gestation
l Live hedge and social fencing against browsing by cattle
l Livelihood support during gestation period for fruit trees through activities such as vegetable cultivation, mushroom cultivation, vermicomposting, fruit nursery and non-farm activities
l 80% survival of the fruit trees in each year was necessary for continuation of the project benefit in subsequent years which resulted in greater success
l Dedicated employees of BAIF with good conduct prefer to continue and serve as role models
l Placement of BAIF staff in the project villages to enable them to establish regular contact with the participants
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Box 5.2 Development Interventions
Tribal category and intervention Programme
Participants owning land: Orchard (Wadi)Vegetables Improved Agriculture
40 – 60 Fruit trees (typically 20 mango and 40 cashew were planted on 0.4 ha Wadi with other fodder and forestry trees species on the periphery. Introduction of improved agriculture practices. Vegetable cultivation and nursery raising.
Participants owning livestock: Dairy Husbandry Small Livestock
In selected areas, breeding of local cows / buffaloes was introduced by Artificial Insemination using high quality frozen semen. For women’s groups, some livestock based interventions such as goat rearing, rabbit rearing, etc. were introduced.
The Landless Participants Skill training and upgradation
Off-farm and non-farm income generation activities such as tassar silk production, collection and processing of minor forest produce, etc. were introduced.
The Entire Tribal Community Community Health
Creation of potable drinking water sources. Promotion of health of infants and women through awareness, immunisation, safe delivery, improving nutrition, primary treatment, etc.
Women’s Development Programme
Mobilisation of women in SHGs and nurturing them, activities to reduce drudgery, improved incomes, improved health and hygiene in the homes and through homestead activities, individual level and group level income generation activities and linkages with micro credit
Water Resource and lift irrigation schemes
Suitable water reserves – wells and check dams were developed along with lifting devices for a group of participants. An intensive area-based planning for water resources development was undertaken.
Micro Watershed Development
Area treatment measures to improve soil and water conservation through mechanical and vegetative techniques in identified micro watersheds.
Post Harvest Activities
Introduced simple post harvest activities to improve shelf life, and value addition for farm produce, small scale processing units, establishing market linkages / channels, for better returns to the producers.
Support to Ashram Schools
Introduction of various technology demonstration units, health and sanitation programmes and training activities for the school children and programme participants.
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A. Activities for Participants Owning LandOrchard and Improved Agriculture: The mainstay of rural economy is agriculture and allied occupations. About 85% of the rural population is engaged in agriculture and agricultural labour. Traditional agriculture is characterised by low level of inputs and poor management practices. These conditions further deteriorate due to uncertain rains and lack of irrigation facilities. The proposed programme aimed at helping the tribals to establish 0.4 ha horticulture plantation to provide long term sustainable income. The programme also aimed at improving the agricultural practices by providing improved technology for the main crops and introduction of vegetable and cash crops as inter crops.
The Orchard Programme: The horticulture cum forestry plantation programme was called Wadi. The socio-economic rehabilitation of poor rural families was possible through development of wastelands into productive assets by plantation of fruit and forest tree species. The wadi programme is based on a farming system approach that includes horticulture, forestry and food and cash crops.
The programme was planned with family as a unit. The intensive utilisation of land and water resources helped to generate self-employment opportunities throughout the year. the components were need-based and tailor-made to ensure that the family will be rehabilitated by the end of the gestation period of 6-7 years (Programme support of five years). At the end of this period, the horticulture and forestry plantations become productive and the income from these and inclusion of agriculture help the participant families to come out of poverty on a sustainable basis. After the family joins the programme, they do not feel the need to migrate to the nearby towns as self employment is available at village level throughout the year. In addition, there are intangible benefits in the form of family welfare, improved nutrition, health care and better quality of life.
Work undertaken on orchard plots: It involves land shaping through contour bunds and trenches, digging and filling of pits, fencing, plantation of fruit and forestry saplings, water resources development, inter-cropping, aftercare of plantations, etc. The forestry species were planted on the boundaries of the plantation, serving as a windbreak for the fruit trees and a source of timber, fodder and fuelwood. The species to be planted were chosen according to their suitability to the project area, their income generation potential and the preferences of the participating family. Then saplings were provided with critical watering during summer months in the first few years to enable their proper establishment.
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Activities for Orchard Programme1. Land Developmentl Contour bundingl Trenchingl Terracingl Making gradonies / terraces
2. Plantationl Fencingl Digging pitsl Filling pits with soil and manurel Raising nurseries of fruit and forest treesl Plantation of saplingsl Transplanting grafts
3. Post Plantation Activitiesl Aftercare practices such as weeding, basin preparation, mulching,
pruning, etc.l Protective watering of plantsl Plant protection through pest management and control
4. Soil Improvement Activitiesl Inter-cultivation and harrowingl Soil improvement through green manuringl Raising intercrops such as vegetables, oilseeds, tuber crops, etc.
5. Other Activities Water Resource Development
l Construction of low cost check bunds to harvest post monsoon flows l Development of ponds / tanks, dug – wells l Lifting harvested water using diesel / fuel powered irrigation pumps
Improved Agriculture l Provision of seeds / grafts / compost l Equipments / tools
Post Harvest Management l Collection and grading of produce l Processing l Marketing
Training l Functional training of participants in above activities l Training of field functionaries
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In addition to these activities on the wadi plots, participants were provided improved seeds for arable crops. Small scale irrigation arrangements were made for providing protective watering to the saplings and to cultivate small plots of cash crops such as vegetables, watermelon, cucumber, etc. The total cost of developing a wadi is in the range of Rs. 20,000 to 25,000, spread over 4 years. The details are presented in Table 5.1.
Activities for participants owning livestockDairy Cattle Development: The livestock rearing traditionally practiced was primarily for draught power. Even when the tribal families own dairy animals, they are mostly of non-descript breeds and poor yielders. These animals are usually allowed to graze and receive very little care.
When an integrated development programme was introduced, these animals were not allowed to freely roam about. The strategy here was to upgrade the animals by crossbreeding with improved breeds. This eventually led to better animals that are managed more intensively and yield more milk. This also led to reduced pressure on land. In order to provide cattle breeding services, cattle development centres were proposed in areas with good potential for these activities.
The livestock development programmes aimed at the followingl Enhancement in coverage of artificial insemination technique and
effective follow-up.l Training of villagers, especially women in dairy cattle management.l Use of high quality frozen semen of Jersey, Holstein Friesian or suitable
indigenous dairy breeds in cattle and Surti and Murrah in buffaloes.l Promotion of fodder development.l Preventive health care measures.
Considering these needs, a comprehensive cattle development programme was planned for the entire project area. The programme aimed at helping the families upgrade their local cattle stock into crossbred cows, which would provide high income. The livestock development workers trained in dairy management were guiding and building the capacities of the tribals to handle the crossbreds and dairy buffaloes.
Activities for the LandlessSince 20-30% of the families in the operational areas were landless, special emphasis was given to support them through various interventions for better livelihood. Developing programmes for the landless was challenging for the following reasons:
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Table 5.1 Model unit cost of establishing orchard on 0.4 ha
Sl. No. Activity
Amount in Rs.
Yr I Yr II Yr III Yr IV Total
1. Land Shaping 2000 2000
2. Fencing – Dry and Live hedge 800 250 1050
3. Pit digging 1m x 1m x 1m 60 pits @ Rs. 8/- per pit 480 480
4. Horticulture grafts @ Rs. 20/- per grafts, total 60 and 20% gap filling in IInd year
1200 240 1440
5. Pit digging forestry 1000 pits @ 0.60/- per unit 200 400 600
6. Forestry sapling Rs. 1.50/- sapling 500 1000 1500
7. After care cost - earthing, mulching, stacking, shading pesticides spraying, etc.
300 400 400 1100
8. Fertilisers 250 300 500 600 1650
9. Water resource development (Well, Spring, Drum kit, Drip irrigation, Lift irrigation, Check dam, form pond) with water lifting equipments
1500 1000 500 3000
10. Watering charges 300 400 400 1100
11. Improved Agriculture 300 300 0 0 600
Total 3050 7030 3040 1400 14520
Labour Component 1500 4730 1300 800 8330
Material Component 1550 2300 1740 600 6190
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l The landless pursue numerous vocations, each based on different resource(s). The resources vary from place to place. There was no common or a fixed “resource base” on which a mass programme could be built upon;
l The landless have meagre productive assets, making it difficult to convert or develop them into means of sustainable livelihood;
l The opportunities in the non-farm sector were very diversified, necessitating diversified approaches;
l Opportunities for the landless in agriculture were limited due to lack of irrigation facilities;
l There were opportunities for the landless in the non-farm sector, especially in secondary sector but these can generally take-off only when the primary sector (agriculture) develops.
To find opportunities for the landless the following approaches were planned:l Imparting intensive skills training in service sector such as diesel pump
repairs, installation of irrigation systems, masonry, grocery and small trade;
l Explore off-farm support opportunities for land-based activities such as nursery raising;
l Processing and marketing opportunities.
In view of various options and the need to identify suitable opportunities in different locations, it was proposed to allocate a lump-sum budget for supporting the landless families. An amount of Rs. 20,000/- per family was budgetted for this purpose. The landless families in the programme villages are now coming forward on their own and contacting the staff or the wadi Tukadis for participating in the programme. This was mainly due to the fact that the other landless families are being supported for livelihood activities with very encouraging results. After the landless family approaches the Project staff or tukadi, there is a thorough discussion on the type of activity / support the participants requires. The assistance is provided through the project only after the landless participants make up their mind for a particular activity or support. The landless families also sign a programme implementation agreement like the Wadi families. In some cases, the landless have taken up group activities like renting of curtains and pandals for ceremonies, loudspeakers for functions, a brass band, pot drip manufacture, vermicomposting, etc. In some cases, the landless are working in pairs. Two landless have set up a vegetable stall at nearby town, one manages the stall and the other goes to the town and neighbouring
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areas on a bicycle selling the vegetables. The landless are also engaged in trades like black smithy, carpentry, masonry, barber shop, trading, tailoring and goat rearing.
Common Activities for the entire tribal communityA number of activities were planned to be taken up within the above scope specifically taking into account the prevalent situation in the tribal areas. The specific activities undertaken are as below.
1. Community Health: This covered various areas of primary health care such as hygiene and sanitation, quality management of drinking water, nutrition and family welfare, including problems of early marriages and creating awareness for small family. Community level health guides were trained to undertake disease prevention efforts, promote maternal and child health, provide first contact care through primary treatment and promote kitchen gardens. The Community Health Programme was specifically focussed on women through Self Help Group activities taken up as a part of the Women’s Development Programme.
It was also planned to address certain diseases and ailments specific to tribal areas. For instance, depending on local prevalence, identification and counselling of Sickle Cell Anemia cases were introduced. Very important components of the health programme were the training of health functionaries and health education for the community at large. The health functionaries consisted of the traditional healers, traditional midwives, and health guides and para workers. In addition to this, the women members of the self-help groups were the main focal point for the health awareness programme. The health programme aimed at dovetailing with the on-going health programme implemented by the Government as well as link with the existing health infrastructure for referral services.
The herbal garden programme was introduced for participants having a traditional knowledge of herbal plants. Such local traditional healers (vaidus) were identified and trained on medicinal plants. They have started their own clinics and provide services like massage, use of herbal medicines, steaming, poultice of mud or herbs, etc. The Charak Centres (Nature Cure Clinics) were set up by them at their own cost. Each traditional healer is providing services to 8 – 10 hamlets, treating around 30–50 patients every month. In order to provide service to female patients, every Charak Centre has a trained woman assistant. Every Centre has a well maintained register which has the details of the patient, the symptoms, treatments given, etc. The Vaidus are trained to provide preliminary treatments. Most common ailments treated are body ache,
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painful joints, stomach pains, fever, cough, asthma, inflammations, etc. If there are any serious cases, then they are referred to the Public Health Centres.
Major activities under this programme are presented below: 1. Making available potable drinking water through:l Development of safe drinking water sources (handpumps, open
wells, etc.);l Repairs and maintenance of drinking water sources;l Source chlorination / home chlorination.
2. Nutrition of the tribals implemented through:l Promoting seasonal and perennial kitchen gardens;l Introducing nutritious recipes;l Community-based nutrition supplement to children and expectant
and lactating mothers.
3. Primary treatment of minor illnesses through:l Medicinal herbs for home-based care;l Support traditional healers / health guides through primary treatment
kits / first aid kits.
4. Maternal and child health interventions through:l Ensuring safe delivery through aseptic practices and use of delivery
kits;l Maternal / neo-natal kits for better pre–natal / post natal care.
5. Better child care through:l Demonstration of nutritious foods including weaning foods;l Creche and care of young children.
6. Improve sanitation and hygiene through: l Improved techniques for disposal of solid and liquid wastes;l Support for better personal hygiene;l Curative intervention for diseases such as scabies.
2. Development Interventions for WomenSHG members were trained in accounts and record keeping and guided for developing linkages with banks to start income generation activities. The diseases and problems caused by consumption of contaminated water, importance of fresh vegetables in daily diet, basic aspects like general health and hygiene, vaccinations, diet of pregnant women
57
and new mothers, wrong feeding practices, new nutritional recipes, reproductive health problems and skin infections, were also covered in these trainings. They were also encouraged to take up developmental issues centred around their lives. This included various measures for reducing drudgery, improving health, developing skills and take up various homestead activities for better earning as well as improvement in the quality of their lives. Such activities were introduced either at individual or group level depending on local needs and feasibility. The above interventions included activities such as vegetable cultivation and goat rearing at individual level, making leaf plates and vermicomposting at group level, establishing flour mill, water conveyance system for reduced drudgery, installation of roof-lights, ventilators in the house for improved sanitation, etc.
3. Micro Watershed DevelopmentIn order to convert degraded agriculture lands and wastelands into productive lands and to reduce soil erosion of agricultural and non-agricultural lands, it is imperative to treat such lands with soil and moisture conservation techniques on watershed basis. The approach aimed at development with the involvement of community at each stage, starting from planning to execution of watershed works and then handing it over to the community for management. Each field was surveyed for slope, vegetation, soil depth and type and expectation of the farmer about the treatment to be given to the land. Field to field survey along with the community was conducted in areas covered under the project.
Area treatment helped in improving the soil moisture and reducing the velocity of runoff water thereby recharging the ground water. Area treatment was based on topography slope, rainfall pattern, crop pattern and carried out through contour trenching, staggered trenching, trench-cum-stone bunding (gradonies), field bund improvement, gully plugging, etc.
Drainage line treatment was proposed to construct series of structures to collect the maximum surface runoff and thereby improving the groundwater regime. To achieve this, following structures were proposed under drainage line treatments in the watershed:
l Gully plugging with locally available stones or soil;l Dry boulder structures made out of locally available stones;l Gabion structures made out of wire mesh and stones wrapped within,
with or without core wall. The core wall may be of ferrocement or brick to make the structure impervious;
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l Masonry check dam structure on streams or nallah up to 2 m height;l Dug out type of farm ponds and networking of farm ponds, nalha
bunds, etc.
4. Value Addition and Market LinkagesThe project areas are relatively interior and under-developed and do not have well developed market linkages. Hence, it was proposed to organise the SHG members and farmers into apex organisations such as Federations and Cooperatives. These organisations were groomed for taking up value addition and market linkage activities.
Post harvest activities can help in value addition, longer shelf-life and better price realisation for the farm produce. These activities can also generate substantial off-farm employment opportunities. These activities ranged from simple operations such as grading, packaging, drying and simple processing activities such as pickling, brining etc. Although these post harvest activities are relatively simple, making them as commercial scale activities would require a concerted effort, knowledge and skill inputs and capacity building of the local youth and the participant organisations.
5. Support Ashram Schools set up by the Government in tribal areas:
It was planned to involve the Ashram Schools in the holistic development programme as institutional base for demonstrating new ideas and technologies and for carrying out awareness creation and training. It was planned to establish demonstration units of a number of programme components. These included:
l Improved farm production technologies: drum-kit and bucket-kit for drip irrigation, pot kit for horticulture, mother plants and nursery raising, Vermicomposting, roof top water harvesting, treadle pumps.
l Health sanitation demonstrations: sand filter for water purification, ferrocement sanitary toilets, kitchen gardens.
Some of these activities also served as practical hands-on training opportunities for the school children. All these activities were used as demonstration units for awareness creation and training of the school children as well as the participants from the surrounding villages.
Health Programme: The activities undertaken through SHGs/ Wadi Tukadis are Clean Drinking Water, Nutrition and Herbal-based interventions. The bottles containing the chlorination agent were given
59
to all needy households for chlorination of wells. A number of health camps were conducted to treat scabies, worms and lice among school children. The participants raised kitchen gardens during rainy season, with the seeds provided from the project. Under clean kitchen activity, the fire place and the place of food preparation called kitchen platform was placed on a higher level. Glass tiles were provided to have light in the houses. The fire place was set up near the windows to ensure emission of smoke.
With the guidance from the local Charak Centre, a plantation committee has been formed for facilitating the establishment of herbal nurseries and creating awareness on herbal plants to school children. This would enable easy procurement of medicinal herbs.
Unique Approach to dealing with different categories of PoorBAIF’s approach for development, had a unique blend of economic, environmental and social concerns for poverty alleviation through participatory development. Based on this approach, instead of treating the poor as a homogenous mass, based on their annual income and resources, they were categorised into four groups i.e. poorest, poor, moderately poor and comparatively better off but still below the poverty line. This was done to focus on the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of the society such as marginal land holders, landless, and physically challenged. The families where women shouldered maximum responsibilities were termed as ‘Women Headed Families’. Priority was given to the weakest and most vulnerable families while enrolling for livelihood support in the project.
A package of livelihood interventions was offered so as to select a combination of most fitting to their resources and profit through Micro Level Planning (MLP). This was facilitated by Cluster Level Officers and State Level Project Officers of BAIF. The MLP activities were monitored and necessary changes were made in the nature of activities depending on experience during implementation. Thus, the micro plan was not a rigid plan but kept on evolving based on the need of the farmer. This approach has built in sustainability element with support from People’s Organisations and trained cadre of community para-professionals. BAIF’s Project Officer groomed the people right from beginning of the project to take over the development initiative from the project. Sustainability plans were developed with the Project Officer which ensured continuation after the project closure through establishment of strong linkages with market and financial institutions. This approach realised the fact that the needs of the poor rural families are diverse and cannot be easily addressed through standard package of any interventions to be applied to all the families.
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# # * * * * * * * * * * * * * * # # * 0 0 0 0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * # # * 0 0 0 0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * # # * 0 0 0 0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * # # * 0 0 0 0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * # # * 0 0 0 0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ * # # * * * * * * * * * * * * * * # # #
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# Fencing * Forestry Forestry
0 Mango ^ Cashew
Area: 0.4 haFruit Plants: Mango - 20; Cashew - 40
Demystification of technology for adoptionThe step-by-step operational mechanism of orchard development indicated adoption of a very scientific package of practices to establish the orchard which tribals had earlier found to be an unattractive proposition. The steps involved are briefly summarised below:
BAIF conducted a techno-economic feasibility of the orchards in the villages, in consultation with potential farmers and expert technical staff. The well-designed orchard layout was made to establish 20 mango, 40 cashew and 800 to 1200 forest trees within a plot of 0.4 ha. Plans for the plantation and intensive care were drawn for three years with protective measures including fencing. A model of the layout is shown in Box 5.3.
Box 5.3 Typical Wadi Layout
All the major components of the orchard activities were well defined in terms of inputs , equipment and time schedules. A detailed checklist shown in Table 5.2, includes each component, with specific period. There is a continuous online technical monitoring of activities by trained local field guides, through People’s Organisations and Orchard Segments (Wadi Tukadis) consisting of a small group of wadi owners. Farmers were guided in the best use of modern scientific inputs through local Field Guides.
These tribal farmers received exposure to the outside world as they often visited the fields of progressive farmers in non-tribal region. Tomato growing
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techniques and skills imbibed in the fields of progressive farmers has been experimented by them with confidence on their own plots. Regular interactions of the farmers, particularly women with local youth and field guides, gave them confidence and courage to clarify all their doubts, as and when needed. Such mentoring played a very significant role in empowering the participants.
There was a provision for establishing. Agro-service Centres through Vibhag Committees at Panchayat level for timely and adequate supply of inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural implements. A systematic institutional arrangement was developed to ensure procurement and processing of cashew and mango. Vibhag Committees procured the raw material and supplied to village-based cooperatives, which sold the marketable produce to the apex cooperative body, the Federation at the block headquarters. The apex cooperative is responsible for marketing and distribution of the finished products under its own brand name.
BAIF also provided a calendar of operation for the whole year in advance and ensured adherence to the schedule of operations by the participants. This generated awareness for adoption of scientific orchard management programme among the farmers in their own style. Capacity building of the participants was ensured through training on a variety of components for orchard owners. Most important is the four tier system of monitoring – at the levels of members (village), field guides (Panchayat), junior agricultural staff (Cluster) and senior staff.
The in-built support system to orchard owners to provide wages for their labour contribution in their own orchards and their willingness to work in groups under the guidance of BAIF was very encouraging for the participants. Considering the success of this project, KfW under bilateral aid, NABARD and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, have also earmarked funds for supporting wadi programme across the country. Thus, the orchard development approach was very systematic and founded on scientific lines with appropriate and timely technology support.
This development is based on the clear vision of late Dr. Manibhai Desai, who felt that providing basic livelihood to the tribal farmer, is extremely important to ensure food security without disturbing their culture. The dedicated and devoted leadership of Manibhai has been inherited at all levels of the organisation. Every employee is able to understand the contribution of his work which is directly benefitting the poor to improve their livelihood. They feel proud that because of their contribution, thousands of poor families have been able to come out of poverty and improve their quality of life.
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Table 5.2 Wadi Development – Checklist of ActivitiesItem List of Activities Yr1 Yr2 Yr3 Yr4 Yr5 Yr6 Yr7
A. FruitPreparation and Plantation
Pit digging
Pit Filling
Plantation
Gap filling
Post plantation
Earthing up
Staking
Basin Preparation I
Basin Preparation II
Basin Preparation III
Shed PreparationDry Mulching
Plant Sanitation I
Plant Sanitation II
Weeding
IPM
Fertiliser Application in trench
Organic Manure Production and Application
Foliar Fertiliser Sprays
Pruning
B. ForestryPre-plantation and aftercare
Pit digging and plantation
Earthing up and pruning
C. FencingLivehedge and dry fence preparation and maintenance
Dry Fence PreparationLive hedge Plantation
Dry Fence Maintenance
Source: Project Preparation Report, Ministry of Finance (1993).
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One day, while discussing with a group of tribals, Manibhai asked them what they wanted their children to be. Almost everyone replied that they wanted their children to be like any other children who get good quality education in reputed institutions and are well placed in society, the Field Staff recall. This gave a hint that the development programme should aim at food security, sustainable livelihood and better quality of life. We shall not interfere in their religious and cultural aspects. Let them have their own freedom! Even today, this is the approach of BAIF for bringing change in the socio-economic status of the tribals. BAIF has succeeded in taking technology to the remotest villages because the strategy is to provide extension service through local field guides instead of posting technical personnel from outside, which has resulted in greater success of the programme. ♣
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PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT
Cluster Approach for Horticulture DevelopmentThe cluster approach contemplates identifying beneficiaries in sizeable homogenous group for orchard development. This will enable planning for gainful employment to every family and for providing necessary infrastructure. This will also be convenient for administering inputs for development and monitor the programme. This approach advocates identification of five to six contiguous villages having a population of 3000 to 5000 along a road or around existing common infrastructure. Once the villages are selected, the next step would be holding Grama Sabha (Village meeting) and identification of beneficiary families below the poverty line, followed by formulation of orchard scheme for land holders along with suitable economically viable suitable vocations for each eligible landless family in the village. Since the programme should help to bring socio-economic improvement in the entire village, BAIF has adopted this strategy. Once the project is prepared and the donor agency agrees to fund the programme, one cluster office is established for effective planning, implementation, monitoring and to achieve success for increasing the income of the identified families, by creating assets. The success of the programme depends on the availability of support services in the cluster like road network, marketing, veterinary health facilities, milk collection centres and credit institutions, etc. to a great extent.
The most important criterion which influenced the selection of clusters was the process of consultation with the local leaders which not only helped in fixing priorities but also ensured a measure of support and cooperation of the people in implementation of orchard development programme. Most of the tribal villages were inaccessible as they did not have weathered roads and modern communication facilities. Further absence of matured markets and poor penetration of agriculture extension and input services made it difficult for any programme in tribal areas to be successful. However, when a cluster is identified, data collection from the primary and secondary sources in respect of each village falling in the cluster assumes great importance. BAIF conducted a baseline survey of villages and also a family survey using designed formats for selection of participants for the orchard development programme.
CHAPTER 6
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Box 6.1 Advantages of Cluster Approach
l Monitoring becomes easy, cuts down travel cost and enhances the efficiency;
l Regular visits based on the convenience of farmers are possible;
l Easy contact with farmers whenever needed;
l Easier to establish farmers’ Self Help Groups;
l Similar agro-climatic conditions ensure greater participation;
l Helps to build greater visibility of change;
l Effective guidance, coordination and supervision;
l Wider replication of the programme based on good impact;
l Better coordination among producers and greater bargaining power for purchase of inputs and sale of produce;
l High scale of operation more economical;
l Increase in the levels of local expertise and flow of information.
The orchard segment committee (Wadi tukadi) worked closely with the Gram Sabha. Following were the expected roles of wadi tukadi:
l Planning and budgeting during and beyond the project;l Information Management (particularly baseline survey and participatory
poverty assessment / participatory rural appraisal);l Ensuring execution of work by the participants and managing the account
for the funds received;l Social auditing and monitoring of the project; l Facilitating work for landless labourers, small and marginal farmers,
artisans and women engaged in agriculture.
BAIF’s primary role was to provide ideas, exposure and facilitate discussions within communities. Communities were responsible for making decisions and plans. Based on their specific demand for training, capacity building and technical support, BAIF empowered the community to manage the activities and institutions even after withdrawal from the area. It is important that the people take ownership. They first need to asess their current situations and problems and achieve clarity on why there is a need for change in their immediate environment. The participant families also need to consider BAIF as a facilitator and friend rather than a provider of resources.
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Participation of poorest of the poorThe steps involved to reach the poorest of the poor in the implementation of the project by BAIF are described below:
l Rapport building and laying a dynamic foundation through area-based interventions like community health, water resource development, livestock development, entry point activities, etc.
l Village community defines poverty in their own context and identifies the poorest families.
l Village community representatives (from People’s Organisations) and each of the poor families together prepare a family Micro Level Plan of economic interventions, based on the available resources within the family.
l Micro Level Plans were continuously evolved on the basis of needs of each family looking to successes and failures. They often included more than one economic intervention.
l People’s Organisations constituted by these families, organise input supplies, training and monitoring the progress of each family.
l People’s Organisations directly link up with mainstream organisations such as Government departments, banks and markets to sustain the development process for the community.
Salient Featuresl Reaching the very poorest among the tribals;l Flexible, need-based problem solving approach;l Package of interventions with each family to suit the needs of each
family;l Encouragement for individual empowerment and growth, while building
on family and community assets;l Community concerns – gender, health and education being addressed;l Community ownership of the development process becoming a reality;
Importance of BAIF’s Endeavourl Clear approaches, methods and systems evolved to address the
development needs of individual families and the community.l Replicable across various socio-economic conditions and agro-climatic
zones, strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions.l Facilitated information on resources, services and time horizon to uplift
families above the poverty line.The process of participants enrollment is presented in Box 6.2
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Evolution of BAIF’s Approach: The programme was evolved with experience gained through earlier projects in the form of action learning, based on local needs. It consisted of three key elements:
1. Technology Driven Programme: Emphasis on appropriate technologies for enhancing general productivity.
Family as a Unit: Focussed on the needs of each family through Family level Micro Plans (MLPs) to identify the assets with each family and to to bridge this gap to promote suitable economic activities.
Community-based Management: People’s Organisations (POs) to manage the development to ensure sustainability beyond the project. The POs have taken different forms in different areas, and have reached varying levels of sophistication and maturity. In essence, they comprised of 3 tiers: operating at the hamlet level, village level and cluster level, with each of the tiers having a different function in the implementation of project activities and control of funds.
Box 6.2
Participant Enrolment Process
PO identifies the family or Family Approaches the PO
PO discusses the needs and potential of the family
PO recommends the appropriate intervention for the family
PO decides the contribution to PO of the family against the intervention
PO forwards family proposal with plan to the BPO who estimates the annual income of the family
BPO validates information and with his remarks forwards it to the CL
CL takes Decision about enrollment
The Family is enrolled as participant
Participant is given intervention through PO
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PO= People’s Organisation (Wadi Tukadi) BPO=Block Programme Officer (BAIF) CL=Cluster Leader (BAIF)
Mobilisation of resources by the POs through people’s contributions, make them confident of their own capabilities. This has been an important factor in the success since these people have their personal stake in the development process.
Essential Elements of BAIF’s Approach Livelihood Systems Component: This approach considers family assets and plans to implement a basket of interventions, based on the capacity. The inputs help to strengthen the existing assets and to bring the family above the poverty line. Activities include land and livestock-based programmes and small-scale micro enterprises funded by both credit as well as funding support. The activities include cattle breeding centres, land development and watershed development, community health, women development which reduce their drudgery and engage them in more productive activities.
Implementation Timeline
l The project started with year ‘0’, which enabled the teams to explore communities, as well as prepare themselves for the work ahead.
l The actual project implementation was planned for a period of 8 years, clearly stating the need to provide 4-5 years for every family to come above the poverty line.
l Family Identification for selecting the most needy.l Participatory Problem Analysis: The project team discussing with
villagers, to identify the needs of the poor belonging to various categories.l Entry Point Activities: These meet the immediate needs of a village
helpful to establish rapport with the people.l Preparation of village Level Ready Reckoners of Economic Activities:
Identification of major economic activities to be undertaken based on Focus Group Discussions.
l Family Level Micro Plans: POs and the poor families together prepare family micro level plans for every family.
l Credit-cum-Subsidy: Participant families to contribute in kind or cash for all activities, with partial support from the project.
l Capacity building: All the participant families to undergo rigorous training in managing the programme.
l Linkages with the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs): Wadi as a part of the village level plans to strengthen the programme.
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Monitoring Tools: Annual work plan was the key to project implementation in each location and was used as a primary monitoring reference. Variance analysis and other achievement reporting was done through the project MIS.
A Family Passbook / Register maintained details of all inputs received by the family. The Register was kept at the field office while the Passbook was with the family. Based on this data, a baseline Information Document was prepared for the entire Project Area. Field visits and Regional Review Committee Meetings were conducted periodically by project staff.
Micro PlanningPlanning is usually undertaken at various levels - national to provisional/district and village levels. Data required for micro-level planning may be categorised as follows:
l Soil type, fertility level, rainfall, dry spell, temperature and physiographical data;
l Profile of farming communities and main agricultural practices and non-farm activities;
l Cultural and behavioural Pattern and farmers’ perception about different crops and enterprises;
l Asset Ownership – size and fragmentation of holdings, dominant social groups and their interests;
l Access to various factors of production including human, animal and machine labour;
l Availability of inputs and problems and market linkage;l Local consumption pattern;l Cash inflow and availability of Institutional Credit; l Major constraints in production and marketing of produce;l Institutional and Organisational capacity – (Co-op, SHGs, marketing
needs);l Scope for new crops and allied activities – honey bee, collection of non-
edible oilseeds, mushroom, etc.l Access to information sourcesl Convergence with various programmes and related constraintsl Risk in crop/agricultural allied activities and coping mechanism
The MLP approach by BAIF aimed at providing sustainable income generation opportunities to the rural poor, by creating or improving their resources in accordance with their existing skills, present asset base and
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available human resources. The MLP is intended to be updated every year, based on the progress with the Interventions. Thus it is an ongoing process, and not a frozen plan.
The process of Microlevel PlanningStep I: Documenting General Information about the families, community and agro-climatic conditions
Step II: Income Estimation of the families from all sources
Step III: Estimation of Income per standard Family Unit of five adult members; children below 5 years are considered as half members.
Step IV: Participant Selection with priority for the poorest of the poor. The Project adopted this strategy of making groups of homogeneous socio-economic categories.
Step V: Intervention Planning to bridge the gap between the existing income and suitable interventions based on the resources of the family.
Orchard Management: A Participatory Approach In each cluster, there is a team of four staff members. The cluster leader is a graduate or a post-graduate in agriculture or social work (MSW) who is assisted by two or three diploma holders in agriculture. Each staff member will look after an average of 400 wadis.
Village Meeting: The first step would be a village meeting to be organised early in the morning or in the evening by the cluster team. This is an exercise in confidence building and mututal understanding. There will not be any detailed discussion about the project, but only a question and answer session. The willingness of the tribals to visit the developed areas will be assessed and a list of tribals who are interested to come for exposure visit will be drawn.
Exposure Visit: The principle of seeing is believing was adopted. Both males and females participate. There will be an opportunity to interact with successful wadi participants who have developed orchards with BAIF support. Wadis of both rainfed and irrigated, with various innovations are shown to the participants. Nearly 50% of the exposed tribals opt for orchards development in their land.
Follow-up Meeting: The participants after the exposure visit, will share their experience with fellow tribals who had not gone for exposure visit. Some of them who could not go for exposure visit will also join the project by listening to their experience.
Plot Verification: The land title for the plot earmarked for wadi shall be in the name of the participant or the family. Tribal families having 0.4 to 2.0
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ha land can be included in the programme. While they express willingness to develop the wadi, the plot will be verified by the BAIF cluster team for its suitability for orchard development. All the plots are not selected. Rocky land with shallow soil depth or forest encroached land will be rejected. In case, the land is not in the name of the wadi participant, a consent letter from the father or grandfather in whose name the land is, has to be obtained.
Selection criteria of Participants: (i) Participant must be a tribal holding a land title for the plot to be developed under the programme. (ii) The total land owned by the participant must not exceed two ha, (iii) Mainly family labour will be used for development and maintenance of plantation, (iv) Neither the participant nor his / her descendants shall have the right to sell the land developed under the programme within 20 years of planting the trees. (v) The participant must be prepared to execute the orchard implementation agreement with BAIF, stipulating rights and obligations of both parties, including grant and loan commitment with credit repayment schedule.
Layout: The interested and active local youths selected through participatory method by villagers themselves are given training in the existing orchard plots. The youth come voluntarily to undertake the layout without expecting any remuneration. These youth are given jobs like input distribution. This brings respect and recognition to the youth in the village.
Pit Digging: Digging of pits during the first year is undertaken by participants without hired labour. But in subsequent years, wadi tukadi members may undertake this work voluntarily. The principle of group dynamics is involved here. The four member Programme Management Committee randomly verifies the pit digging work to ensure specified spacing and depth as per the
Fig. 6.1 Contour trenches for soil and water conservation
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recommendations. Since orchard establishment is a long term investment which cannot be corrected later, this verification visit helps to rectify the mistakes in the initial stages of development. The size of the pit would be 1 x 1 x 1 m.
Pit Filling: Demonstration of pit filling is made in the orchard itself for the benefit of wadi participants. Actually, pitting work will be completed by January to March. Then pits will be kept open in sun for sterilisation. Land shaping and filling of pits and pegging will take place as shown in Figs. 6.1 and 6.2 by last week of May or first week of June. The size of the pit for forestry plantation in the border would be 0.30 x 0.30 x 0.30 m with a spacing of 1 m distance. The spacing for mango is 10 x 10 m and for cashew and Aonla, it is 7 x 7 m.
Dry fencing livehedge will be done and also with species such as Sagargota (Caesalpinia crista) or Chillar (Caesalpinia sepiaria) or Cactus. Forestry species preferred by the farmers are Gliricidia, Subabul, Teak, Eucalyptus, Bamboo, Cassia siamea, Acacia mangium, Acacia holocericea, Acacia ariculiformis, Acacia catechu, etc.
Planting of Fruit Plants: Grafts of mango are procured from Vansda / Kaprada (Gujarat) produced by wadi participants while cashew and anola (Emblica officinalis) are procured from reputed nurseries. The details of a wadi requirement are presented in Table 6.1.
Planting of fruit plants and forestry plants takes place soon after the onset of monsoon. Typically, 0.4 ha will have 60 fruit trees (20 mango, 30 cashew or 10 anola / cashew trees), along with other fodder or forestry subabul or bamboo tree species on the periphery. Cashew or Anola (Indian gooseberry) will be as per the choice of the tribal.
Fig. 6.2
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The components covered under the programme are: 1. Development of eroded wastelands through soil and water conservation 2. Plantation of fruit and forestry trees 3. Cultivation of suitable improved intercrops both for food and for cash
incomes wherever possible during the initial stage 4. Cultivation of short term cash crops on small plots in an intensive manner
in the nearby area5. Improved production techniques and varieties of traditional crops.
The programme is planned with the family as a unit. The intensive utilisation of land and water resources helps to generate self-employment opportunities throughout the year. The components are need-based and tailor made to ensure that the family will be rehabilitated by the end of the gestation period of 6 years (programme support for 5 years). At the end of this period, the horticulture and forestry plantation become productive and the income from trees and agriculture help the rural family to come above the poverty line on a sustainable basis.
Aftercare: Aftercare activities include activities like staking (‘H’ type), weeding earthing up, preparation of ring and basins, fertiliser application, removal of lower shoots, new blossoms, watering, etc.
Formation of Orchard Group (Wadi Tukadi): Instead of Ayojan Samiti of Gujarat model, here in Maharashtra, Wadi tukadi (Village level SHG) concept was adopted. In Ayojan Samiti for 100 farmers, 10 farmers were selected for training. In turn, they were supposed to transfer information and technologies to their fellow farmers in the villages. The Gujarat experience revealed that the flow of information did not reach the fellow farmers properly leading to communication gap. Hence, BAIF-MITTRA, Nasik adopted a new model of Wadi tukadi where 10 to 15 wadi participants residing in a compact or adjoining area, formed a group. Here, every participant kept in touch with the cluster team and got timely information leading to success.
Wadi tukadi meetings were held in the wadi itself once a month, on a rotation basis. The cluster team visited 4-5 wadis before fixing the date and venue. During the meeting, they discussed about aftercare, soil conservation, water resources development, plant protection, etc. Topics like vegetable cultivation, health care activities are discussed. Further discussions take place on topics like kitchen garden, clean kitchen, nutritional recipes, glass tiles for house roof, soak pits, herbal health centres, etc. Wadi tukadi is mainly for maintenance of orchards and all others are secondary. All activities should be completed on time. This meeting will be attended by the cluster team members. The proceedings of the meeting will be recorded by the literate tribal wadi participants. Every cluster team member will visit the wadi once in a fortnight and arrange demonstration on various operations. For mobility and visit to wadis, motorcycles are provided for cluster team
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members. The work of the cluster team members is reviewed during monthly meetings held at the district headquarters. The BAIF-MITTRA office at the district level looks after liaisoning, procurement of inputs and preparation of six monthly progress reports. After the family joins the programme, they need not migrate to nearby towns as self-employment is available at the village level throughout the year. In addition, there are intangible benefits in the form of family welfare, improved nutrition and health.
Table 6.1 Techno–economic parameters of selected fruit trees (Area: 0.4 ha)
Sl. No. Particulars Mango
(Mangifera indica)
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)
1 Land Medium to heavy, sloppy, wasteland, with good drainage
Medium, Slopy, waste land
2 Climate Tropical Hot and humid3 Distance
between plants10 x 10 m 7 x 7 m
4 No. of plants per acre 0.4 Ha
20 60
5 Size of pit 1 x 1 x 1 m 0.60 x 0.60 x 0.60 m
6 Selected varieties of fruits*
Keshar, Rajapuri, Alphonso Vengurla – 4 Vengurla – 1
7 Production starts After 5 years After 5 years8 Average yield
after 10 years60 kg / tree fresh mangoes 10 kg Unshelled
cashew / tree9 Economic life 50 years 50 years10 Commercial
productsFresh fruit, Jam Juice, Pickle and Pulp
Cashew nut as dry fruits
Anola varieties: Kanchan, Chakayya, N.A.7
Capacity Building through trainingBAIF gave utmost importance to capacity building of the project staff as well as participants from time to time, right from the beginning. Training was given a strategic place in the programme. Every stakeholder received training which in turn contributed to the sustainability of this programme. Tailor made training courses were designed to address the needs of experts. Some of the training listed below is an indicative (Table 6.2). A number of trainings on rural non-farm sector was also conducted for the participants which increased the confidence level of the participants to carry forward the project even after the withdrawal of BAIF from the project area.
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Table 6.2 Major training programmes conducted in the projectSl.No. Training Programme Target GroupA. Training for Programme Participants1. Wadi farmers’ exposure Farmers2. Programme planning and implementation Field guides
3. Tailoring, masonry, blacksmithy, carpentry
Rural Youth
4. Forest Nursery, Mango and Cashew Nursery
Prog. Participants
5. Cashew Processing Unit Members of the unitB. Training of Field Functionaries1. Technical, water resource development
training, animal husbandry, plant protection, mango grafting
Field Giudes
2. Diesel engine servicing, hand pump repair and maintenance, oil engine repair and maintenance
Technicians
3. Accounting Barefoot Accountant4. Dai Training (Training to traditional birth
attendants)Dai
5. Acupressure, Reproductive and Child Health
Village Health Guide
6. Community health care Community Health Managers
7. SHG Record Keeping Self Help Group members
8. Traditional Warli Painting Craft SHG Members
C. Training of Staff1. Written Communication, Credit, Log
Frame Analysis, DevelopmentStaff
2. Soil Conservation Field Guides3. Accounting methods Account Staff4 SHG Development Women in
Development Staff5. Warli Painting, taditional craft Women in
Development staffD. Training of Landless and Women 1. Cashew processing, poultry keeping,
preparation of papadLandless Participants
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Micro Credit Vikas Arth, the development credit programme, was initiated by BAIF mainly to support additional needs of orchard participants to strength their livelihood base. One of the micro credit disbursement structure in the BAIF projects over India is given below as a model built in Nashik, Maharashtra.
Structure and Process: Initially, BAIF-MITTRA rolled out the programme on the existing infrastructure of the cluster teams. The Orchard Segment Committes (WT) and SHGs are registered under Vikas Arth. The basic criteria for a WT / SHG to be registered under Vikas Arth is that all the members of the WT / SHG must be regular in savings, attending regular meetings and the record books must be update. The flow of applications is from WT / SHG to the cluster team. After appraisal and approval, the funds flow from cluster office directly to the supplier and the required items are procured by the respective WT / SHG. The responsibility for selection of the item and assuring quality rests with the community. Repayment is made directly by the WT / SHG to the cluster office, for which necessary documentation is prepared (Box 6.3). Over the period, this programme has been strengthened by creation of a middle tier between the primary groups, WT/SHG and the cluster, called Vibhag or Division. The vibhag comprises between 10-20 WTs / SHGs. At this level, BAIF-MITTRA has deployed a community accountant who has been trained in book keeping to ensure the quality of book keeping. Further, the Executive Committee of the Vibhag, selection for which is done by community members, will also serve as a body (loan committee) to vet and do due diligence on loan applications from the area, with overall facilitation of BAIF staff. This loan committee with the barefoot accountant and the cluster leader are responsible for sanction of loans, recoveries and preparation of credit plans for WT / SHGs. This committee also acts as a unit for procurement, relevant processing and development activities. These Vibhag committees in some ways are the ‘field offices’ of the Federation. Finally, to ensure accountability and sustainability, the cost of the community accountant is expected to be met from the community itself. The project is providing initial support, on part sharing and reducing basis.
Loan Product Development: BAIF-MITTRA deliberated on developing specific loan products. The organic growth of the programme in its early stages encouraged tuning the delivery system of certain products. It was therefore focussed on more member oriented repayment schedules based
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on cash flows of families rather than in making these as equated monthly installments. BAIF has done some standard loan product in the areas where repeat loans are being sought in the same category.
Box 6.3
Process of Credit disbursal and repayment in Vikas Arth
WT: Wadi Tukadi (Orchard Segment)VA: Vikas ArthSource: Progress Report, BAIF-Mittra, Nashik 2006
Supplier
Cluster Office
4. Goods collected by WT
3.b repayment schedule
3.a Approval, Cheque Payment made VA local account debited
8. Block VA repayment
account credited
7 Repayment
WT
2. Aggregate and approve applications with quotations and repayment schedule
5. Goods to member
1. Loanapplication 6 Repayment
WT member
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Accounting and MIS: Book keeping systems at group level has been strengthened through development of community accountants and changing the books maintained. Cluster level accountants have been deployed to support the field teams. Automation at cluster level has been done for easy management and analysis of data. In this programme, there was a need for a set of people who could be monitoring, updating and maintaining the various books of records of the Wadi Tukadis and SHGs. In addition, they could provide a major role in assisting the Credit Programme by identifying demands and needs of WTs / SHGs and making recovery and follow ups. In order to achieve this, the project identified local participants who are atleast literates for performing the role of barefoot accountants and could be trained for book keeping and maintaining records.
Review Systems at Community Level: The dates for the meetings at different levels have been streamlined. It is expected that the WT / SHG meetings are conducted by about the 15th of the month. Thereafter one week is available for Vibhag meetings. These Vibhag meetings focus on taking stock of group performance, among others. A review meeting of community accountants is held at the end of the month usually on the 24th.
Review Systems at Cluster Level: A review meeting of cluster accountants is held at the Cluster office on the 11th of every month. Each cluster team meets on 25th, block meeting on 26th followed by the entire programme team monthly review meeting at Project Office on 27th or 28th of each month. Out of the total POs formed under the project, 52% of Wadis and 26% of SHGs have been registered under Vikas Arth. The major portion of 34% of the credit has been disbursed towards seeds and fertilisers followed by 29% for construction of houses, roof tiles and cement sheets. A couple of POs are gradually on the verge of full repayment of the initial credit. Once the POs repay their first cycle of credit, depending on their credit background, they are eligible for similar loans. Thus, micro financing facility has been enabling them to increase their investment in agricultural development. ♣
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Tribal family suffering from chronic poverty
Development of wastelands for wadi
Distressed migration for food security
Preparation of mango grafts by tribal women
Development of inter-space for agricultureMentoring by barefoot technicians
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Process of Wadi Development
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Watershed development
Development of safe drinking water source
Innovative approach for water storage - Jalkund
Revival of traditional health practice – training of Dais and Vaidus
Empowerment of WomenPriority for Education
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Food security and income generation
Floriculture for supplementary income – Mogra cultivation
Inter-crop of short gestation
Wadi for food security and prevention of migration
Food processing for value additionLinkage with market
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Products from VAPCOL Cashewnut for Retail Market
Appreciation of Wadi by Dignitaries
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SUCCESS STORIES
1. Vithal Padavi shifts from Millets to High Value CropsVithal Yashwant Padavi, 48, is the head of a tribal family in Kenipada village , Peith taluk of Nashik district. He lives with his wife, Hirabai, 42, two married sons and their families and two unmarried daughters. Out of his 4 ha land, he grew finger millet on 1.2 ha, paddy on 1.6 ha and 1.2 ha remained fallow land. He harvested 1 ton of finger millet and 1.5 ton of paddy every year and used it for home consumption.
When BAIF-MITTRA introduced orchard development in 2002 in Kenipada village, Vithal participated in the programme by establishing 0.4 ha orchard. Out of the 1.2 ha fallow land, which was never cultivated before as there was shortage of water during summer, Vithal was motivated to dig a well along a natural stream. His family with his neighbour wadi participants dug a 5 m depth well and the project provided Rs. 12,500/- for rivetment of well with stones, construction of storage tank and installation of oil engine and a pumpset. Others who volunteered for well digging and who carried head load of water as well as on bullock carts were promised water free of charge, for their orchards during summer months.
Seeing plenty of water in the well, Vithal’s family raised different varieties of vegetables in Rabi season and earned a gross income of Rs.25,000 out of which the net income was Rs.18,000. With such high income, Vithal who used to earlier migrate along with his family for six months, has stopped migrating.
It is interesting to note that though BAIF has provided support for 0.4 ha orchard in the first year, the family has extended the orchard area by additional 0.4 ha in the second and third years. Now, they are the proud owners of 1.2 ha of orchard with 60 mango and 120 cashew trees, which brings them a gross income of Rs. 1.0 lakh per year. Vithal has also constructed a small house in the orchard. They now own two cows which yield 4 litres of milk which is used for home consumption. The consumption of milk, vegetables and fruits is on the increase.
His sons go to cities to sell the vegetables and the sale proceeds are deposited in their account of the Nashik District Central Cooperative Bank, Peith branch. The development story is just half way through, as
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the family is going to see a sea change in their socio-economic status, with better awareness about health, family welfare, education of children and linkage with various development and marketing organisations.
2. From Subsistence Farming to High-tech Agriculture - Palashi Village Shows the WayPalashi is a tribal village situated in a hilly terrain 8 km away from Peith in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Under normal circumstances, one has to travel 4 km by bus and another 4 km on foot to reach the village. The entire village with a population of 540 belonging to 100 families, has only 4 bullock carts, 2 bicycles and 4 toilets. Most of the families are poor and 17 families are landless.
When the orchard development programme was introduced in 2001, 28 families joined in 2001, 29 in 2002, 26 in 2004 and one in 2005. Now, all the 84 families have established orchards, with technical guidance from BAIF-MITTRA.
Protective irrigation during the gestation was necessary for the survival of the fruit plants but the only source was a small seasonal river Khadak, which was 2 km away. However, the hard working tribal farmers brought headloads of 20-30 litres of water, spending over an hour. Every plant received 8 litres of water every fortnight under pot drip system. As the plant grew, the frequency and distance of the pot from the trunk was increased.
Before the programme was introduced, the entire village excepting the elderly people, used to migrate to Nashik and Vapi in Gujarat, in search of employment. The children were deprived of good education. They were growing nagli (finger millet- Elusine coracana), varai (common millet-Panicum milliare), sawa (Little millet-Panicum miliaceum), khuras (oil seed - Niger) and tur (red gram) as rain fed crops for home consumption. When, BAIF field workers motivated the farmers to join the programme, it did not disturb the existing cropping pattern as they developed only barren wastelands. During the gestation period, the tribals made optimum use of the land and water by raising intercrops of vegetables even without irrigation during rabi season, making use of accumulated moisture in the soil. “We studied the market and past trend before recommending tomato as an inter crop in the orchards”, say the Project Officer of MITTRA.
Devaram Lasupadvi, 45, owner of 0.6 ha of orchard with 0.2 ha tomato, says “We used to migrate earlier to the vegetable growing area of Nashik and work as farm labourers and hence we had experience of tomato
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cultivation. So we thought, why not cultivate vegetables on our own land and so we opted for tomato cultivation”. Devarm however laments “due to late planting by one week, I could not get a good price though the yield was good”. For 0.2 ha, he incurred a cost of Rs.2160 and harvested one ton, with a gross income of Rs.5000 and a net income of Rs. 2840.
The vegetable market located 60 km away in Nashik is so erratic, that even a difference of one day makes a difference. Though, Devaram obtained a good yield, the price which was ruling at Rs. 1000 per quintal the previous day, crashed to Rs. 500 per quintal, when he sold, leading to a lower profit margin. Earlier, traders from Peith used to supply seeds and fertilisers charging double rates in advance but now they could arrange to procure the inputs at a wholesale rate. Earlier the tribals were eating only leafy vegetables available in the surrounding forest but with depleting forest cover, this source is also not available. However, thanks to tomato crop they have not only been provided with alternate source of vegetable but have also been able to enhance their purchasing power.
Now the migration has reduced as they enjoy job security on their own land. They can now spend more on education, health and improve their standard of living. Most of the families have repaired their huts, some have even replaced their huts, some have constructed toilets and some have been able to purchase two wheelers. Thus, wastelands were converted into a wealth generating asset. The indirect impact was increase in water table, reduction in soil erosion and migration and improvement in health status and literacy.
3. On the Road to Prosperity- The Saga of Dhavalu MahaleDhavalu Laxman Mahale, a seventh standard pass, is a native of Hedichapada hamlet in Kharonda, the most interior tribal village situated 27 km from Jawhar town. The village was devoid of basic infrastructure such as public roads and bus transport. The situation used to become worse in rainy season leaving the families with no other alternative but to walk for 5-6 km to avail basic public health and bus services. The area was socially and economically backward. Unemployment, illiteracy and malnutrition were the major problems. Nobody wanted to go to such villages for development. There was a tragic incidence of death of 45 children in the year 1992 due to outbreak of a disease within a span of one week. BAIF initiated their orchard development programme in 1993 with the support of Tribal Development Department, Government of Maharashtra. The efforts of committed field staff of BAIF, motivated a few families to participate in the programme.
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Dhavalu had five children out of whom, three died due to malnutrition and lack of health care, and only two survived. The family owns only 0.4 ha land and he used to grow only traditional crops like paddy, nagali (finger millet) and tur (red gram) during rainy (Kharif) season. Dhavalu used to harvest two bags each of finger millet and paddy from his land. His income was only Rs. 4000 per annum from all sources, leaving the family with no other alternative but to migrate to nearby cities during rabi and summer seasons for employment. Dhavalu was working as a labourer for baling of grass in the village in 1993. Encouraged by the successful survival of fruit trees up to 90% and the realisation that they could also take up traditional food crops as inter crops during kharif and vegetables in rabi season with project support, he decided to join the programme.
He planted 40 mango grafts and about 650 forestry saplings like subabul and bamboo on the border in his land in 1994. He also cultivated finger millet. He also took additional land on lease and cultivated watermelon and red gram. His wife Sitara supported him in all these activities. Within four months, he earned Rs. 5000 from the sale of his produce. Next year he established a forest nursery in between fruit plants and earned Rs.23,500 from this activity.
He was trained by BAIF in mango grafting as well as in diesel engine repair at Vansda in 1996. Thereafter, he started preparing grafts. Initially he prepared 200 grafts out of which only 20 grafts survived. But he was not discouraged. Next year (1997-98) he prepared 1500 grafts. With his enriched knowledge and skills on grafting technique, he recorded 90% survival in the following year. His total income rose to Rs.45,000 in 1998-99. He designed an innovative grafting knife for mango which had some additional benefit over the traditional knife.
There were some limitations in cultivating water melon on the same land every year. Considering the market potential, Dhavalu organised a group of 10 farmers and started cultivation of cluster bean and bottle gourd. The group also started supplying the produce directly to the market at Navi Mumbai since the year 2000. In 2006-07, his income rose to Rs.1.65 lakhs through sale of mango grafts, mango fruits (Kesar and Rajapuri) and vegetables. Now, Dhavalu is a good trainer in mango grafting technique and diesel engine repair.
Under his guidance, the village Ayojan Samiti is maintaining a drinking water supply scheme since the last five years. The programme with financial support from Tribal Development Department, Government of Maharashtra, was implemented in 1999-2000 which had a good impact on the livelihood of the villagers. The families contributed their labour
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in digging well and trench for laying pipeline. The well was constructed using the new technique of ring method. An electric motor along with pipeline was installed to lift water from the well to 2 village overhead tanks, along with taps.
The village has developed a system of collecting monthly water charges from each household for maintenance and to meet the electricity charges and honorarium for the person in charge of day to day maintenance. This arrangement has helped the women to get reliable source of water at their doorsteps, while preventing water-borne diseases. Under the leadership of Dhavalu, the drinking water supply scheme is operating very well since the 5 years.
The community selected him as Chairman of the Tribal MITTRA Fruit Processing and Procurement and Sales Cooperative Society Ltd, Pimpalshet, Jawhar taluka. The commercial activities of the society are cashewnut processing, pickle manufacturing, fresh mango trading, and sale of mango and cashew grafts. The social activities include promotion and technical guidance to members for raising fruit nurseries and orchards, floriculture, vegetable cultivation, etc. The society has established a factory in Pimpalshet which has processed 48.3 tons of cashewnuts, 20 tons of mango pickle and 57,000 grafted fruit plants of mango and cashew, with a turn over of Rs. 6 lakhs in 2006-07. This processing unit has solved the problem of marketing, created confidence among the growers to expand their orchard and also brought quality assurance to the consumers. BAIF has pooled the produce and arranged for marketing under the brand name ‘Vrindavan’ across the country and this may contribute to better marketing and further expansion of orchards in the years to come.
His wife is also an active member of a Self Help Group. Their sons are studying in Ashram schools in Jawhar operated by Bharati Vidyapeeth. He has constructed a house in the village fitted with a toilet and bathroom. He is very confident of further progress in his life. No wonder, Dhavalu Mahale has become a role model for other tribal farmers in the region.
4. A tribal women SHG becomes an organic input entrepreneurBadagi village is situated 9 km away from Peith, the taluk headquarter in Nashik district. BAIF entered the village in 2002 to introduce orchard on the wastelands of the tribal farmers, as a tool to improve their income and quality of life. As a component of livelihood support, BAIF promoted a 14-member women SHG, “Sati Anusuya Swayamsahayata Gat” to encourage savings habit among the tribal women. They opened an account for the group at the State Bank of India, Peith branch.
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BAIF arranged an exposure visit of women to Kaprada taluk in Valsad district of Gujarat to demonstrate the success achieved by women in vermicomposting as an income generating activity. The motivated women decided to start a common vermicompost unit in their village to improve their livelihood status. One orchard owner provided the space. The unit consisted of a thatched roof shed of size 5.46 x 4.25 m with a height of 4.86 m. The raw material for vermicompost was cow dung and farm waste. They initially prepared two beds of size 2.42 x 1.21x 0.6 m. The farm waste was mixed with vermi culture brought from Kaparda. For day to day maintenance of the unit, the women volunteered their own labour turn by turn. The yield started after 45 days. The group received an average yield of 300 kg of vermicopost with sale proceeds of Rs. 900 and 2 kg worms valued at Rs.400 per cycle of 6-8 weeks per bed. There were 4 cycles in a year. Hence, one unit of two beds got a gross income of Rs.10,400 per annum. Looking to the profit, the group extended the beds from 2 to 19 in the next year. The simple beds made of earthen bricks were converted into concrete beds and the temporary shed into a permanent structure. “However, due to heavy rains in 2006, the yield reduced, resulting in lower income”, a member of the group lamented.
The SHG is operated on equality and democratic principles. The group started various activities to improve the socio-economic status of the village and for women empowerment. They introduced ‘Sant Gadge Baba Abhiyan’ where villagers are motivated to keep the entire village clean and beautiful. They volunteered to clean the drains, collect the garbage, provide portable drinking water and to plant more trees. The members planted trees in the compound of the local Ashram school. Realising the need to keep the environment clean, every member took a credit of Rs.1500 from MITTRA for construction of toilet in their houses. This credit was repayable in 10 monthly installments with 10% interest, from the income from vermicomposting.
Looking to the success of this group, other women SHGs were formed who availed of loan from BAIF to construct toilets which contributed to the cleanliness of the village. Ranjita Ravindra Kamudi, 25, says “BAIF gave the idea and we jointly implemented the programme. Now it is bringing confidence among our members. We are earning Rs. 1000 per member”. Seetabai Chandrakant Ghande, 45, explains, “we are able to spend more on education and health of our children”. Durgabai Damu Kamadi, 42, says, “though the rainfall in 2006 reduced our income, we have decided to continue this activity”. The produce is sold to their own members, owning orchards at a concessional rate and at a higher price to grape growers in Nashik. For example, the earthworms are sold for Rs. 200 to members and for Rs. 500 to outsiders. Two members of the
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group are responsible for taking care, of the unit every week by watering and collection of vermiwash. Hence, each member has to devote 2 days to this activity every week. However, filling the bed, taking out compost, collecting raw materials like cow dung, dry leaves, grass, etc. are done collectively. It appears that their dream of ensuring best education for their children will be realised soon as a result of this enterprise.
5. A Green Thumb Nursery Man in the JungleMohan Devaram Kirkire, 27, a second standard passed, lives in Vanavasi hamlet of Raitale village in Jawhar taluk of Thane district. This hamlet has 65 families, 42 owning land and 23 landless, with a population of 300. To reach Vanavasi from Jawhar, one has to travel 5 km on tar road and then a 3 km mud road as there is no public transport. His parents and wife, are illiterate. He has two school going children Bhawanik, 8 and Paras, 6. This family owns 2 ha land. Before the introduction of BAIF’s orchard development programme, he was growing finger millet on 0.8 ha, common millet on 0.4 ha, paddy on 2 gunthas while 0.8 ha was left as grassland. BAIF-MITTRA came to Vanavasi in 1996 and surveyed the hamlet, conducted a village meeting and one-day exposure visit to Kharonda village, 30 km away from Jawhar. Soon, Mohan joined the wadi programme.
During the first year, Mohan planted 20 mango grafts (Alphonso, Kesar and Rajapuri varieties) and 40 cashew grafts (Vengurla-4) and followed the technical guidance. Seeing his interest, Mohan was deputed to a 5-day nursery training at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kosbad, in Thane district. This created confidence in Mohan to start a fruit nursery. The project supported with credit to establish a nursery. He constructed a small shed with shade net in his orchard and purchased essential inputs. Rootstock plants were raised from local mango stones. Seeds were placed in raised beds and in 20-25 days when sprouted leaves became brownish, they were ready for stone grafting. He produced mango grafts of varieties like Rajapuri, Kesar, Alphonso and Suvarna. The survival rate varied from 60-75%. In 2003, in the first year he sold only 125 grafts at the rate of Rs.18 per graft. Over the years, he has increased his business and in 2007, he could sell 8000 grafts at Rs. 20 per graft through their cooperative. With good quality grafts, the demand is increasing. From sale of grafts, Mohan has developed additional 0.8 ha orchard in 2007.
The development of irrigation is another interesting story. In the initial years, there was no irrigation source. Head load of water was transported from a long distance. But he developed a water source on his land by digging a well and installating a pumpset, pipeline and cement tank
(Jalkund) with the help of the project. Voluntary labour was provided to dig the well by eight farmers who own orchard within 500 m radius who received water for their orchards for protective irrigation. Mohan’s family now owns 3 bullocks for ploughing and 2 milch cows. He also grows vegetables for consumption at home. Thus, the naturally, consumption of milk, fruits and vegetables has increased, providing nutritional security to the entire family. His farm has turned into a centre of excellence, as many farmers from neighbouring villages also visit the farm to observe the results.
When BAIF came in 1997, only 4 farmers participated in the wadi programme but by 2000, almost everyone joined. With the project support for 0.4 ha, they have expanded their orchard by putting in their own labour and resources. The village now has 5 motorcycles and 40 bicycles. The wadi programme has created awareness about child marriage, family planning and education for children.
6. Local Vaidus at the helm of Community HealthAs the public health system is not able to reach the remote tribal villages where BAIF is operating wadi progamme, the traditional healers and mid wives were selected from different project villages and trained in various skills. While mid wives were given sanitary kits for safe delivery, Vaidus were trained at the Nature Cure Ashram at Urulikanchan to treat nature cure with herbal medicines. Their herbal healing practices are also validated by the expert doctors. As a result, many Vaidus have also established Charak centres and treated various patients while providing basic health care services to local families. Niwas Gavit from Borichi Bari village in Peit block, treats patients with diabetes, stomach problem, headache, fractures, common cough and cold, joint pains, snake bites, etc. His wife Yashoda, 36, has also attended training in naturopathy and helps her husband in treating the patients. The couple has three sons and two daughters.
The impact could be seen visibly, as is provided by Niwas Gavit’s clients as well as the increase in income. Earlier, his average income was only Rs.20/-, which now stands Rs.100/- per day. Though Niwas is illiterate, he could gain more knowledge and confidence to treat the patients. With the increase in income, he could afford to send his children to school and he now dreams of sending his youngest son, who is now studying in the seventh standard to attend college in Peith. ♣
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Water Resource Development
Standing Tomato Crop
Transportation of Water by Bullock Cart
Headload of Tomato transported from field
Transported to local marketHarvested tomato ready for market
Success Story 2. From Subsistence Farming to High tech Agriculture
Success Story 1. Vithal Padavi Shifts from Millets to High Value Crops
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Dhavalu managing diesel pump
Dhavalu and his wife in their mango orchard
Demonstrating budding with innovative knife
Members of the vermicompost SHGVermicompost unit
Success Story 4. A Tribal Woman SHG becomes an Organic Input Entrepreneur
Success Story 3. On the Road to Prosperity – Saga of Dhavalu Mahale
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Mohan with wife and son
Mohan with his mother in the finger millet field
Mohan Kirkire in his Polyhouse
Success Story 5. A Green Thumb Nursery Man in the Jungle
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Steam Bath treatment as a nature cure Method
Niwas with his Certificates
Niwas in front of his house - cum - clinic
Success Story 6. Local Vaidus at the helm of Community Health
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BUILDING GRASSROOT INSTITUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Many rural development programmes have failed to deliver on their promises. A recent evaluation found that half of the rural development projects funded by the World Bank in Africa were outright failures. A review of assistance to agricultural cooperatives reported similar results. A study by the International Labour Organisation of poverty-oriented projects worldwide showed that the poorest were excluded from activities and benefits.
What has gone wrong? Recent years have seen growing criticism of rural development strategies followed, with only minor adjustments, for the past three decades. These conventional strategies have seen development primarily as a series of technical transfers aimed at boosting production and generating wealth. In practice, conventional projects usually target medium to large scale progressive producers, supporting them with technology, credit and extension advice in the hope that improvements will gradually extend to more backward strata of rural society. In many cases, however, the channelling of development assistance to the better-off has led to concentration of land and capital, marginalisation of small farmers and alarming growth in the number of landless labourers. The basic fault in the conventional approach is that the rural poor are rarely consulted in development planning and usually have no active role in development activities. This is because the vast majority of the poor have no organisational structure to represent their interests. Isolated, under-educated and often dependent on rural elites, they lack the means to win greater access to resources and markets and to prevent the imposition of unworkable programmes or technologies.
A classic example comes from Nigeria, where a large scale agricultural development project channelled assistance to progressive farmers and chose to work through the existing socio-economic structure, assuming that this would win local cooperation. Result: subsidised credit to buy tractors and pay for labour and fertiliser helped to create a small class of overnight farmers, mainly wealthy city dwellers. Most inputs went to richer land owners, while subsidised fertilisers encouraged farmers to abandon traditional manuring practices but none of this led to production increase, as per hectare yield of staple crops was the same for project participants and non-participants.
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A recent study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of 40 poverty-oriented rural development projects revealed that the poorest of the poor are frequently excluded from project activities and benefits. In Mali, a project used village development associations to channel inputs to small farmers. However, these associations existed only in better-off villages. Result: the project did not reach poor villages that had no associations and no prospect of forming them. A dairy development programme in India supplied credit mainly to larger farmers who had enough land to keep more than one animal; the poor had resources for no more than one buffalo. In Nepal, prosperous farmers exerted pressure to participate in a project intended to benefit the poor. The ILO study concluded: “Until important changes are introduced in the way poverty-oriented projects are conceived and set up, the claim that they will necessarily alleviate poverty - or, at least, improve equity - remains questionable.” The lesson is clear: unless the rural poor are given the means to participate fully in development, they will continue to be excluded from its benefits. This realisation is provoking new interest in an alternative rural development strategy, that of people’s participation through organisations controlled and financed by the poor.
The experience of people’s participation programme has demonstrated that true participation is possible only when the rural poor are able to pool their efforts and resources in pursuit of objectives they set for themselves. According to FAO, the most efficient means for achieving this objective, are small, democratic and informal groups composed of 8 to 15 like-minded farmers. For governments and development agencies, people’s participation through small groups offers following advantages:
l Economics of scale: The high cost of providing development services to scattered, small scale producers is a major constraint of poverty-oriented programmes. Participatory groups constitute a grassroots “receiving system” that allows development agencies to reduce the unit delivery or transaction costs of their services, thus broadening their impact.
l Higher productivity: Given access to resources and a guarantee that they will have a full share in the benefits of their efforts, the participants become more receptive to new technologies and services, and achieve higher levels of production and income. This helps to build net cash surpluses that strengthen the groups’ economic base and contribute to rural capital formation.
l Reduced costs and increased efficiency: The involvement of the participants to project planning and implementation, contribute savings that reduce project cost. They also contribute their knowledge to facilitate the diagnosis of environmental, social and institutional constraints, as well as search for solutions.
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l Building of democratic organisations: The limited size and informality of small groups is suited to the scarce organisational experience and low literacy levels of the poor. Moreover, the small group environment is ideal for the diffusion of collective decision-making and leadership skills, which can be used in the subsequent development of inter-group federations.
l Sustainability: Participatory development leads to increased self-reliance among the poor and the establishment of a network of self-sustaining rural organisations. This carries important benefits: the greater efficiency of development services stimulates economic growth in rural areas and broadens domestic markets, thus favouring balanced national development; politically, participatory approaches provide opportunities for the poor to contribute constructively to development.
A close conceptual and operational link exists between people’s participation and people’s organisations. Active participation of rural people can only be brought about through local community and membership-based self-help groups whose primary aim is the pursuit of their members’ social or economic objectives. People’s Organisations are voluntary, autonomous and democratically controlled institutions including traditional community councils, informal groups, cooperatives and peasant unions, women’s associations, etc. Some local people’s organisations may establish higher-level federations at provincial, national or international level in order to increase their self-help capacities and bargaining power, and to promote participatory development at the local level. However, the vast majority of the rural people are still not organised into groups and are therefore not benefitting from the dynamics of such groups. The BAIF programme included people’s participation in planning of the development projects, and channelling of extension and other services to the poor through small farmers’ groups (Box 8.1).
The sustenance of any project depends on owning the project by the people because the benefit should continue to accrue on a long term basis. In many cases, the project authorities implement the scheme with grant funds but the project dies soon when they withdraw. The assets created during the project period are not to be seen and even if they are seen, they are not useful to the people because there is nobody to maintain the same. What makes the orchard development programme different is that the fruit bearing trees themselves show the success. The barren wastelands have been transformed into lush green hills with fruit and forestry trees and intercrops. Some tribals have also constructed huts in their small orchards. It is indeed a reversal of migration for conservation of nature! This has not happened overnight. A lot of efforts were made by both the facilitators of this programme, BAIF and the tribal farmers who worked together to bring
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about the transformation. BAIF gives utmost importance to building good relationship with local people and local institutions which stand on democratic principles with mutual trust and transparency for achieving common goals. This is the foundation stone for this project. These institutions are formed at different levels and different times after achieving success at every level. In the process, BAIF faced many difficulties and the current success is due to patience and perseverance.
The hilly area had very poor land, scarce water resources as well as poor infrastructural facilities. The tribal population consisted of small and marginal farmers (land holding less than 2 ha) and the landless. Most of the tribals used to migrate to cities in search of employment as unskilled labourers in construction work and farming to distant villages. However, when BAIF entered the village, they motivated the farmers to participate in their programme. But during the initial years, farmers were hesitant to come forward. Due to the life style they have led so far and poor economic conditions, they have lost confidence in themselves. BAIF undertook a family survey and listed the families, who are eligible to participate in the orchard development programme. In Maharashtra, the situation was not as difficult as it was in Gujarat where the programme was started in 1982 under the leadership of Manibhai Desai, with success.
Box 8.1 Grassroot Institutions built by BAIF
WT/SHG 5
WT/SHG -1 WT/SHG -2 WT/SHG -3 WT/SHG - -4
State Level BAIF’s Project Office Maintaining contact with people’s organisations,monitoring, providing technical guidance, input supply and training
Block Level Cooperatives (Federation)(A statutory Body)
Barefoot Accountants,Orchard Field Guides
Livestock Guides
Panchayat Level Vibhag (Divisional Committee)(An informal Body of 15-20 WT / SHGs)
Other VillageInstitutions / PRI
P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
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P = Participant in the Orchard Development and other village Development ActivitiesWT = Wadi Tukadi (Orchard Segment) – An Informal GroupSHG = Self Help Group – An Informal GroupPRI = Panchayat Raj Institutions under Government
The foremost organistion is SHG of orchard participants. These farmers formed one wadi tukadi at the village or hamlet level depending on the geographical location, distance, etc. This was like a SHG but without any savings or credit. Such 10-15 wadi tukadis together make one Vibhag (Division) Committee as a representative body of orchard participants at the panchayat level. At the block level, one cooperative body, a federation as a representative body of all participants, was formed. Among the three types of organisations, only federation is a registered statutory body and the rest are informal groups. These institutions have served as handholding organisations for the orchard owners during the gestation period as well as when trees started bearing fruits. They continue to help the farmers even today, offering a wide range of facilities and services adding one or the other services every year as the trees grow. This is really a rare case of very few successful horticulture projects. Involvement of the participants in the management right from the stage of inception is the key to this success.
Tribals consider the orchard development programme as an opportunity to build some assets for their livelihood. They take every care required for young fruit trees with love. In many orchards, elderly family members are engaged in watch and ward throughout the day and even shift their houses to the orchard. Thus, a land resource once considered as written off has now become a perennial income generating prized asset. People’s Organisation is the anchor for continuing the development agenda when the project period is over. The functions of POs are linking with Government Organisation, collective procurement and distribution of inputs, management of community assets, monitoring and collective bargaining while marketing their produce.
Evolution of People’s Organisations People’s Organisations are linked with Government supported bodies like Panchayat Raj Institution to enable community participation in a democratic process, with active cooperation among the community – Government – NGO. This is a pre-requisite for initiating development in other sectors, taking advantage of various Government schemes.
The participatory approach adopted by the project team during the initial years of implementation helped to involve the participants and villagers. There was some initial hesitation among the poorest of the poor, who did not have exposure to any organised form of activity which was one of the
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major reasons for their sustained poverty. This initial involvement was of two forms : a) Identification of the poorest and distribution of inputs as a prelude to development of people’s organisations b) Self Help Groups of women whereby women came together to save and avail credit. But more importantly, SHGs provided an opportunity for women to become organised, to interact and share their concerns. The result was evident over time in the form of women’s organised initiatives like anti-alcoholism campaign, women’s active involvement in people’s organisations and support group for women in difficulty.
Salient Features of grassroot People’s Organisation BAIF gave importance to nurturing the process of organising the people primarily for self-facilitation. These institutions were built in appropriate forms to cater to development needs of the local community. For instance there are SHGs for men, women and producer groups for dairy farming, vermicomposting, raising fruit nursery plants, etc. for holistic development to benefit all sections of the village community. This helped in gradual transfer of community assets and development interventions to local institutions.
Community assets included various water resources developed, agriculture and irrigation equipments, processing units, agro service centres, grain banks, etc. The vicious cycle of debt trap was a major reason for chronic poverty. SHGs are an effective tool to set the rural poor free from this trap and avoid others falling prey in the future. Federating SHGs at the block / cluster level provided collective strength to alternative financing movement. The membership of these POs was also open to the local community and to those who could not participate in the orchard development programme, to become involved in local institutions and work collectively for their betterment.
BAIF ensured linkages with formal institutions of the Government as it is of utmost importance for both POs and Government institutions. Trained and skilled persons from POs can improve the efficiency of the Government programmes. It would also help in ensuring that the benefit of the Government programmes reach the poorest. POs can ensure the success of democratic decentralised PRIs by making sure that the meetings are held on time, conducted appropriately and the funds are used effectively. The Government Schemes can also be channelised through POs.
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Box 8.2 People’s Organisations in Maharashtra Model in 2004 Sl. No.
Advantages of Wadi Tukadi (Orchard Segment)
Disadvantage of Ayojan Samiti (AS)
1. It is a group of 5 to 10 Wadi participants, a user group.
11 to 15 selected members from Wadi participants
2. Project Staff can meet every participant in a month since monthly meetings are held in orchards.
BAIF Staff can discuss only with representatives.
3. With direct contact and field visit of Project Staff, right message goes to the last participant.
The message given in AS meeting may or may not reach the last participant.
4. The quality of work in the field improved. Quality of work affected since knowledge did not percolate down.
5. 15 to 20 Wadi Tukadis formed a Divisional Committee (Vibhag) for a common agenda like marketing and credit, etc. which ensured good governance.
The above model (Box 8.2) was an improved version of the Gujarat model. BAIF has also empowered the POs to the extent that they are able to develop and manage the project proposals on their own. They should be able to submit the proposals to the Government, donor agencies, other NGOs and banks. Further, to ensure that the financial support for future development initiatives, the participant families have contributed towards strengthening their own organisations. Another important strategy of BAIF for sustainability, was building a team of local para-professionals (Community Workers/Field Guides) across the clusters for providing a range of services. These experts belong to the local community with a sense of belonging to help their community members, even after the withdrawal of BAIF. The field guides receive service fees from the POs after the project period is over.
POs are not merely input delivery agents. The theme of people organising themselves for catering to their needs has taken the form of a people’s movement. There are many examples of collective efforts now indigenously designed at the grassroot level to address a wide range of development issues. Issues like anti-alcoholism movement in different clusters, milk cooperatives for establishing milk routes, road construction with voluntary labour, trading by women’s groups, etc. are being managed by POs very efficiently. Women’s participation in PO, both as members and office bearers, is consistently on the rise.
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Activities of POs for Success and Sustainability l In all the Clusters, the POs assumed responsibilities such as selection of
participants, input distribution, project implementation and monitoring.
l POs developed Sustainability Plans based on their vision of development.
l Each village / hamlet has its own Management Committee.
l Village level POs formed Federations for collective bargaining, establishing linkages and acting as a pressure group.
l The Grain Banks and Fodder Banks operated by POs have ensured food security for the participants during period of scarcity.
l The POs are also active in promoting health interventions. The Village Health Guides are affiliated to POs in the respective Clusters.
l POs have established their own identity in the local community, local administration and outside agencies. The poor are considering the Organisations as their own platform, to seek strength.
l POs are becoming more active in demanding greater efficiency and services from the local administration.
l Many participants have won in the Panchayati Raj elections. It is heartening to note that there are many women from the participant families and a few have been elected as Gram Pradhan (Head of the Village).
l POs are establishing linkages with Government organisations wherever possible.
l More and more non-participants are seeking a tie-up with the POs and the project. Farmers’ Clubs under the auspices of POs cater to the information needs of participants and non-participants pertaining to agriculture, horticulture, livestock development, credit linkages, etc.
l BAIF succeeded in highlighting the importance of qualitative, non-tangible aspects like transparency, unity, and gender sensitivity in POs. One significant effort in this direction was the focus on the spiritual aspect of life, leading to a simple life based on Gandhian values.
Stagewise Development of Self Help Group (SHG) Programme:Women’s Development Programme: As a part of the sustainability of the project, emphasis was placed on organising women through the formation of Self Help Groups and building their capacities through training and exposure visits. The stagewise formation of SHGs and capacity building of the members is presented below (Box 8.3).
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Box 8.3 Stagewise development of SHG ProgrammeStages of SHG Focus capacity building of members
Formation of SHG
Regular monthly meetingsFacilitation and training on the concept and activitiesIntroduction of record keepingExposure on opportunities
Capacity building Strengthening of SHG
Training and exposure visitsIntroduction of economic activitiesMaintaining records by SHGsFunds managementHandling group level problemsManagement of available resources
Stabilisation of SHG
Formation of cluster (group of 10–15 SHGs)Linkages with banks and other financial institutionsLinkages with Government and Non-Government agenciesOrganising social gatheringsLeadership developmentTraining on skills development for income generation activities
Extension of SHG
Formation of federations of SHGs at block levelCredit linkages with other financial institutionsOn site, training on income generating activitiesMarketing for products by SHG membersManaging portfolio at block level
The process of SHG formation included village meetings, regular monthly meetings and strengthening of the groups by improving skills of the local leaders. The SHGs have one federation at the block level for sustainability of the programme. The federation is a registered organisation of SHG members. The committee members are elected by members of SHGs. It has also provided credit for SHGs and taken care of processing and marketing of the products. The federation also helps to form new SHGs and organise programmes for capacity building of SHG members. These networks of institutions are the main pillars of success and sustainability of BAIF’s projects.
Engaging Field Guides: Local youth, who had dropped out of secondary schools were selected as field guides to assist the project officers. These youth were trained in different aspects such as orchard development, community health and sanitation, operation and repairs of hand pumps and bore wells, etc. for 1-2 months and assigned with the responsibility of assisting 30-50 families in the village. They could consult the project
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staff whenever needed. This arrangement gave a boost to the confidence of the tribal families as they could easily approach the field guides for guidance. The project paid a small honorarium to field guides based on their output. With the progress of the project, these field guides have become very popular and turned out to be community leaders. They are serving as mentors for the families who have been trailing in the development process. ♣
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STUDIES ON THE PROJECT IMPACT
Doctoral Research on BAIF's Orchard Development Programme in relationship to socio-economic transformation of tribal areas in Maharashtra
This study was conducted by Dr. R.N. Hegde during 2006-2008 by surveying the wadi participants from two tribal blocks each in Thane and Nashik districts who established fruit orchards on 0.4 ha during 1996-2004 and the following observations were made:
l Among participant families, 59.58% were medium holders, 36.67% were small holders and only 3.75% were large holders. All of them were living in poverty. 73% of the tribal households participated in the programme. Out of their landholding of 1.71 ha, 0.52 ha was fallow. The wadi programme enabled them to bring the wastelands under wadi and reduce the fallow area to 0.3 ha. None of them had wadi before earlier.
l As none of the families had irrigation facilities, 70% of them renovated their own wells, 17% tapped water from springs and 12.5% families availed of water from check bunds, enabling them to ensure more than 95% survival of fruit trees.
l Fruiting of cashew started in the third year, but sustained income began from the sixth year. 40 grafted trees of Vengurla-1 and Vengurla-4 varieties yielded 41 kg in the sixth year and the yield increased steadily to 357 kg in the eleventh year. The yield further increased with the size of the tree. The yield from 20 mango trees also steadily increased from 122 kg in the sixth year to 1076 kg in the eleventh year. The total income from fruits in the sixth year was 3493 which increased to Rs. 35,381 in the eleventh year, with a net income of Rs. 29,781. The net present value of the orchard was Rs. 85,305 with a benefit cost ratio of 2.78 and internal rate of return of 27% with a pay back period of 13 years. Assured year round irrigation for these wadi owners could have further increased the income and reduced the pay back period.
l Most of the farmers utilised their earnings on the development of their land and irrigation facilities, purchase of houses, repair of houses, purchase of radio, TV, wrist watches bicycles, furnishings and power connection for the houses. A few (about 7%) purchased motorcycles. The rise in income had a direct impact on the increase in food commodities such as
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pulses (73%), meat (47%), fruits (72.63%), vegetables (41.87%) and milk (70%). There was an increase in the expenses on clothing (91.83%), footwear (25%), education (53.4%), medical expenses (44.92%) and cosmetics (17.26%). Their expenses on festivals and marriages also increased by 50%. The increase in food intake had a positive impact on the health. The literacy level increased from 15.33% in 1996-97 to 47.73% in 2007. More than 95% of the children were now enrolling in schools. The level of participation of the tribal families in the activities of Panchayati Raj Institutions and cooperatives was significantly high. With the establishment of wadi, the livestock population was also steadily increasing which further increased their income as well.
l Presently, 55% families were maintaining milking animals, 37% were keeping goats and 65% were maintaining poultry. Over 77% livestock owners allowed their animals to graze on their own lands, while others sent them to common lands and forests for grazing.
l The wadi development programme did not have any impact on traditional customs and religion. It only helped in elimination of certain superstitions with relation to health practices.
l The major aim of the participants was to enhance their income and quality of life. While joining the wadi programme, 81.25% participants had discussed with their wives and taken a joint decision. Over 95% participants confirmed substantial benefits from the wadis.
l As a result of wadi establishment, the migration of male members came down from 74.17% to 37.1%. Further, the number of days of migration came down from 81.60 days to 29.2 days. The female migration came down from 53.75% to 6.67% and the number of migration days from 55.52 days to 6.8 days. This had a significant impact on the quality of life of women and children.
l The study revealed the scope for further strengthening the programme in the areas of water resource development, livestock husbandry and forward and backward linkages, to further enhance their income. 93.75% participants expressed that BAIF was the main source of information for availing new technologies.
The wadi programme which was unknown in the region a decade earlier, has now become the most popular programme.
Study by Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand (2007)Adivasi Development Programme – Valsad and Dang District, Gujarat
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Mumbai had assigned the task of conducting the third impact evaluation
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study of the Adivasi (Tribal) Development Programme for Valsad and Dang Districts in Gujarat to the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, in June 2007. This Adivasi Development Programme has been in operation in Gujarat covering Valsad (Dharampur and Kaprada blocks) and the Dangs districts since 2000, benefitting 13,663 families. The evaluation has highlighted the following points:
Against the planned coverage of 4000 ha of land, 5093 ha were achieved, benefitting 13,663 tribal families. A holistic approach through soil conservation, water resource development, health promotion, building people’s organisations and credit programmes helped to improve the quality of life of the participants.
Wadi (small orchard) is zenance of the programme, Dhruva has built People’s Organisations at various levels. Gram Vikas Mandals for village level planning committee is the most prominent organisation to ensure effective launching of the programme and its sustenance. Although it was informal, it was instrumental in hastening the decision making process at the village level.
Before joining the programme, the tribal families were cultivating a few crops like finger millet, pearl millet, sorghum and niger mostly on their uplands. In the absence of good quality land and improved agricultural practices, there was a chronic shortage of food which compelled almost 90% of the families to migrate to cities merely to ensure food security. The fruit trees enabled the participants to generate cash income while they were able to meet most of their food requirement from inter-crops. After establishment of wadi, they were able to intensify their food crop production mostly in the form of intercrops, which enhanced their crop production. Subsequently, they were able to meet over 70% of the required paddy, 78% coarse cereals, 95% pulses, while they had market surplus of oilseeds and vegetables. Almost all the families took advantage of the public distribution system and procured available quantity of wheat and started using it for home consumption. Subsequent to participation in the wadi programme, livestock has become an integral part of the households to meet food, meat, egg, animal power, manure, etc. They have started maintaining a wide range of animals like cows, buffaloes, bullock, sheet, goat and poultry. Most of the families retained a small quantity of milk for home consumption and sold the rest.
The wadi programme reduced the dependency of the tribals on forest and community lands to meet their basic needs to a great extent. The programme not only brought the families out of poverty but also significantly improved the eco-system, ground water table and reduced soil erosion thereby improving soil fertility and the environment. After the establishment of wadi, surplus biomass was available for meeting their domestic fuel.
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The wadi participants were now able to have free access to micro-finance. However, their preference for the available loan was from banks, self help groups promoted by BAIF and dairy cooperatives. Before initiation of the wadi programme, almost 97% of the non-wadi families migrated to ensure food security. With the establishment of wadi, there has been a significant reduction in the migration. Less than 25% of the wadi farmers were occasionally migrating for a shorter period particularly the males, to meet their additional expenditures such as marriages, construction of houses or education of children. The wadi beneficiaries had acquired several assets like pumpsets, radio and bicycles apart from renovating their houses and constructing new houses.
Health has been a major concern of tribal women. However, with the launching of the wadi programme, there was significant improvement in primary health care through training of local mid wives and network of traditional healers (Bhagat) who participated in the community health programme. There has been greater awareness among women particularly among children. The self help groups took the responsibility of organising training of Anganwadis of girls who had studied upto the secondary school. One of the reasons for improved health status was the increase in consumption of fruits, vegetables fat and livestock production. Greater awareness on immunisation, regular participation in health camps and public meetings also had a positive impact on the health. With the initiation of the wadi programme, there was greater awareness about the wadi programme and the children started attending the local school.
All the participants had strong attraction and a feeling of ownership with their wadi. It was a symbol of status and security. The wadi participants had a sense of happiness and fulfillment. The wadis have given a strong emotional and spiritual security to these households. Some women expressed “we can consider wadi as our earning son who will stay with us forever”.
Study by Progressive Research Aids Pvt. Ltd., Pune (2008)Impact of Development Programmes of BAIF The organisation carried out an evaluation of various development programmes implemented by BAIF in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka over the last 10 years. Under this study, 1482 participant families selected randomly, were interviewed, apart from discussions with non-participants, local Government officials, members of Gram Panchayats and various local organisations. The study compared the present socio-economic status of the participants with the past. The participants covered under the study, represented communities belonging to Scheduled Castes,
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Scheduled Tribes, other backward castes and families living below the poverty line, involved in livestock development, watershed development, tribal rehabilitation, and women empowerment programmes for more than 5 years. The study made the following observations:
Over 87% of the participating families confirmed significant economic benefits from the project. The average income of these participants had increased from Rs.13,500 in 2002 to Rs.36,465 in 2007. Among them, the dairy farmers had earned an average income of Rs.51,190 as compared to Rs.18,900 in 2002 and who were earning less than Rs.8000 in the mid 90’s before joining the programme. More than 75% of the dairy farmers had two or more cows, which contributed to their sustainable livelihood, turning rearing of crossbred cattle as a common practice in the operational areas.
The families participating in the watershed development programme had an average income of Rs.38,352 per annum in 2007, as compared to Rs.12,000 in 2002. The participants of the tribal development and cluster development programmes had an average earning of approximately Rs.30,000 as compared to their income of Rs.10,000 in 2002. In another programme of women empowerment, the participating families had enhanced their income from Rs.10,165 in 2002 to Rs.28,272 in 2007. Under the cluster development programme, more than 90% of the families including the landless, took active part. Over 53% of the women from the participating families had taken active part in SHG activities which had a positive impact on their income as well as quality of life. The average number of children per participating family was only 1.1 which reflected on wider acceptance of family welfare programmes. There was a significant rise in women literacy from 36% to 69%.
Out of the total participants, only 4.8% of the families were still living below the poverty line and among them, the tribals had a larger representation as there was no major source of livelihood in the absence of established orchards. The incidence of food security has come down from 27% to 8.7% among the tribals. Initially, over 28% of the tribal families were migrating, which has come down to 17.1%. but there has been a significant reduction in women migration, resulting in good health and education for the children. Over 70% of the local artisan families could revive their activities and almost everybody was able to enhance their income.
Study by Dr. Anil N. Patil, Mumbai (2007)The Role and Contribution of BAIF to the Rural Development of Jawhar Taluka, District ThaneThe contribution of BAIF in the process of development was documented in an institutional study undertaken in the tribal belt of Jawhar in Thane district by Dr. Anil N. Patil as a part of a doctoral thesis to Mumbai University. The
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study reported that BAIF has contributed significantly to rural development, in particular, the tribals of Jawhar region. According to this study, BAIF enjoys the trust of the Government of India and the Government of Maharashtra in promoting tribal development. BAIF has been successful in ensuring livelihood and decreasing migration in this belt. The functioning of BAIF and its democratic vision of BAIF has resulted in winning over the faith of the tribal community.
Study by Dr. H.P. Sonawane, Rahuri (2007)Impact of BAIF on the Profile of Beneficiaries in Rural MaharashtraThe organisational development study by Dr. H.P. Sonawane and submitted to the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri in Ahmednagar district, covering various programmes of BAIF in Ahmednagar, Nashik and Pune, revealed that the programme has reached over 90% families in the operational areas. It was reported that 63.11% families earned an annual income between Rs. 16,001 to Rs. 39,000 and 74.67% enjoyed better quality of life. 87.11% had brought additional area under cultivation. 87.55% reported increase in milk yield of their dairy animals. 89.33% are immunising their children, 88.67% have adopted improved hygiene and sanitation habits, 78.22% have adopted family planning, 70.67% are ensuring balanced diet and 83.56% reported availability of drinking water throughout the year. The beneficiaries had formed social organisations such as Wadi Tukadi and Gopal Gats. ♣
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AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS RECEIVED BY BAIF
Awardsl The Times of India Social Impact Award for NGOs in the category of
Environment, September 2011l India NGO Award 2008 for good governance by Resource Alliance, UK
and the N & J Khemka Foundation, Indial Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Puraskar by the Government of Indial Indira Priyadarshini Paryavaran Puraskar 2007 to BIRD-K for sustainable
management of natural resources l Vasantrao Naik Award for Rural Development 2011 to Maharashtra
Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA)l Ground Water Augmentation Award, for the year 2008 to BAIF Institute
for Rural Development, Karnataka by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India for promotion of roof top water harvesting for drinking purpose and combat fluorosis
l BAIF was conferred the ‘Best Water NGO’ National Award by UNESCO and Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India under the categories, ‘Revival of Rural Water Resources,’ ‘Water Harvesting’ and ‘Water Education’ in 2010
l Indian Innovation Award 2005 for innovative approaches in poverty alleviation
l Vasantrao Naik Jala Samvardhan Award 2005 for innovative approach in watershed development
l Doreen Mashler Award for outstanding contribution to integrated watershed management (2004) to BAIF, RRIDMA and SPESD
l 12th Red and White Social Bravery Award 2003 to Dhruva l Award for Excellence in Rural Development 2003 to Dhruva by the
Federation of Gujarat Industries, Vadodara l Award for Excellence in Rural Development 1999 to GRISERV-BAIF by
the Federation of Gujarat Industries, Vadodaral Adivasi Seva Sanstha Award 1997 for tribal development in Ahmednagar,
Thane and Raigad districts of Maharashtral Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Puraskar 1996 to GRISERV-BAIF
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l Rajat Kamal Award for the film “Building from Below” 1994l Green Film Award, Berlin Festival for the film “Golden Earth” 1991l Rajat Kamal Award for the film “Golden Earth” 1991l NCERT – Best Children’s Literature Award for “Mother Nature” 1991l Seth Baldeodas Shah Award for improved silkworm mountages 1991-92l FICCI Award for Rural Development 1978
Recognitions
l Tribal Centre of Excellence in Tribal Development by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of Indial Ministry of Finance, Government of India under section 35 (1) (ii) of the
Income Tax Act, 1961 for carrying out Scientific Researchl BAIF’s Models for Poverty Alleviation and Tribal Rehabilitation received
a boost in a reference made in the President of India’s Address to the Nation on the Eve of Republic Day, 2006
l Nominated as a Wadi Resource Agency by NABARD for enhancing the capacities of project implementing agencies to replicate the Wadi Model all over the country
l SILK MARK Certification for promotion of sericulturel Wadi programme captured in a documentary film “Wadi: Planting Hopes”
by Skoch Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi and premiered during the plenary session of the “Centre @ Work Conference of the International Conference on India @ Work Summit” on October 20, 2005
l BAIF’s ISO 9002-certified Semen Freezing Laboratory at the CRS, Urulikanchan ranked as outstanding by the Central Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India
l Regional Resource Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for coordinating the National Environmental Awareness Campaign in Maharashtra, Goa and Dadra Nagar Haveli
l Adivasi Development Program at Dharampur in Valsad district of Gujarat registered as an EXPO 2000 Project (1999) by the EXPO 2000 GmbH in Hannover, Germany
l Two of BAIF’s Research Projects, “Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) for cattle” and “Rapid Diagnostic kits for poultry and cattle” were enlisted among 15 milestones and new scientific heights scaled by our country on the eve of the Technology Day celebration on May 11, 1999 by the Government of India, Ministry of Science and Technology. ♣
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l Agricultural Finance Corporation of India. 2000. The baseline survey for KFW, Germany.
l Agricultural Finance Corporation of India. 2002. First periodical Evaluation Survey for KfW, Germany Aided Comprehensive Tribal Development project.
l Integrated Rural Development for Sustainable Livelihood. 1998. BAIF Publication. 181 pp.
l BAIF. 2002. NABARD, Gujarat Wadi Comprehensive Tribal Development Programme: A milestone in sustainable Rural Development.
l BAIF. 2003. Development Policy – Department Farm sector. BAIF-V. Adivasi Development Programme, Gujarat - XVI Monitoring Study.
l BAIF. 2004. Wadi for Rehabilitation of Tribals and Small Farmers.
l Bhamoriya, V. 2004. BAIF: An experience in enhancing tribal livelihood in Navsari and Valsad Districts of south Gujarat. Study undertaken as a part of ITP- SRTT, Central India Initiative (CINI). Presented at the CINI Synthesis Workshop, Anand.
l Bhatt, A. 1987. Rehabilitation Approach to Poverty Alleviation: A study of BAIF’s Tribal Development Project in Vansda. Public System Group, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
l Government of India. 2001. Census office of the Registrar General, India, New Delhi.
l Upadhyaya, C. 1991. Tapomurti Manibhai. Navjeevan Trust, Ahmedabad, 160 pp.
l Government of India. 2006. Selected Educational Statistics, Ministry of HRD, New Delhi.
l Government of India. 2007. Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi.
l Government of India. 2007. Annual Report, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi.
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l Government of India. 2007. Annual Report, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, New Delhi.
l Government of India. 2007. Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), Planning Commission, New Delhi.
l Gupta, A. 2001. Criteria and Indicators of Sustainability in Rural Development and Natural Resources Perspective. Oxford.
l Gupta, R and Vyas, V.S. 1988. Rural Development for Rural Poor – Dharampur Project, IIM, Ahmedabad.
l Gupta, S.P. 1995. Constitutional Law of India, Allahabad Law Agency, Allahabad.
l Howard, C. 2000. In the Footsteps of Gandhi: The Manibhai Desai and BAIF Story. New Age International Publishers.
l Indian Institute of Ahmedabad. 2001. Rural Development for Rural Poor- Dharampur, Centre for Management of Agriculture, Status Report of Comprehensive Tribal Development Programme, Dharampur.
l KfW, Frankfurt, 1993. Tribal Development Programme in Dharampur Taluka, Southern Gujarat, India.
l Shah, D. 1998. Quiet Rural Transformation through Vansda Model of Tribal Rehabilitation of BAIF. 27 pp.
l Verma, M.M 1996. Tribal Development in India: Programmes and Perspectives, Mittal Publications, New Delhi.
l www.indiastat.com
l www.rural.nic.in ♣
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Annexure 1
MAJOR FRUIT PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD (2009-10)Country Area in Ha Production in Mt Productivity Mt/Ha
China 11057621 109615629 9.9India 6329200 71515500 11.3Brazil 2449758 38683456 15.8USA 1159589 27762483 23.9Italy 1267386 17646110 13.9Spain 1743165 16277697 9.3Mexico 1201897 16122211 13.4Indonesia 721258 16028273 22.2Philippines 1123530 15620664 13.9Iran (IR) 1264574 13183703 10.4Turkey 1036528 12829520 12.4Others 26242703 228947458 8.7World + 55011784 579926404 10.5
Source: FAO Website Preliminary 2009 data available for selected countries and products
Annexure 2
MAJOR APPLE PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD (2009-10)Country Area in Ha Production in Mt Productivity Mt/Ha
China 2000466 29851163 14.9USA 141880 4358710 30.7Poland 717963 2830870 16.5Iran (IR) 173851 2718775 15.6Turkey 129700 2504490 19.3Italy 54642 2208227 40.4France 52200 1940200 37.2India 283900 1777200 6.3Russian Federation 243000 1467000 6.0Chile 35000 1370000 39.1Argentina 46000 1300000 28.3Brazil 38072 1124155 29.5Germany 31800 1046995 32.9Others 1403396 15113739 10.8World + 4795970 69819324 14.6
Source: FAO Website
ANNEXURES
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Annexure 3
MAJOR MANGO AND APPLE PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD (2009-10)
Country Area in Ha Production in Mt Productivity Mt/HaIndia 2532000 17598200 7.0China 452663 3976716 8.8Thailand 305114 2374165 7.8Indonesia 185196 2013123 10.9Mexico 177308 1855359 10.5Pakistan 166223 1753686 10.6Brazil 74003 1154649 15.6Philippines 186770 884011 4.7Bangladesh 84500 802750 9.5Nigeria 126500 734000 5.8Others 827129 5691155 6.9World + 4723906 34889014 7.4
Source: FAO Website
Annexure 4
MAJOR ORANGE PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD (2009-10)Country Area in Ha Production in Mt Productivity Mt/Ha
Brazil 836602 18538084 22.2USA 268350 9140790 34.1India 502800 4396700 8.7Mexico 331297 4306633 13.0China 389578 3681125 9.4Spain 153429 3367000 21.9Iran (IR) 151580 2619735 17.3Italy 102301 2527453 24.7Indonesia 63695 2322581 36.5Egypt 222236 2138425 9.6Others 1154386 15560812 13.5World + 4176254 68599338 16.4
Source: FAO Website
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Annexure 5
AREA AND PRODUCTION ESTIMATES FOR HORTICULTURE CROPSArea
(in 000 Ha)Production(in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Banana 658 23823 36.2 770 26470 34.4Mango 2201 13997 6.4 2312 15027 6.5Citrus 867 8015 9.2 987 9638 9.8Papaya 83 2909 35.1 96 3913 40.9Guava 179 1981 11.1 220 2572 11.7Apple 264 2001 7.6 283 1777 6.3Pineapple 80 1245 15.5 92 1387 15.1Sapota 152 1258 8.3 159 1347 8.5Grapes 68 1735 25.4 106 881 8.3Pomegranate 124 884 7.2 125 820 6.6Litchi 69 418 6.1 74 483 6.5Others 1112 7321 6.6 1105 7201 6.5
Fruits-Total 5857 65587 11.2 6329 71516 11.3Potato 1795 34658 19.3 1835 36577 19.9Tomato 566 10303 18.2 634 12433 19.6Onion 821 13900 16.9 756 12159 16.1Brinjal 561 9678 17.2 612 10563 17.2Tapioca 270 9056 33.6 232 8060 34.8Cabbage 266 5910 22.2 331 7281 22.0Cauliflower 312 5777 18.5 348 6569 18.9Okra 407 4179 10.3 452 4803 10.6Peas 313 2491 8.0 365 3029 8.3Sweet Potato 123 1094 8.9 119 1095 9.2Others 2414 31402 13.0 2300 31168 13.6
Vegetables-Total 7848 128449 16.4 7985 133738 16.7
Almond/Walnut 132 177 1.3 142 193 1.4Flowers Loose 166 868 183 1021Flowers Cut* 43644 66671Plantation Crops 3190 11300 3.5 3265 11928 3.7Spices 2617 4357 1.7 2464 4016 1.6Mushroom 37 41Honey 65 65Grand Total 20207 211235 10.5 20876 223089 10.7
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
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Annexure 6
STATE-WISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF FRUITS
State / Uts Area (in 000 Ha) Production (in 000 Mt) Productivity (in Mt/Ha)
91-92 01-02 09-10 91-92 01-02 09-10 91-92 01-02 09-10Andhra Pradesh 313.1 575.8 921.1 4008.2 6157.4 12918.3 12.8 10.7 14.0Maharashtra 256.1 582.8 1540.6 3518.4 8840.6 10396.6 13.7 15.2 6.7Gujarat 84.5 149.0 252.9 1828.9 2346.9 6985.1 21.6 15.7 19.8Tamil Nadu 136.2 227.5 291.6 2316.1 4342.4 6379.0 17.0 19.1 21.9Karnataka 209.3 257.1 351.0 3191.8 4028.9 5712.4 15.2 15.7 16.3Uttar Pradesh 303.2 288.3 356.7 2449.8 2282.8 5380.1 8.1 7.9 15.1Bihar 266.9 272.3 293.6 2799.2 2877.0 3464.9 10.5 10.6 11.8Madhya Pradesh 64.7 46.6 113.1 1245.0 1147.8 2864.0 19.2 24.6 25.3West Bengal 111.3 147.6 206.3 1131.7 1985.5 2861.0 10.2 13.5 17.1Kerala 236.3 234.5 296.7 1101.3 1772.6 2398.3 4.7 7.6 8.1Orissa 136.3 225.0 302.1 978.0 1362.9 1845.1 7.2 6.1 6.1Assam 72.3 110.8 117.3 886.4 1335.1 1575.5 12.3 12.0 13.4Jammu & Kashmir 119.1 142.2 209.8 700.8 1000.9 1534.7 5.9 7.0 7.3Punjab 72.7 37.5 67.6 663.8 531.7 1365.1 9.1 14.2 20.2Chhattisgarh 14.4 125.3 - 203.1 1185.9 - 14.1 9.5Uttarakhand 150.5 197.5 190.8 428.7 376.7 723.6 2.8 1.9 3.7Rajasthan 22.8 22.1 32.1 113.6 200.7 676.5 5.0 9.1 21.1Jharkhand 31.5 37.7 - 121.1 577.6 - 10.2 15.3Tripura 44.9 28.3 36.9 319.1 452.1 573.8 7.1 16.0 15.6Himachal Pradesh 157.2 223.0 206.4 339.9 263.4 382.7 2.2 1.2 1.8Mizoram 9.3 19.0 97.1 34.8 63.4 118.3 37 3.3 12.1Haryana 13.9 31.3 41.5 110.0 235.2 203.9 7.9 7.5 7.3Meghalaya 24.2 24.0 32.9 218.1 186.9 294.8 9.0 7.8 8.9Manipur 19.8 26.1 38.4 41.0 134.0 281.9 2.2 5.1 7.3Nagaland 5.2 25.0 30.0 9.2 302.0 220.7 1.8 12.1 7.0Arunachal Pradesh 20.2 41.6 72.0 47.3 124.9 107.9 2.3 3.0 1.5
Goa 11.0 10.7 11.0 84.2 84.7 78.4 7.7 6.0 7.5Pondicherry 1.0 1.1 1.2 19.7 24.0 27.9 19.7 21.8 22.3Andaman And Nicobar 3.3 3.7 3.1 12.9 10.7 26.6 3.9 4.5 6.7
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 0.7 0.7 1.8 7.1 7.1 19.7 10.1 10.1 10.7
Sikkim 7.7 12.3 12.2 18.8 10.3 18.5 2.4 0.8 1.5Lakshadweep 0.30 0.30 0.4 0.50 1.10 1.2 1.67 3.67 3.5Chandigarh 0.10 0.10 0.1 1.90 1.10 1.1 19.00 11.00 11.0Delhi 0.10 0.10 0.1 0.70 1.00 1.0 7.00 10.00 17.9Daman & Diu 0.30 0.40 0.0 3.10 3.40 1.02 10.33 8.50 1.4Total 2674.5 4010.2 6329.2 28632.0 43000.9 71515.5 10.0 10.7 11.3
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
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120
Annexure 8
ALL INDIA AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF HORITCULTURAL CROPS
Year Area (in Million Ha)
Production (in Million Mt)
Productivity (in Mt/Ha)
1991-92 12.8 96.6 7.52001-02 16.6 145.8 8.82004-05 18.4 166.9 9.12009-10 20.9 223.1 10.7
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 9
ALL INDIA AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF FRUITS
Year Area (In 000 Ha)
Production (In 000 Mt)
Productivity (In Mt/Ha)
1991-92 2874 28632 10.02001-02 4010 43001 10.72004-05 5049 50867 10.12009-10 6329 71516 11.3
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 10
ALL INDIA AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF PLANTATION CROPS
Year Area (in Million Ha)
Production (in Million Mt)
Productivity (in Mt/Ha)
1991-92 2298 7498 3.32001-02 2984 9697 3.32004-05 3147 9635 3.12009-10 3265 11928 3.7
Note: Plantation Crops include data of Cashewnut, Arecanut, Cocoa and CoconutSource: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
121
Annexure 11
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF APPLE
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Jammu & Kashmir 126.4 1268.5 10.0 138.1 1373.0 9.9
Himachal Pradesh 94.5 592.6 6.3 99.6 280.1 2.8
Uttarakhand 32.2 130.5 4.1 32.4 114.0 3.5Arunachal Pradesh 10.8 9.8 0.9 12.6 10.0 0.8
Others 0.0 0.1 1.4 0.1 0.2 0.2Total 263.9 2001.5 7.6 282.9 1777.2 6.3
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 12
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF CITRUS
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Andhra Pradesh 253.3 3507.3 13.8 281.3 3883.7 13.8
Maharashtra 261.3 1627.7 6.2 287.6 1725.1 6.0Punjab 35.4 618.2 17.5 42.4 905.1 21.3Madhya Pradesh 17.9 286.4 16.0 38.3 677.8 17.7
Gujarat 34.6 360.2 10.4 37.1 385.6 10.4Rajasthan 18.7 162.6 8.7 18.6 312.7 16.8Karnataka 13.5 295.7 21.9 15.1 312.5 20.7Orissa 26.8 211.7 7.9 27.4 258.8 9.4Assam 19.0 163.4 8.6 24.2 225.9 9.3Bihar 17.6 125.8 7.1 17.9 131.2 7.3Uttarakhand 26.8 127.4 4.8 26.7 126.6 4.7Others 142.2 528.5 3.7 170.8 692.8 4.1Total 867.1 8014.9 9.2 987.3 9637.8 9.8
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
122
Annexure 13
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF LIME/LEMON
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Orissa 26.8 211.7 7.9 27.4 258.8 9.4Karnataka 8.2 192.1 23.5 9.0 201.8 22.4Maharashtra 37.3 153.0 4.1 41.5 166.6 4.0Bihar 17.6 125.8 7.2 17.9 131.2 7.3Uttarakhand 26.8 127.4 4.8 26.7 126.6 4.7West Bengal 21.4 24.7 1.2 11.3 100.9 8.9Haryana 7.2 62.0 8.6 13.8 98.3 7.1Assam 10.8 73.5 6.8 11.4 84.1 7.4Others 79.7 581.6 7.3 42.1 213.0 5.1Total 302.8 2501.7 8.3 295.6 2629.2 8.9
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 14
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF MOSAMBI
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Karnataka 3.32 64.77 19.5 3.7 68.0 18.6Others 4.12 30.79 7.5 10.788 60.982 5.7Total 300.2 3398.6 11.3 346.3 3882.4 11.2
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
123
Annexure 15
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF ORANGE
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Assam 8.20 89.92 11.0 12.8 141.8 11.0Rajasthan 7.60 96.00 12.6 8.9 135.0 15.1Mizoram 9.2 11.6 1.3 10.6 64.7 6.1Meghalaya 8.31 34.85 4.2 10.1 43.1 4.3Nagaland 2.70 15.00 5.6 4.3 36.6 8.5Karnataka 1.79 35.48 19.8 1.9 36.6 19.2Others 42.44 79.65 1.9 60.1 122.0 2.0Total 218.13 1461.74 6.7 285.0 2084.0 7.3
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 16
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GUAVA
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Madhya Pradesh 2.5 50.0 20.0 8.2 238.5 29.0
Bihar 28.7 255.7 8.9 29.2 231.5 13.1West Bengal 11.9 162.2 13.6 13.4 175.7 21.2Punjab 8.2 155.5 19.0 8.0 169.3 15.9Gujarat 8.6 131.1 15.2 9.8 156.6 15.0Andhra Pradesh 9.6 144.4 15.0 10.1 150.3 19.3
Karnataka 6.9 134.8 19.6 7.2 138.8 7.1Orissa 14.0 93.4 6.7 14.1 100.0 13.2Tamil Nadu 8.5 93.3 11.0 7.0 92.5 9.5Others 33.2 314.0 9.5 39.242 373.0 11.7Total 179.2 1981.1 11.1 219.7 3571.5 11.7
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
124
Annexure 17
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF LITCHI
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Jharkhand 3.3 16.5 5.0 4.3 51.1 12.0Assam 4.8 34.0 7.1 5.1 39.2 7.7Punjab 1.5 19.3 12.9 1.6 22.4 14.1Chhattisgarh 3.0 17.8 6.0Orissa 4.0 12.8 3.2 4.3 17.1 4.0Tripura 2.6 14.4 5.5 2.8 17.0 6.1Uttarakhand 8.8 15.1 1.7 9.1 15.7 1.7Others 6.2 5.3 0.9 5.2 5.5 1.1Total 69.1 418.4 6.1 74.4 483.3 6.5
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 18
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF MANGO
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Karnataka 134.6 1223.3 9.1 153.8 1694.0 11.0Bihar 142.2 870.4 6.1 146.0 995.9 6.8Gujarat 109.6 930.1 8.5 121.5 856.7 7.0Tamil Nadu 136.6 753.6 5.5 132.7 636.3 4.8Maharashtra 455.8 710.9 1.6 474.5 597.0 1.3West Bengal 80.9 623.3 7.7 88.1 578.0 606Orissa 148.2 251.8 1.7 177.6 577.5 3.3Kerala 76.7 445.4 5.8 63.8 373.2 5.9Others 167.4 665.1 4.0 197.425 1071.7 5.4Total 2201.0 13997.0 6.5 2312.3 15026.7 6.5
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
125
Annexure 19
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF POMEGRANATE
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Andhra Pradesh 5.7 85.5 15.0 5.6 56.4 10.0
Gujarat 5.6 56.6 10.1 4.4 45.6 10.4Tamil Nadu 0.4 9.1 22.8 0.4 17.5 39.4Rajasthan 0.5 1.9 4.2 0.8 4.8 6.4Others 1.1 0.7 0.7 1.66 2.1 1.2Total 123.6 884.1 7.2 125.0 820.3 6.6
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 20
STATEWISE AREA, PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF SAPOTA
State
Area (in 000 Ha)
Production (in 000 Mt)
Productivity (Ha/Mt)
2007-08 2009-10Area Production Pdy. Area Production Pdy.
Gujarat 26.5 258.9 9.8 27.4 272.6 10.0Tamil Nadu 6.8 168.8 24.8 6.9 173.5 25.0Andhra Pradesh 18.7 187.3 10.0 17.1 171.4 10.0
West Bengal 3.9 43.4 11.1 4.0 43.4 10.9Orissa 3.3 14.6 4.4 3.3 16.6 5.0Others 1.3 7.1 5.3 1.7 11.1 6.5Total 152.0 1258.0 8.3 158.9 1346.6 8.5
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
126
Annexure 21
AREA SHARE OF LEADING FRUIT PRODUCING STATES (2009-10)Sl. No. State % Area
1 Andhra Pradesh 172 Maharashtra 143 Gujarat 104 Tamil Nadu 95 Karnataka 86 Uttar Pradesh 87 Bihar 58 Madhya Pradesh 49 West Bengal 4
10 Kerala 311 Orissa 312 Assam 213 Jammu & Kashmir 214 Punjab 215 Chhattisgarh 216 Others 7
Total 100
Source: National Horticulture Board, Indian Horticulture, Database – 2010
Annexure 22
PRODUCTION SHARE OF MAJOR FRUIT CROPS IN INDIA (2009-10)Sl. No. Fruit % Share
1 Banana 382 Mango 213 Citrus 134 Papaya 055 Guava 046 Apple 027 Sapota 028 Pineapple 029 Grapes 01
10 Pomegranate 0111 Litchi 0112 Others 10
100♣
PREFACE
A complexity of interlocked factors has kept the tribal communities in poverty and caught in a vicious cycle that has progressively eroded their standard and quality of living. Since 1982, starting in a few tribal hamlets in South Gujarat, BAIF endeavoured to develop an approach to tackle this ticklish situation. The approach led to the evolution of the Wadi programme which is a comprehensive farming system approach integrating tree crops and comprehensively addressing restoration of natural resources, creating farm-based livelihoods and improving the quality of life.
This challenging programme of agri-horti-forestry (Wadi) on degraded wastelands owned by tribals, resulted in the transformation of fragmented, barren slopes, into lush green productive orchards of mango, cashew and many other locally popular fruit crops. For assured income during the gestation period, agricultural food crops were planted as inter-crops which ensured food security. Simultaneous efforts are put in to develop the land and water resources, improve health and reduce drudgery.
The holistic programme led to substantial impacts due to the synergistic effects of its various components. It therefore received massive response from tribal communities in over six States and the policy makers have also come forward to support such unique effort of convergent action. The programme is presently implemented in six States by BAIF and its Associate Organisations and in over a dozen States through various other Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) supported by NABARD.
BAIF, through its Associate Organisation MITTRA, took up implementation of this programme in Nashik and Thane districts with a very strong support from the Government of Germany through KfW and NABARD.
The experience of the Wadi programme has clearly shown that the deprived and the dispossessed, the landless and the jobless, whose number is legion, want to be and need to be rehabilitated in their natural environs. They are anxious to be able to make a decent living on the strength of natural resources within their vicinity and within their reach.
The work done by BAIF and MITTRA through the Adivasi Development Programme, Maharashtra (ADPM) served as the basis for the doctoral study by Dr. R.N. Hegde. This doctoral research is the basis for bringing out this document in the form of this book. The book traces the journey of challenges, trials, opportunities and far reaching impact in the lives of tribal families who had expressed faith in BAIF and MITTRA and given their wholehearted cooperation. I compliment Dr. R.N. Hegde and Dr. S.D. Suryawanshi for their painstaking effort in bringing out this document. I am sure it would serve as an inspiration for those working for development in similar settings. October 2011 Girish G. Sohani, President
A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS
This book was inspired by an incident which was emotionally moving. The authors had gone to the tribal participants in the wadi project area, accompanied by the Project Leader who had worked in that area 10 years ago. Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of an elderly tribal woman when she saw the Project Leader. Later it was learnt that her husband had been an alcoholic. However, after joining the wadi programme, today the family owns 1.2 ha of fruiting mango orchard, her husband has given up alcohol, the children have completed their education and are now working in urban areas. Just like her, there are many others whose lives have also been transformed due to the untiring efforts of the project implementation team. There is no need for evaluation studies as the fruit laden trees themselves speak the success of the wadi programme which is spread over 52,000 ha across the country.
Since then, it has been our endeavour to document this saga of success in the form of a book to facilitate the replication of this model in India and other developing countries. An important aspect of this project is that the existing cropping pattern of growing low calorie value crops like rice and millet did not change.
Although Governments in developing countries are implementing several schemes for socio-economic upliftment of tribal communities, they have not received the desired results as these schemes have not created economic assets in the form of generating a perennial source of income and capital formation in tribal areas. On the other hand, the BAIF model created economic assets from wastelands in the form of orchards whose value appreciated year after year. Further, the asset resulted in a sense of belonging among the tribals and also increased their self-esteem and pride. Prior to BAIF’s intervention, only the rich farmers owned orchards as they had the capacity to invest in this type of agricultural activity which has a longer gestation period. The model has resulted in efficient management of natural resources, mitigation of global warming, improvement in health, education, housing, adoption of new technologies, women empowerment and many economic benefits.
We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Dr. Narayan G. Hegde, Trustee, Mr. Girish. G. Sohani, President and the entire wadi implementation team at BAIF for their valuable advise, information and support to take up the publication of this book. We are also thankful to our well-wishers, friends and families for their encouragement which has made this book a reality.
October 2011 Dr. R.N. Hegde and Dr. S.D. Suryawanshi
MISSION
Water Resources
Development Sustainable Farming System
Biodiversityconservation &Environmental
awareness
Agroforestry&
Silvipastures
Cattle Feed & Forage
Production
Dairy Husbandry &
LivestockDevelopment
TribalRehabilitation
Health Care & Clean Water Supply
Self Help Groups and
People's Organisations
O�-Farm activities
Micro Credit
Post Production Systems & Marketing
Renewable Energy
Vermiculture&
Biofertilisers
Sericulture
ins teS is ala ti ioc noS
E &
M
oC m
&
m
no
u
it
n
a
ic
m
a
r
ti
o
o
f
n
nIninia
grT
D &
R
Focus
ResourcesServices
Activities
Goals
BAIF's Mission is to create opportunities of gainful self-employment for the rural families, especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values. This is being achieved through development research, effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation. BAIF is a non-political, secular and professionally managed organisation.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr. Ramachandra N. Hegde, holds an M.Sc. (Agri.) in Horticulture and Ph.D. in Agricultural Development. He started his career with the Syndicate Bank, a public sector commercial bank, as a Rural Development Officer and worked for nearly a decade. Thereafter, he served with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for more than two decades in various capacities and retired as General Manager. During his banking career, he attended a course
on Development Banking on a British Council Scholarship at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom. After retirement, he worked in a World Bank-funded Karnataka Community-based Tank Management Project as an Agriculture Specialist. He has rich experience in agriculture and rural development issues at the grassroot and policy levels. He has also contributed numerous research and popular articles for reputed technical national and international journals and newspapers in the areas of banking, agriculture, horticulture, marketing of farm produce and climate change. He is currently working as a Senior Fellow at the National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, a premier organisation of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India in training, research and consultancy related to agriculture and rural development.
Dr. Somnath D. Suryawanshi, served as Professor and Head of the Department of Agriculture Economics at the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Maharashtra and as a Coordinator for Post Graduate and Research Programme in Agriculture at the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Nashik. He has over four decades of experience in agricultural education and research. He is the recipient of “Life Time Achievement Award” from Maharashtra Society of Agricultural Economists, “Bharat Excellence Award” from Friendship Forum of India, New Delhi and “Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar” from Shree Group Foundation of Maharashtra. He is also listed in the Asia Pacific Who’s Who Biographic Profiles of Men and Women Achievers. He has 16 monographs. 84 research papers and several popular articles to his credit. He has guided a large number of students for Post Graduation and Ph.D. degrees. He has also served as the Principal of K.K. Wagh College of Agriculture Engineering and Technology, Nashik. Presently, he is an Agriculture Development Expert providing advisory services to various organisations and farmers.
