The project team continued its focus on millet promotion activities by demonstrating yield enhancement trials, organizing millet seed festivals, facilitating millet processing units and extending training on making millet value-added products. The team was engaged in promoting orchard gardens for food and nutrition security and livelihood for tribal farm families. During the reporting period, the team provided technical support for installation of millet processing units and training on value addition for millets at Mandala and Dindori, Madhya Pradesh. The Kolli Hills Agri-Bioresource Producer Company Ltd was engaged in extending support to tribal farmers by procuring local farm produce.
201.1 Millet Promotion and Value Chain Development
Promotion of improved agronomic practices, such as varietal and technology demonstrations, community seed banks (CSBs) and customized farm implements, training on value addition and linking with urban markets are key activities. The tribal farmers involved in the project were supported by the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, under the component of Tribal Sub Plan (TSP), 2019–20.
Distribution of Millet Seeds: Millet seed festivals were conducted during mid-July at nine locations in five panchayats, namely, Valapur Nadu, Devanur Nadu, Gundani Nadu, Thirupuli Nadu and Selur Nadu, and about 30 farmers participated in each programme. More than 500 kg of finger millet seeds were distributed during these festivals, and overall, 300 millet farm families participated.
Improved Agronomic Practices for Yield Enhancement in Millet Cultivation: Two different demonstrations were conducted during the 2019 kharif season on advantage of variety and performance of technology. In the case of technology demonstrations, a cost-and-return assessment was done for 50 farmers in trial fields for both line-sowing and broadcasting methods. The cost of cultivation includes the cost of seeds, manure, labour involved in ploughing, bush cleaning, seed sowing, weeding, thinning, harvesting and post-harvest processing. The returns derived from grain and straw yield were monetized based on the current market value. It is seen that the average grain yield using farmers’ practices is 9.76 qtl/ha whereas it is 11.93 qtl/ha using improved agronomic practices. By adopting the line-sowing method of cultivation, farmers got a 22 per cent higher yield when compared with farmers’ practices. The study indicated that farmers received Rs 8550/ha as net return under farmers’ practices as against Rs 13756/ha using the modified method of cultivation, which indicates an additional income of 61 per cent from the improved practices.
In varietal demonstrations, average-cost-and-return assessment was done of 50 farmers’ trials using improved varieties such as GPU28, GPU48 and ML365 and local varieties such as suritaiklevaraku, sundankikelvaraku and sataikelvaraku. The results showed that average grain yield in demonstration trials using local varieties was 8.06 qtl/ha whereas it was 9.27 qtl/ha using improved variety, which indicates a 15 per cent higher yield with the improved variety. It was seen that farmers earned Rs 2180/ha as net return using farmers’ variety and Rs 5139/ha using improved variety cultivation, that is, a 136 per cent increase in income by using improved varieties.
Training and Capacity Building: Training on line sowing, application of bio-inputs and seedling thinning was conducted and 2 field days organized, wherein 86 farmers participated. A traditional food mela was organized, and 20 tribal men and women farmers from Selur Nadu, Devanur Nadu, Valapur Nadu, Thirupuli Nadu, Alathur Nadu, Gundani Nadu and Edapuli Nadu panchayats participated. Farmers brought their own local varieties of millet, beans and paddy, and a variety of local fruits, greens, spices and medicinal plants. Millet recipes such as thinaipayasam, samai vegetable biryani, ragipakoda, varaku curd rice, samai pongal and samai sambar satham were prepared in the food festival and methods and techniques of preparation of modern recipes shared with the participants.
Millet Pulverizer Unit: Community pulverizer units established to reduce drudgery in millet processing are being operated by women’s self-help groups (WSHGs) and farmers’ club in 10 villages, namely Padasolai, Navakadu, Thirupulioorpuram, Thuvarapallam, Vendalapadi, Semputhuvalavu, Puliyampatty, Olaiyaru, Periyakovilur and Kuchakiraipatty. During the year, 8.9 metric tons of millets were processed and used by the local community.
Production and Marketing of Kolli Hills Natural Foods: Kolli Hills Agro Biodiversity Conservers Federation members have been producing millet value-added products under the brand name Kolli Hills Natural Products since 2001. At present, there are 16 value-added products that are being produced and marketed across Tamil Nadu and other parts in India. During the reporting year, 13.45 tons of milled rice and value-added products were sold and an overall gross income of around Rs 9.11 lakhs earned.
201.2 Integrated Tribal Development Programme: Multi-Storey Mixed Farm Development
Multi-storey mixed farm (MSMF) was implemented with the aim of increasing income, enhancing nutrition supply for tribal farm families and ensuring environmental sustainability. The project was inaugurated in November 2019 in six panchayats at Kolli Hills. It began with the participation of 250 farm families in the first batch. Five panchayats, namely, Chitur Nadu (106), Bail Nadu (19), Devanur Nadu (77), Valapur Nadu (37) and Selur Nadu (11), spread across 18 settlements were covered. The following are the key components of the 6-year-long project, which aims to reach out to 500 small and marginal tribal farm families: (i) establishment of MSMF with crops that could offer additional income and nutri-dense output and ensure sustainability of the farm and adjacent natural resource base; (ii) adoption of in-situ soil conservation measures to arrest further degradation of soil and shaping of the land to make it suitable for the establishment of MSMF; (iii) development of water resources individually or on a community basis to provide protective irrigation for fruit plants; (iv) imparting training and exposure to improve techniques and locally suitable technology interventions to better crop productivity, production and value chain development; (v) development of community health awareness on the importance of basic hygiene and nutritional aspects of food, herbal and kitchen gardens; (vi) drudgery reduction measures for women by supporting activities that will reduce on-farm and off-farm activities; (vii) linkage of participating families with assured marketing systems for a better price and stable income by organizing them as ‘farmers’ producer companies’ (FPCs); and (viii) setting up participatory research and monitoring by stakeholders on the process of MSMF development.
Establishment of Multi-Storey Mixed Farm: During this year, two types of orchard gardens are being promoted in the north and south clusters of Kolli Hills, one at a lower elevation (below 1000 m msl) and the other at a higher elevation (above 1000 m msl). The Model A orchard comprises of horticulture trees of jackfruit (10), nutmeg (10), acid lime (40), sapota (2), amla (2), guava (2) and pomegranate (2) for the south cluster, and in Model B, nutmeg is replaced by mango. Organic inputs to the tune of 150 tons of farmyard manure and 4.25 tons of neem cake for use as nematicide were distributed to 250 farm families for nurturing the tender saplings.
Soil Conservation: The general topography of the land in the project area is undulating with a slope of 5–10 per cent. Few areas have a slope that exceeds 30 per cent. The major soil conservation measures taken up in the wadi farms are compartment bunds and trenches built to arrest further erosion of topsoil and reduce the runoff for in-situ conservation of rainwater and for retaining soil moisture over extended periods. In order to harvest rainwater, 250 compartment bunds (each measuring 120 running etreand having a cross-section of 0.54 sq.m) and 5000 trenches (4 x 0.5 x 0.5 m) were established on the uphill side of the plants in each wadi. Trenching is considered to be highly effective in catching surface runoff and recharging deeper soil strata, which become accessible to the roots during summer when there is no rain at all. Fifty mini percolation ponds having a diameter of 15 feet and depth of 10 feet were also established to irrigate wadi gardens at different panchayats.
Training and Capacity Building: A total of 60 training sessions were conducted in which 370 farmers (male: 227; female: 143) participated. The sessions covered project awareness, layout preparation, digging of pits and planting, application of neem cake, ground work for compartment bund and trench building and maintenance of MSMF gardens. Moreover, exposure visits to Jawadi Hills were organized for 20 tribal farmers to learn and understand the process of development of wadi farms with proper layout and maintenance.
201.3 Empowering Tribal Women through Skill and Eco-preneurship Development in the Eastern Ghats
With the support of Frauen Power, Germany, a 5-day certificate training programme on millet value addition was organized for 30 tribal women farmers at the millet value addition centre in Kuchakiraipatti, Kolli Hills, covering the knowhow and do-how of millets and providing hands-on training on preparation of traditional and modern millet recipes, basic marketing strategies and cost-benefit analysis; it also included an exposure visit to Natural Food shop at Kolli Hills. During the training, participants prepared seven different recipes using millets; these included thinaipayasam mix, samaiupma mix, thinailaddu, ragi malt, samaipongal, samai vegetable biryani and samaibajji mix. The training programme also emphasized the role of processing units in drudgery reduction and the importance of millets in family nutrition security. It was organized in two batches, and women farmers from four panchayats, namely, Valavanthi Nadu, Ariuyr Nadu, Selur Nadu and Chitur Nadu, participated.
201.4 Technical Support for Developing Millet Value Chain
The MSSRF team extended technical support to the NGO Action for Social Advancement (ASA) for the establishment of a millet value chain for tribal farm families in Mandla and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh, with financial support from Bioversity International and the European Union. Key activities during the reporting period were: (i) erection and installation of millet processing units at three identified locations; (ii) conducting on-the-spot training on mill operation for selected members of farmer producer organizations (FPOs); (iii) organizing value chain workshops involving stakeholders of FPOs, quality control, environment, food and nutrition labelling and branding, advertisement agencies, schools, integrated child development services (ICDS) and public distribution system (PDS) officials.
Establishment of Millet Processing Units: MSSRF and ASA conducted several meetings with members and CEOs of Mandla Tribal FPO, Maheshmati Tribal FPO and Vindhavasini Kisan FPO at Mandla and Dindori regions. MSSRF also facilitated the transportation of millet processing machineries from Victor Machines Factory, Salem, Tamil Nadu, to Mandla and Dindori via Jabalpur. Each unit comprises of one set of millet de-stoner, grader and de-husker with an electric motor.
Onsite Training for FPOs: Members of Mandla Tribal FPO and Maheshmati Tribal FPO established the millet-processing unit at the existing infrastructure available with FPOs. Vindhavasini Kisan FPO purchased 1 acre of land at Kacharia in the year 2018, and the construction of the infrastructure for housing the processing unit was completed by the FPO during December 2019. A team from MSSRF visited the site for the erection of pre-cleaning and kodo and kutki millet processing units in three locations in July 2019. With the support of ASA ground staff, base erection and electrification has been completed. MSSRF staff also visited Podi and Shagar in Mandla and provided full-fledged hands-on training to the FPOs on fitting, maintenance and operating.
Stakeholder Meet and Value Addition and Market Development Orientation Training: In December 2019, the MSSRF team convened a 3-day onsite final visit and interacted with the FPO and other stakeholders in three locations. A 1-day training programme on value addition, cooking demonstration, quality control, packaging and market orientation was jointly organized with ASA and other state stakeholders in Mandla. There was representation from Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), District Agriculture office, Quality Control Department, Women and Child Development Department, other NGOs and the three FPOs.
201.5 Kolli Hills Agri-Bioresource Producer Company Ltd
The Kolli Hills Agri-Bioresource Producer Company Ltd (KHABPCOL) was established in 2016 and has a current membership of 583 tribal farm families. During the reporting period, KHABPCOL received an equity grant of Rs 5.83 lakhs, which is equivalent to its paid-up share capital from SFAC (Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium) during 2019. This helped to expand the company’s business activities.
Credit Facilities through NABKISAN: As part of credit linkage, the KHABPOCOL accessed Rs 2490000 through NABKISAN. Of this amount, Rs 1500000 has been leveraged as working capital to increase the business turnover with a repayment period of 12 months and Rs 990000 received as term loan for dairy farming by individual members with a repayment period of 30 months. The FPO initiated a rural mart at Solakkadu in Kolli Hills with the financial support of NABARD in January 2020 to link agricultural products with mainstream markets. These facilities have enabled the company to achieve an annual turnover of about Rs 1000000 during 2019–20.
During the year, 11.6 tons of pepper, 17 tons of green pepper, 61.9 tons of mango, 1.65 tons of millets, 2 kg of clove, 10000 pineapple saplings, 14.25 tons of tamarind, 12.68 tons of bio-inputs, 46 tons of pineapple, 3.47 tons of cashewnut, 26.41 tons of coffee and 35.5 tons of banana were procured from the members for primary processing and sale. The annual turnover of the FPO was Rs 681294 during 2017–18, Rs 3112430 during 2018–19 (357 per cent increase) and Rs 10262860 during 2019–20 (230 per cent increase). Accounts for 2018–19 were audited and the returns filed. The net income of the company was Rs 864200 as of 31 March 2020.
201.6 Farmer-Led Extension Strategy for Enhancing Farmers’ Income through the Millet-Based Farming System in Hilly and Tribal Areas
A new project was initiated with the support of the National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF) and jointly implemented with the IIMR in Kolli Hills and Koraput, Odisha. The project has the following objectives: (i) identifying millet farmer facilitators (MFFs) and studying their characteristics to perform effective extension services in hilly and tribal areas; (ii) empowering MFFs through group approach, on-farm training and mobile-based information and communication technologies (ICTs) for enhancing the income of millet farmers; (iii) strengthening decision-making of millet farmers and introducing suitable millet-based farming systems comprising of millet intercropping, livestock and beekeeping for livelihood security of millet farmers; and (iv) assessing the effectiveness of MFFs and devising ways and avenues for extension services and identifying the characteristics of MFFs desired by millets farmers in hilly and tribal areas. To initiate the project in Kolli Hills, two awareness meetings were conducted at Palapadi and Aleripatty hamlets to explain the project objectives to farm families. A total of 64 farmers (male: 34; female: 30) attended the meeting. The project team initiated a discussion on the concept of MFF and floated the idea to see the farmers’ reaction to the concept. Following the community-level meeting, cluster-level participatory identification of MFFs has been carried out by the project team. More systematic methods will be followed for the identification of MFFs based on the guidelines of IIMR and will be implemented prior to the kharif 2020 sowing season. In Koraput, awareness meetings were organized in three project villages, namely, Bagraguda, Talalimka and Aminguda. In these meetings, the objectives of the project activities and project deliverables were discussed with village leaders and SHG members and 48 men and 36 women participated. Occupation-wise needs analysis was done in villages and discussion about identification of MFFs initiated.