Pesticide free farming

Non Pesticidal Management is an alternative model of Agriculture which largely depends on replacing external inputs with locally available resources, utilizes farmers’ knowledge and skills apart from traditional pest management practices with good understanding of the biology of insects / diseases and preventing them from reaching the damaging stage.

  Indira Kranthi Patham of SERP, Hyderabad has been implementing NPM since 2005. It began in a humble scale in Mahabubnagar district with 500 acres of redgram cultivation in 2004. Farmers could save by reducing expenditure to the extent of Rs 1500 to Rs 5000 in use of pesticides, without really affecting production levels. This encouraged IKP to launch a pilot of NPM implementation in 25,000 acres in 10 districts with the help of resource NGOs in 2005. The pilot program was highly successful and  has drawn the attention of farmers, NGOs and media. In ensuing years NPM attracted more and more farmers to participate, and now  it is being takenup in 185,000 acres covering 16 districts in A.P.

  In Kurnool, we as KVK took the responsibility of providing technical backstopping and field support for implementation of NPM since 2005 with collaboration of DRDA and its well organized SHGs in the district. It has been started in 1400 acres in Redgram, Paddy, Groundnut and Bengalgram with farmers of 22 villagesin 3 mandals viz., Midthur, Panyam and Gadivemula in Kharif, 2005 with almost 80% adoption rate. In the ensuing year of 2006, it has spread to 9 mandals with 11000 acres. In 2007, KVK has implemented NPM in 9000 acres with participation of 3 mandals. During the current year, it is being implemented by KVK in 12000 acres with 20 villages in Panyam mandal.

 Details of NPM from 2005 to 2007 in Kurnool district : 

Year	Clus ters	Total of NPM		Cropwise Area (ac)
		Far mers	Area (ac)	Rice	G.nut	S. flower	R. gram	B.gram	Chillis	Castor	Onion	Cotton
2005	3	1267	2154	1568			392	194
2006	11	5325	11106	4044	3003.5	643.5	1649	1062.5	239.5	240.5	223.5
2007	5	3109	8838	4196	809	1274	998	1175	157		40	189
KVK Total		9701	22098	9808	3812.5	1917.5	3039	2431.5	396.5	240.5	263.5	189

  Benefits perceived by NPM on livelihoods of farmers :

 ·         Saved investment on Pesticides thus effecting reduced cost of production in various crops.

·         Other perceived benefits to the community are  :

o   improved health of farmers, workers and consumers, because no pesticide residues in output & no exposure to pesticides. Saving in Medical expenses.

o   reduced dependency on markets for external inputs, as all the inputs are locally available.

o   improvement in the soil fertility, due to balanced fertilizer application and use of organic inputs like Jeevamrutham, Compost etc.

o   assured better quality of food with better production system, attracting premium.

o   wage employment opportunities created, i.e Activities like Neem seed procurement, Pounding,  preparation of botanical extracts, bio fertilizers and Bio-Pesticides etc

o   restoration of ecological balance by saving natural enemies in the crop environment.

o   improvement in the livestock health due to pesticide free feed and

o   reduced pollution of water bodies.

Estimated average cost reduction in pest management:

 

Crop	Cost of pesticides in farmers practice (Rs./ac)	NPM (Rs/ac)	Savings (Rs/ac)
Rice	1250	280	970
Groundnut	750	300	450
Cotton	8000	1000	7000
Chillies	15000	2000	13000
Groundnut	1000	300	700
Castor	2000	700	1300
Redgram	1200	400	800
Rice	1250	280	970

Mode of operation of the program :

At state level, all the participating NGOs were formed into ‘Sustainable Agriculture Consortium’ and shared the responsibilities for implementation of the program The consortium agreed to have self-regulating guidelines for implementation of the NPM program.

Implementation:

 At village level, a Village Activist selected and appointed by VO supports the program. Five such villages will form into a cluster.  A Cluster Coordinator selected and appointed by MMS would provide the technical assistance and facilitate the implementation of the program in a mandal. Identified NGOs will facilitate the program in the clusters. In new villages, minimum area under NPM should be 100 acres per village and 500 acres per cluster and at least 40 farmers per village should be participating.

Registration fee: Farmers participating in the program to pay Rs. 100/- as registration fee.  The fee would be credited with the VO and would be part of the program expenses.

 Organisation of the programme:

 The program is implemented by village level & Mandal level CBOs with the knowledge support from local NGOs, who have been provided with adequate training and resource material by SERP and CSA. 

 The arrangements are as follows:

 The facilitating NGOs will have an agreement with the MMS (Mandal Mahila Samakhyas) for facilitating the program. The cluster coordinators and the village activists would be reporting to the NGOs/CBOs.  A sub-committee at the MMS would monitor the implementation of the program. IKP would release the budgets directly to the MMS thorough Zilla Samakhyas. ZS will form a Sustainable Agriculture Committee among its members, who will monitor the program in the district. IKP will identify district anchorperson among LAs (environment) or CCs Each district should identify a lead NGO ( KVK for Kurnool), which will work in coordination with ZS.

Micro-Credit Plan (MCP):

 MCPs have been prepared at the village level for accurate assessment of input needs, technical facilitation effort and fund requirement. The village activist and cluster coordinators have facilitated the preparation of MCPs. The MCPs are also aggregated at MMS level. MCPs could be submitted to local bankers for raising finances.

 Village resource centres :

Though most of inputs for NPM are locally available, due to lack of organizing skills, farmers could not be able to procure the same in time. Hence, to make all the necessary inputs available at one place in the vicinity of the farmers, village level resource centers were established with SHG members taking active role to prepare kashayams, to procure and pound the Neem Seed and to make available other inputs like Pheromone traps, lures & bio-pesticides in time to the farmers on cost basis with minimum profits, through which they earn livelihood. This activity is supported by CBOs with due financing.

 Village Procurement Centers

 Village procurement centers are planned to be established in large number of villages where NPM activity is taken up, to provide with some premium to NPM produce. This would ensure farmers get a better price and fair weighment.

 Stress points over the period of time :

 2005-06 :      NPM as entry point activity + Marketing

2006-07:       NPM + Marketing + Working on reducing the usage of fertilizers + seed                                             management + Village enterprises

2007-08:       All the above + Farmers’ KVKs+ No dependency on external inputs + Community management of the programme + models on sustainable agriculture & organic farming.