Increasing population and growing industrialisation
are posing serious threat to our environmental safety
and accelerating the process of global warming and
climate change. This has a direct impact on 75% of
the rural people in India, who are unable to earn their
livelihood, due to small and fragmented land
holdings, declining land productivity, depleting
forests, inefficient use of water resources and
increasing number of unproductive livestock. Hence,
protection of environment and biodiversity is an integral part of food security and employment generation.
This is ensured through farmers' participation in conservation of natural resources and adoption of ecofriendly
farming for improving their agricultural production.
| BAIF in Conservation of Natural Resources |
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Land, water, forests and livestock are the major natural resources which provide employment and food security to rural population. However, as the productivity of these resources has been heavily eroded, BAIF promoted various innovative approaches to ensure sustainable development, while improving their productivity.
Dairy Husbandry : India hosts 20% of the world's livestock population. A majority of the rural poor is dependent on livestock for their livelihood, but over 75% of cattle and buffaloes being low yielders, they are not economically viable. As the demand for milk and other animal products is likely to double in the next two decades, dairy husbandry is being promoted through genetic improvement of cattle and buffaloes, using superior germplasm and providing other support services at the doorsteps of small farmers. The female calves born under the programme come into milk production within 30-40 months and yield 2000- 3000 kg of milk/lactation. Rural families maintaining 2-3 such cows are able to come out of poverty. With high yielding animals which are valued at Rs. 30,000 to 40,000, these farmers tend to reduce their herd size and adopt stall feeding. Such a practice has been helpful in reducing the pressure on natural vegetation and emission of green house gases. Stall feeding which enables the farmers to collect 200 to 300% additional dung, has been motivating them to install biogas plants and take up organic farming.
Landless, small holders and
women-headed families in rural areas are dependent on
goat husbandry for their food security. However, the
returns from goats have been steeply declining due to
neglect of breeding, feeding and health care practices,
forcing the goat keepers to increase the herd size further,
and thereby creating pressure on biodiversity. To
overcome this problem, an eco-friendly goat development
programme has been promoted through formation of goat
keepers' groups, use of superior bucks for genetic improvement, regular deworming and vaccination,
supplementary feeding and organised marketing to realise better prices. The programme emphasises on
reduction of herd size by imposing regular culling, controlled grazing and stall feeding. The programme
implemented in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra has helped more than 20,000 families
to enhance their income by 2-3 folds without increasing the goat population.
Community Pasture Development : About 5-10% of the village
area is reserved for community pastures to facilitate production
of fodder, but most of these lands, devoid of forage, are
accelerating soil erosion and runoff of rain water. To conserve
this precious resource, BAIF has initiated the promotion of
silvipastural development in Rajasthan and Gujarat, through soil
and water conservation, introduction of forage species and
protection by involving the community. The participant families
harvest the grass for equal sharing among themselves. This
programme, spread over 3000 ha in 80 villages, is able to provide
4-6 tons of fodder/ha annually, while improving the biodiversity,
ground water table and microclimate.
Conservation of Water Resources : Agricultural productivity and quality of rural life are closely linked with
access to water resources. However, in the absence of awareness and action for conserving the water
resources, farmers particularly those living in unirrigated areas, have been suffering heavily due to crop
failures and unavailability of clean drinking water. While about 25% of the villages are not assured of yearround
water supply, about 75% of the water consumed by rural population, does not meet the WHO
standards of quality, which accelerates the spread of water-borne
diseases and hardships to women.
BAIF has introduced various approaches such as excavation of farm
ponds, contour bunding, gully plugging, formation of percolation tanks,
rainwater harvesting, lift irrigation, revival of natural springs, group wells
and establishment of shelter belts using nitrogen fixing tree species,
which have helped farmers to enhance their agricultural production by
30-35% while promoting biodiversity and supply of clean drinking water.
Integrated Farming Systems :
As more than 35% of the total land area in the country is under neglect and
sub-optimally utilised while accelerating soil erosion and flooding of rivers, various farming systems have
been promoted through active participation of local communities.
With the objective of promoting multipurpose tree species on degraded
lands, Salvador type subabul was introduced by BAIF in the late 70's.
Subabul being a multipurpose fast growing tree species useful for
fodder, fuel, timber and pulp, with ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen
and tolerate drought, it has now become popular across the country.
Extensive studies have been conducted to select different multipurpose
tree species for diverse agro-climatic conditions and seed production of
elite genotypes has been undertaken to popularise afforestation on
marginal and wastelands as an income generation activity.
Agri-Horti-Forestry on Hilly Terrains :
This programme, popularly known as wadi, has been
promoted for rehabilitation of tribal families in
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh by enabling each family to develop
orchard on 0.4 ha. This has ensured food security, safe
drinking water, community health, educational
facilities and prevented migration. In this process, the
inhabitants have also realised the importance of
conserving natural forests to enhance the productivity
of their farms. Thus, the programme has been
successfully conserving the fragile ecosystem while
enabling the native communities to live a better quality of life.
Eco-friendly Farming : Use of chemicals in agriculture being
a major problem of environmental pollution, apart from
high cost and risk, eco-friendly practices such as green
manuring, organic mulching, application of biofertilisers,
vermicompost, biopesticides and biofungicides are
promoted through various programmes.
Industrial Greenbelt Development : Based on the
experience of afforestation on wastelands, BAIF has
undertaken development of greenbelts in urban industrial
areas, using treated effluent and solid wastes. The
successful projects include NOCIL (Thane), Hindustan
Unilever Ltd. (Khamgaon), Reliance Industries (Nagothane), Gokak Mills (Gokak) and Navin Fluorine
International Ltd. (Surat). These programmes have also created greater awareness among the public and are
serving as excellent demonstrations for other industries.
