Project: Integrated farming and Eco-Friendly Agriculture for economic and environment security for women and marginalized community.
Area: 6 Villages of Fanda Block of Bhopal District, MP
Target Group: 200 Women Farmers
Objectives of Project: The projects would intervene with 200 farmers in the district of Bhopal and seek to achieve enhanced family incomes by Rs.6,000-10,000 for 60% of participant women (including money value of enhanced food sufficiency) through

• Crop intensification of wheat and gram and diversification into commercial vegetable farming

• Multi-cropping including long-tenure plantations of fruit trees and timber plants in 300 ha as Agro horticulture and Agro forestry
Sponsor Agency: United Spirits Limited (USL- CSR Initiatives)

Programme Activity and outcome:
Building Institutional Capacity: Formation and development of village level and cluster level Women Farmers federations; federate the cluster level federations with block level apex body/ federation. According to the geographic situation 6 village level organizations and 2 cluster level federations will be formed. Also to, develop and establish system and procedures related to admin, accounts, HR, development of business plans and its implementation, statutory compliance and overall institution building.
Cadre development: In form of Community Resource Persons (CRP) and build their capacities – Progressive women farmers are identified by intensive community exercises. These Community Resource Persons will be capacitated through intensive trainings along with exposure visits with a vision to strengthen their agriculture practices and enhance their capabilities as a community trainer for enhancement of sustainable agriculture practices. It is targeted to develop 12 CRPs to scale up the impact of the project.
Promotion of sustainable Agriculture practices: 6 Farm Schools will be established and equipped with training and education material and Soil testing facilities with demonstrations of drudgery reduction, vermi compost, FYM and bio pesticides. The women farmers will get knowledge and exposure at village level. Training and Education on sustainable agriculture practices will be the focused area. Land and Water Management, Integrated Nutrient Management, Integrated Pest Management, General Problem Management related to agriculture will be the key aspects. SMS based extension services for women farmers to access information on weather, cropping practices and market rates etc. Soil testing, analysis and recommendations Seed Security program – promote local seed preservation practices Vermi compost and Farm Yard Manure – Promotion of balance between organic and inorganic agri inputs Farmers Diary – Technical guidance to the farmers. Agriculture based livelihood interventions such as – trial and demonstration of good agriculture practices, replacement of varieties, use of bio-fertilizer, crop spacing, kitchen vegetable garden etc.
Project Outcome: The Project activities will focus on effective delivery mechanism by making concerted efforts. The major outcomes of the Project envisaged as under: Economic: Increased Agriculture productivity in tune of 50 % to the present level of each family. Food security will be ensured to the 100% for the targeted families along with increase in their nutrition level. This will introduce innovative ideas to improve the income alternatives among women farmers. Market linkage for the backward and forward integration will be ensured with competitive market along with management of integrated pest, fertilizer and water would result in 30-40% savings / gain at each farmer’s level. There will be sub-sector development for agriculture like, seed production, organic fertilizer production, aggregation of produce and primary processing, animal husbandry, etc. All these will contribute to energize the local economy for multiplier effect.
Social Impact: Capacitated women farmers groups at village level and women led apex organization will lead the project initiatives and will carry lots of collective bargaining power. The project would increase the recognition and dignity of women farmers. The improved knowledge and adoption of modern technologies which will decrease the drudgeries and hardship of the women farmers which led these women farmers to more focus for their children education and other developmental activities. This will be resulted in terms of reduction in migration, food security; nutritional security, etc. will strengthen the women and contribute to improve their strategic role in agriculture. Environmental – Introduction of improved technologies of agronomy and its adoption will ultimately enhance the soil and environment positively. Reduce in use of water, recommended doses of fertilizers and chemicals, use of biological fertilizers and biological control measures for pests and diseases will have positive impact on soils and environment.