CCAFS Climate-Smart South Asia Agriculture Learning ... April... · Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and CGIAR Research Program on Water,

April 2018 | CSALP South Asia Quarterly Newsletter | Issue 17

CCAFS Climate-Smart Agriculture Learning Platform, South Asia

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Government of India announces a multi-billion dollar scheme for solarizing farm irrigation on the lines of the Dhundi SPICE model

Solar pump irrigators’ cooperative in Gujarat hits a home run

Tushaar Shah (IWMI)

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CSALP South Asia, Quarterly Newsletter | 3

The government of India announced the multi-billion dollar KUSUM (Farmers Energy Security and Uplift Campaign)

scheme this year which aims to solarize the rural irrigation space, an area, in which prodigious contribution has been made by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). With this scheme, the government plans to start building 10,000 megawatt solar plants on barren lands, providing 1.75 million off-grid agricultural solar pumps. It envisions a sharp rise in farmers’ income levels as they will be given an option to sell surplus power generated to the local power distribution companies (DISCOM).This model has drawn inspiration from a farmers’ cooperative story that began in 2015 in a cloistered village called Dhundi, in the state of Gujarat.

‘Spicing Dhundi’s’ farm irrigation

It was in 2015 that researchers from IWMI and CCAFS with support from WLE and Tata Trust set up the first ever solar pump irrigator’s cooperative (SPICE) in Dhundi Village of Gujarat. The group was organized into a platform and offered 7.5-10.8 kWp (Kilo-watt-peak) capacity solar irrigation pumps which were connected to each other in a micro-grid. The cooperative members provided around 5% of the capital cost of the solar panels, pumps and micro grid with the rest being subsidized by the project.

Further, a 25-year power purchase agreement was drawn with the local electricity utility i.e. the Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL). The latter offered the cooperative a feed-in-tariff of USD 0.07/kWh (kilo-watt-hour) for evacuating their surplus solar power to the electricity grid. This tariff is supplemented from IWMI-Tata funds by IWMI-CCAFS with an additional USD 0.02/kWh ‘Green Energy Bonus’ and USD 0.02/kWh ‘Groundwater Conservation Bonus’, taking the total tariff up to USD 0.11/kWh.

Visible benefits capturing imaginations

Since the inception of the first sale in May 2016, the total units of surplus power sold to the local distribution company till date stands at approximately 98,000 kWh and is slated to cross the 100,000 margin very soon. Till date, the cooperative has accrued for itself a cumulative income of USD 7655 from the sale of surplus power to the DISCOM, inspiring more farmers to join. Benefit for the government has come in the sense of relief from farm power subsidy, a complex issue in the rural hinterlands of the country. The element of sustainability of the model has been laced with ‘climate-smartness’ as carbon dioxide emissions from the site has been reduced by 56.5 tons. Infact, the potential for selling off surplus power has promoted measured withdrawal and application of water. Further, changes in land use has been seen with farmers having installed solar panels at an elevation, allowing the cultivation of shade loving crops and thereby reducing the land footprint of solar expansion.

These multiple benefits of the SPICE model had not escaped the notice of stakeholders, especially the state policy makers who not only made several visits to the site, but also felicitated the cooperative members, taking their example as a point of reference to be scaled out to other parts of the state. Encouraged by the early support by the state government of Gujarat, the IWMI team engaged in a dialogue with the Finance Minister during pre-budget consultations with experts in the agriculture sector, to elaborate on the benefits of this model on scaling. The Dhundi model was also presented to the Prime Minister in a consultation with eminent economists organized by Niti Ayog (principle policy think tank of government of India) in January 2018. Thus, announcement of KUSUM has been a point of validation for the IWMI-CCAFS researchers but it remains to be seen how effectively this vision is materialized to benefit millions of farmers in the country.

Mansi Nagpal and Arun Khatri-Chhetri (CCAFS SA)

Building resilient agriculture to climate change and variabilities requires improving farmers’ access to climate-smart agricultural technologies, practices and services at the local level

Improving farmers’ access to climate-smart agricultural technologies

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In many locations of India, its tribal population continues to live in the fringes of forest and agricultural lands and are

highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. One such location is Betul, a district in Madhya Pradesh which is predominantly a tribal district with extremely low Human Development Index and limited development in agriculture. Highly dependent on rainfall for irrigation and use of conventional agricultural practices, the communities here suffer from low agrarian productivity and income. Limited information to weather risks further expose these farmers to production risks. The situation is made more difficult due to continued dependence of farmers on traditional knowledge relating to weather for making critical agriculture decisions that is often inadequate to mitigate risks at the time of distresses.

As part of a project initiative by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), steps have been taken to improve the access of farmers to extension and advisory services that can supply agro-meteorological information while making the farms resilient on the whole through the extension of climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices.

ICT based agro-advisory services

To connect farmers with exhaustive information, farmers are enrolled in IIFCO Kisan Sanchar (IKSL)-a voice based farmer’s advisory service using information and communication technologies (ICT) to provide them with localized tailor-made solutions. They are widely used even by the government to spread weather advisories relating to droughts, floods etc. By now 1200 farmers have been enrolled in Betul district and receive information and advisory on crops, livestock, weather and government schemes through a pre-recorded message through voice call as well as text message. However, some regions face total breakdown of such extension services due to poor penetration of mobile phones and weak connectivity and network in the area.

The valuable information of IKSL that does not get communicated to farmers in certain villages within the project area is being disseminated through loudspeakers in those villages. Out of 38 project villages in Betul district, 26 villages have loudspeakers to bridge the information divide in these areas. The information provided is critical for the farmers’ for making strategic agriculture practice decisions and ability to take precautionary actions as a response to increased variability of weather patterns.

Insurance drive

High vulnerability of farmers to production risks in agriculture simulates the implementation of large-scale insurance programs in the country. Despite huge investments in crop insurance, its coverage is low in the project district. Here, IKSL is providing information to farmers for crop insurance including but not limited to crops covered, sum insured, premium payable, subsidies available, important dates for enrollment among others. In the project villages of Betul, awareness enhancement programs regarding insurance has been conducted to generate know-how regarding benefits of crop insurance to increase their enrollment in the government’s ongoing agriculture insurance program. Through this drive, large number of farmers have been enrolled in crop insurance schemes thus, ensuring their credit eligibility for the next season in case of crop loss due to natural catastrophes.

Improved seeds and breeds

Tribal communities are currently practicing conventional and subsistence farming characterized by low cropping intensity, high labour requirements and stagnant cropping patterns. At the beginning of the project, it was found that these tribal communities used very old indigenous seeds inherited from their ancestors. This project has promoted seed replacement with new, resilient and high yielding crop varieties. Animal husbandry is another key farming activity in the project areas. However, current livestock (particularly cow, buffalo and goat) are indigenous breeds with low productivity. Therefore, livestock breed improvement that are stress resilient, was conceived as an important factor for livelihood sustainability. Furthermore, the project includes various measures to improve livestock productivity through fodder tree plantation and cultivation, feed supplementation and animal health services. Livestock improvement is being undertaken with local partner BAIF Development Research Foundation which aims to transform dairy cattle development program into a self-sustainable model having provided breeding and other support services to over 5.26 million families across 13 states in India

In conjunction, these practices are aiming towards a comprehensive improvement in the agrarian scenario of the project location where indigenous knowledge systems of its population are further processed and smartened to withstand the climatic challenges.

Making rice cultivation climate-smart in Bangladesh

DS Rana, JK Ladha, Sheetal Sharma, JC Biswas and MM Haque (IRRI)

A project undertaken to ensure livelihood and food security through improvements in rice cultivation in the climate affected areas of Bangladesh

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Rice is the dominant crop of Bangladesh and a key component of the population’s diet. Bangladesh

comprises of the world’s second largest per capita consumers of rice at 200 kg/year. However, recently rice growth rate is reported to have declined which is believed to be due to deteriorating natural resources in the region, poor crop and soil management practices and changing climate particularly changes in rainfall pattern and increasing temperature. Particularly problematic are drought during transplanting time, heat stresses, increase in pest infestations and floods during early growth period.

Climate action through collaborations

Considering the uncertainties associated with changes in rainfall and temperature, it is imperative to continually develop climate change adaptation programs that are customized for selected locations and climatic conditions. With support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), a project has been undertaken since 2015-16 titled “Developing and defining Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices portfolios in South Asia” with International Rice Research Institute(IRRI) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) in partnership at different locations in Bangladesh. This project is intended to achieve a threefold objective: to identify, develop and refine Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAP) related to rice based systems; generate database/information system for development of typologies and recommendation domains, and; involve in cross cutting activities including gender, monitoring and evaluations, and capacity strengthening.

Rice based CSAPs and early results

Some of the rice-based interventions directly and indirectly related to CSA practices being implemented in Bangladesh are, Direct Seeded Rice for reducing tillage, change in cropping pattern (rice-mustard-rice, rice-mustard-maize, rice-mustard jute), Integrated Pest Management, Alternate Wetting and Drying technique, Seedling Management, Drought and Flood resilient varieties among others. These have been undertaken in CCAFS’s Climate-Smart Villages that provide the platform for the application and testing of such technologies and practices to gauze and assess the impact of the interventions.

Some of the key results that can be summarized are reduction of emissions from rice cultivation along with higher yields and resultant higher farm income. A rice variety called BRRI dhan62 was introduced which helped crop intensification and reduction of methane (CH4) emissions measured through tools such as the Cool Farm Tool (COT) Beta-3 and Mitigation Option Tool (MOT) that helps determine total GHG, global warming potential and net ecosystem carbon budget. It was found that grain yield varied among selected and non-selected farms wherein yield in selected farmer plots with CSAP’s was 4.01 tonnes per hectare as opposed to that of the non-selected farms with a yield of 3.65 tonnes per hectare. Further, yield variability could be attributed to a wide prevalence of blast disease in paddy which was controlled through IPM techniques in select farms. In combination, these practices along with fertilizer management practices helped in enhancing overall farm productivity and therefore, farm income by an additional USD 181/ha as compared to those of the non-selected farmers.

Challenges and opportunities ahead

Notwithstanding the early successes there remains some critical challenges that need redress such as poor agriculture related infrastructure relating to technologies, services, inputs and markets in vulnerable regions. Limited capital availability for investment in agriculture further constrains investments in adaptation options such as establishment of demand-based climate information services. A further obstacle is the gap in science-policy dialogue or mismatch between science and policy.

However, optimism can be derived from the fruitful collaborations and partnerships that are leading to result oriented changes in the climate affected agrarian lands of Bangladesh. The IRRI-BRRI collaboration has led to practical innovations such as machine based practices (new transplanting machines and techniques), development of new rice varieties like BRRI dhan70, BRRI dhan71, BRRI dhan72 and BRRI dhan75 among others. For scaling beyond local levels, cross field visits and trainings in best and climate-smart management practices for farmers of project sites are being undertaken. The expected deliverable outcome from the project will be policy recommendations with the hope for scaling up and out of the CSAPs in the coastal areas for enhancing livelihood and food security in a climatically threatened Bangladesh.

Index Based Flood Insurance; promising tool for saving livelihoods

Giriraj Amarnath (IWMI) and Shehnab Sahin (CCAFS SA)

The government of Bihar expresses interest in scaling Index Based Flood Insurance for magnified benefits

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The traditional approach of reactivity and response towards disaster management is becoming increasingly

redundant, calling for an overhaul of approach to incline heavily towards preparedness. In the age of advance science and technology, we have at our disposal, its various beneficial manifestations, one such being satellite imagery that has been intelligently manoeuvred by scientists from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for planning disaster relief operations and aiding in the process of preparedness.

Harnessing latest technology for providing safety nets

One of the ways to improve the lives of the flood affected farmers in Bihar has been identified as that which would provide a safety net to farmers over crop losses, particularly the Index Based Flood Insurance Scheme (IBFI). Conceived by IWMI with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and in collaboration with the CGIAR Program on Land, Water and Ecosystems (WLE), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AICI) and Swiss Re, a leading global reinsurer— IBFI was successfully piloted with 200 farm households in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. IBFI enables insurers to provide compensation to flood-affected households quickly, particularly during localized and mid-season flooding events, ensuring timely access to finance for smallholder famers, which helps them utilize residual soil moisture to produce crops before the next crop season.

The application of latest science and technology in the modelling techniques using satellite data has added further credibility to IBFI design. Remote sensing data and simulation modelling were used to provide regular updates on flooding to the Emergency Operation Centre of the Disaster Management Department in support of relief operations and damage assessment. The scheme also takes into account vulnerable women as index insurance helps women with income stabilization in the event of unseasonal rain, thereby, breaking away from the cycle of poverty.

Successful piloting in Bihar

For this pilot, the AICI agreed to pay out money to farmers based on scientific data indicating the actual depth and duration of flood waters in the paddy fields, which in its initial stage covered rice crops for the 2017 monsoon season. Within the pilot area, floods had affected 36,620 hectares of paddy, primarily around two villages, Madhurpatti and Bhatgaon.

The insurance product here was fully subsidized with support from CCAFS and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (Japan). In order to avoid delays, the premium payments were being made by the project on behalf of the farmers, for a total insured value of USD 70,700.Out of the beneficiaries, 14 farmers who suffered total crop loss, received the full insured amount of approximately USD 310, while other farmers received between USD 215 to USD 107 depending on the extent of their crop losses.

Furthering dialogue with policy makers

The success of the pilot has opened the route for furthering discussions with policy makers regarding its scaling. In fact, the aforesaid farmer pay outs were done through a program organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research which was attended and inaugurated by the Agriculture Minister of the government of India. Money was transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts which also adds further fillip to the nations vision for financial inclusion of its marginal communities. The potential of technology backed IBFI to improve and secure the lives of millions of farmers has not been lost on the Ministry of Agriculture that has expressed interest to discuss the scheme in more depth. In the incipient stage of discussions, it suggested for the scheme to be an associated part of the on-going Prime Ministers’ Crop Insurance Scheme which is India’s flagship crop insurance program, significantly lowering the premium burden of the farmers. It further proposed for the scheme to be taken up by large insurance companies to be implemented in larger districts of Bihar. The World Bank is another major stakeholder that expressed its interest in scaling IBFI in other flood hit districts across east India.

Of journeys to the field

Nitya Chanana, Arun Khatri-Chhetri and Kunal Pandey (CCAFS SA)

Development partners visit a Climate-Smart Village in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh

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The research for development system is supported by a collaborative network of development partners working

in conjunction to achieve common aims. Among them, agencies such as donor agencies play a major role in bringing technologies and research to the field as well as in scaling them up and out. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in South Asia has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to scale out the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) approach in India. The project which began in 2016 aims to build climate resilient agricultural systems through the promotion of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) technologies and practices in a cluster of 75 villages across Betul (Madhya Pradesh), Nalanda (Bihar) and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) districts in India.

Lessons from the field

A field visit to Betul was organised for the USAID team in March, to observe the project’s interventions in the farms, meet farmers and their groups to know about their experience, and monitor the project implementation against the work plan. A comprehensive set of CSV activities was showcased including technological interventions in the farms, interaction with farmers, as well as meetings with the government officials and private partners. The visit was organized by CCAFS in collaboration with BAIF Development Research Foundation.

The field visit entailed a demonstration of agricultural and livestock based CSA interventions by the women super-champion farmers (identified based on possession of resource rich large landholding size and capacity to influence other farmers in the village) in two different villages. These super-champion farmers are leading the project activities by heading their respective Village Climate Management Committees (VCMCs).These included climate resilient housing for cattle, biogas, vermicomposting preparation, integrated nutrient management, fodder development plots and use of improved seeds. Vegetable plot of ridge guard and bitter guard with earthen pot drip and mulching, water resource development plan, Non-Pesticidal Management (NPM) were some of the additional CSA practices being promoted in the villages with vegetable cultivation. The

guests also witnessed an NPM training session that is given to female farmers as part of the capacity building initiatives of the project. The farmers also discussed about the mobile phone based climate information and agro-advisory as well as crop insurance that they have received.

Several Custom Hiring Centers, run by women groups, have been formed as part of the project’s technology access and dissemination strategies. A visit to one of the centers informed the visitors about the project’s group-based initiatives. Portable and easy to use CSA technologies such as sprinkler set, portable solar pump (1HP), seed mixer, and manual wheat harvester are being promoted among the female group members as well as other farmers who want to hire them for a small fee.

Constructive convergence and partnerships

A donor and policy makers meeting was organized to facilitate a dialogue towards building constructive convergence. The team met with local policy makers who emphasized on the convergence of various government schemes with the project activities and expressed interest in scaling up of the interventions to other villages. The private partners on the other hand, highlighted their active engagement and role in scaling up some of the activities in the project location.

One of the major project activities is the creation of platforms for knowledge and information sharing between the project beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. In sync with this, a farmers’ fair was organized around the time of the visit that saw a participation of over 2000 local farmers, both project beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. The fair being organized on the 8th of March, added for itself a celebration of International Women’s Day. CCAFS celebrated the occasion by felicitating the project’s 25 ‘Super-Champion’ women farmers in the district. Field visits and experience sharing by the super-champions demonstrated the ongoing CSV activities and its benefits to other farmers. The event included several experience sharing sessions, technology demonstration stalls as well as local cultural shows for the audience. Government officials along with private partners also took part to highlight their role in the CSV building process.

About CCAFS

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is a research initiative seeking to overcome the threats to agriculture and food security in a changing climate. CCAFS invests in research to address the crucial tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture, and food security and works to promote more adaptable and resilient agriculture and food systems in five focus regions: South Asia,Southeast Asia, West Africa, East Africa and Latin America. CCAFS work is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these organizations.

The CCAFS South Asia Office is hosted by:Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), New Delhi, Indiahttps://ccafs.cgiar.org/regions/south-asia

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CCAFS Climate-Smart South Asia Agriculture Learning ... April... · Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and CGIAR Research Program on Water,