SUSTAINING FARMERS

VANDEMATARAM FOUNDATION Dr. N. SAI BHASKAR REDDY

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

SUSTAINING FARMERS

Farmer was independent before India got independence, but after independence farmer has become

dependent

RICH FARMERS ~ RICH NATIONS

Farmers before independence were supporting kingdoms, none of the rulers nor kingdoms ever had any debt in the past.

Food Water

Shelter Climate

Energy Environment

MAJOR CHALLENGES

Climate change

Soil fertility Water management

Market & Price Burning of crop residue

Alkalinity of soils

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Arid and semi-arid areas

• one third of the earth’s surface land area.

Crop yields are declining

• Fertilizers inputs, droughts and shortages of irrigation water

http://www.eoearth.org/edit/article/51cbeda07896bb431f692df8/

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change will

affect Food and

Water security.

The coming decades global warming will

cause Droughts, floods, changes

in rainfall patterns,

severe freshwater

shortages, and shifts in crop

growing

Adaptive measures are

needed to mitigate expected adverse

outcomes

AGRICULTURE SHARE GDP VS. EMPLOYMENT

http://data.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/wdi-final.pdf

75% rural debt is due to purchased

inputs

Farmer rarely gets profits that he deserves

for the efforts.

75% rural debt is due to purchased inputs

Farmer rarely gets

profits that he

deserves for the efforts.

LAST

FARM

ER

FARMER IS AN ASSET

& NOT LIABILITY

INFORMATION BASED AGRICULTURE

Telemarketing of farm Produce

Mobile phone applications

Internet

Webcams in market yards

Social network for farmers

Tabs for farmers

Information access & sharing

Live channel for farmers

APPS• Gps / gis• Image Processing• Data Mining• Simulation

Human / Social Natural / Environmental / Physical Economic / Political

SCENARIO 1

Policies/Structures Vulnerability Adaptability

Rural Poverty Livelihoods Diversification

Appropriate Skills Water Management

Agriculture Production Water Resources

Energy

Climate Change

Community Empowerment

Bio Diversity

CHILDREN MUST KNOW AGRICULTURE

FARMERS DESERVE RIGHT PRICE

Farmers feel bad when the whole system conspires to bring down the prices when they rarely get good price.

We are not exploiting a

farmer

They would be no more at the

mercy of policies.

The farmer would also pay

taxes for development of

nation

Once again we would see debt

free nations.

FARMER’S DESERVE RESPECT

WAY FORWARD: ADAPTATION

WAY FORWARD: WEATHER BASED CROP INSURANCE

WAY FORWARD: BIOCHAR

Biochar is another name for charcoal used for purposes other than combustion. Like all charcoal, biochar is created by the pyrolysis of biomass.

WAY FORWARD: BIOCHAR APPLICATION

SOIL CARBON INCREASEMOISTURE CONSERVATIONFERTILIZERS CONSERVATIONINCREASE IN YIELD

JAGGERYCOMPOST

BIOCHAR

SOIL MICROBES

GREEN MULCH

BIOCHAR COMPOST – OWN FERTILIZERS

CROP YIELD INCREASE

SOIL IMPROVEMENT

Way Forward: FLOATIGATION

Road

Sewerage

Clean water for irrigation

Drip Irrigation

WAY FORWARD: SEWAGIGATION

Way Forward: ROADS AS DAMS

WAY FORWARD: WATER USE EFFICIENCY

MONITORING WATER AND

ENVIRONMENTAL

PARAMETERS

MONITORING

MANAGEMENT

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Way Forward: Monitoring the flows

Way Forward: Monitoring the flows

Solar Power

Arduino, SIM 900, Battery, Temp and Relative Humidity

sensor

Bowman Water Tube with ultrasonic sensor

RBC Flume with ultrasonic sensor

ClimaAdapt Project, Kondrapole, Miryalaguda, Nalgonda

Way Forward:

WATER LEVEL IN FIELD WATER TUBE USING ULTRASONIC SENSOR

Way Forward:

Way Forward: AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATION

GLOW LEVEL FOR

TUBE WELLS

Way Forward:

SOIL MOISTURE MEASUREMENT

Way Forward:

Self Help Thrift groupsPension planHealth & life insuranceCooperatives People centric policy

Storage facilitiesLoan on the storageFood processing Tech’sStock exchange – Barter system

Leadership trainingAwareness and exposureControl of Commission agents

OTHER ASPECTS

THANK YOU..