ORGANIC PADDY CULTIVATION: AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF DEVLOPMENT
“It is a miracle to have the production of 13 quintal of rice in the piece of one acre of
land. It is an unbelievable success of our initiative of organic farming for rice Production
through SRI method .....” says Smt Ashabai Bhadake a member of Samrudhhi Self Help
Group, Devada village, Pombhurna block, Chandrapur district. There is an overwhelming
response of more than 500 members of SHGs who are delighted with the success of organic
farming activity for rice cultivation in Chandrapur district. This brings us to a successful
pilot of “Organic Farming of Paddy” in the district of Chandrapur, State Maharashtra.
Rationale:
Chandrapur is one of the remote tribal district of Maharashtra situated in the
eastern part of the state. The district is based on agro economy and paddy is prime Crop in
area. The trend of traditional agriculture having larger dependency rainfall is always a
major issue of concern. It has been also observed that lack of use of advanced technology
for agro production is also causing to no reasonable increase in income. The women who
are the member of SHGs one not able to repay the SHG loans as seasonality affecting
agricultural production to a great extent.
With a study of existing situation, Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) under
Tejaswini Maharashtra Rural Women Empowerment Programme initiated a pilot program
of “Organic farming for Paddy cultivation’ in convergence with Agricultural Technology
Management Agency (ATMA) of Agriculture Department; Food Security Campaign (Central
Govt. scheme) Dist. Chandrapur, State Maharashtra. The primary objectives of this initiate
is to improve the income of the poor women farmers especially marginal farmers by
enhancing the paddy production.
The key features of the initiative are as follows:
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To supplement the traditional method of following with advanced technology of SRI
method.
To focus on organic farming to improve the quality of production and soil.
To curtail the cost of production with the use of advanced methods for farming
activities.
To reduce the drudgery of women farmers with the use of modern equipment for
agro activities.
Area:
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18 villages of Chandrapur, Gondpimpari, Pombhurna blocks in Chandrapur district.
It includes 715 women of 87 SHGs from above mentioned villages.
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Main Activities during the pilot:
Community consultation to create awareness & seek consultation to identify the size of land
holding, production capacity and income earned.
Soil Testing was part of training. To
know the nutrient & micro nutrients of
the soil and how organic fertilizers
replenishes it.
Formation of Primary Producer Groups (PPGs)
Providing training to selected SHG members who were willing to join this activity on Organic
Farming.
Seed Treatment demonstration given
by Agricultural Technology
Management Agency (ATMA).
Developing community nurseries.
Providing training to selected SHG members on “SRI Method” as a TOT followed by training to
all members by agriculture department. They also gave training on risk management.
The SHG members who joined this pilot project were provided with the modern
equipment’s for various farm activities along with crop insurance facility. The pilot has
taken care to establish the storage room at village level with support from NABARD.
NABARD has also supported for providing training on packaging, marketing to SHG
members.
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The outcome of the pilot project is summarized as below:
Productivity expected was 8 to 12 quintal paddy per acre. The total production of 6500
quintal rice was sold @ Rs. 50/- per Kg whereas the market rate is up to Rs. 25/- per Kg.
In SRI method 3 kg seeds are required per acre instead of 10 kg. Seeds per acre.
As the crop
transplantation needs
to be done in a
compact area of 25 x
25 cm, it saves time &
labor.
Earlier 6/7 labors needed to deploy their efforts for around 4/5 days, however with the
use of SRI Method around 3 labors are needed to work for max. 2 days.
Pilot has advocated
for use of Vermi
compost and herbal
pesticides instead of
chemicals & fertilizers
which is again a
economic way as it is
costing Rs. 500/- per
acre instead of
Rs.1200/-.
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The use of Cono
Weeder is seems to
be useful in saving
time in farm related
activities and also to
reduce drudgery of
women by reducing
health hazards such
as back pain, shoulder
pain etc.
The use of vermi compost has improved the quality of the soil with enhanced level of
moisture in it
Major Achievements:
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MAVIM converged with agriculture department’s Agricultural Technology
Management Agency (ATMA) & Food Security Campaign to promote organic paddy
cultivation.
Total 565 acre area was covered under paddy cultivation and total production
reported was 6500 quintals.
Production cost is reduced from Rs. 12 thousand to 4 to 5 thousand per acre.
Reduced the drudgery of women up to 40 % in the paddy cultivation.
The training method was demonstrative therefore the male participation was
increased along with women.
With the relevant training articles group assets are formed and it promoted to the
group business.
Future Plan:
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In next phase another 2100 women from 57 villages of the 10 blocks will
participate.
After production women are facing the problem of paddy storage. For that MAVIM
was submitted proposal to NABARD for the construction of storage godown.
MAVIM is planning for the Rice Mill Unit for women with convergence of Agriculture
department.
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Now women sales paddy at local market. We will be planning for the organic hand
pounded rice branding as well as organic rice branding.
In next phase area under organic paddy cultivation will be increased to 600 acres &
165 women are likely to join the programme.
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