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Promotion of Sustainable Livelihoods

Of small and marginal farmers

with a focus on

women’s empowerment

in Nawada and Purnea district of Bihar

Submitted to

INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION PROJECT

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNIT

KrishiAnusandhanBhawan-II, Pusa Campus

New Delhi 110 012

Submitted By:

Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd, BASIX

BIHAR

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 4

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 9

2. Base Line Livelihood Scenario ............................................................................ 13

3. Project Objectives and Components ................................................................... 15

4. Brief of Project Implementation Agency & their key role ................................ 16

5. Implantations strategy Implementation Arrangements .................................. 17

6. Technologies introduced by NAIP, BSFL (BASIX) ............................................ 19

7. Impact of the project .............................................................................................. 27

8. Social & Environmental Measures ...................................................................... 31

9. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 31

Annexure 1: Aagle Janam Mujhe Bitia Hi Kijo ........................................................ 34

Annexure 3: Fund Utilization Status of the Project ................................................. 37

Annexure 4: Output of the Project ............................................................................. 38

Annexure 4: Output of the Project ............................................................................. 38

Annexure 5: Cost Benefit Analysis of Onion cultivation ......................................... 39

Annexure 6: Cost Benefit Analysis of backyard poultry .. Error! Bookmark not defined.

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Acknowledgement

We as a BASIX are extremely happy on successful completion of NAIP project

under component 3 and remain thankful to ICAR and all consortium partners

for their generous efforts’ with respect to training, seed procurement,

unconditional services etc. toward making it a great success. We as a BASIX

remain hopeful that all the beneficiaries who so over get benefitted with our

service will replicate this to others and contribute toward the healthy Indian

economy.

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Executive Summary

The National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) under its component 3 (SRLS)

focuses on livelihoods security of the rural poor. BASIX led consortium implemented the

NAIP funded project in two backward and vulnerable districts of Bihar namely Nawada

and Purnea, with an aim to improve the livelihoods of the poor primarily women through

productivity improvement in agriculture and livestock. The consortium comprises of the

following organizations with Bharatiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd (BSFL) as the

Consortium Lead:

List of Consortium partners

Sr.No Name of Consortium Partner Parent Organization Type of Organization

1. Bharatiya Samruddhi

Financial Ltd

Basix Company

2. IARI Research Station , Pusa ICAR Government of India

3. Krishi Vigyan Kendra ,

Nawada

ICAR NGO

4 RAU &Krishi Vigyan Kendra,

Purnea

RAU Rajendra Agricultural

university

5 Patna Animal Development

Pvt. Ltd

Dr S K Sinha Trust Private Trust

6 Women Development

Corporation

Social Welfare

Department

Government of Bihar

Five clusters were selected for intervention under NAIP after systematic scrutiny of

livelihood portfolio of the communities in Nawada and Purnea districts.

The NAIP project aimed at the following objectives:

• To develop and strengthen sustainable institutions of the poor with a special

focus on women.

• To strengthen the livelihood of poor households through productivity

enhancement and cost reduction in kharif and summer paddy and dairy sub

sector.

• To facilitate market linkage of small and marginal producers to local as well as

national market.

• To provide linkages with main stream financial institutions and making available

saving, credit, and insurance services to the poor households.

Livelihood scenario of project area during the inception of this project is characterized

by constraints like low paddy productivity (water scarcity being a reason), unavailability

of good quality of seeds apart from lack of access to credit and other financial services as

well as inadequate extension and support services in primary sectors like agriculture &

allied sectors. Added to it, poor institutional arrangement always blocked the process of

convergence with the government schemes.

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Based on the objectives and the constraints the team identified the following

interventions:

Technology Intervention:

• System of rice/root intensification (SRI) to increase the productivity of staple

• System of wheat intensification (SWI)

• True potato Seeds (TPS)

• Commercial Cultivation of onion

• Rope making by banana Bark/Natural fibre

• Rice fish culture

• Short Cycle Fish-Species in ditches

• Paddy Seed multiplication

• Productivity enhancement in dairy

• Water resource management through sprinkler

The progress in June 2012 has been tracked to have moved ahead as per plan. A number

of significant outcomes have been achieved till the writing of this report.

Interventions Past Status Improved Status Output of the project

SRI (2000 farmers) Purnea –Average

yield of paddy 0.95

tons / ha

Purnea-Average yield of

paddy 1.80 tons / ha

100% increase in

productivity of paddy

Nawada 2.01

tons/ ha

Nawada - 3.70 tons / ha

True Potato Seed (45

farmers)

Nawada -6.17 tons

/ ha

Nawada - 6 tons / ha in

1st year and in next

season- 10 tons / ha

40-50% reduction in cost

of cultivation

50% increase in

productivity of potato

Commercial Onion

(427 farmers)

Nawada - 9.16

tons / ha

Nawada - 10.00 - 12.00

tons / ha

40-50% reduction in cost

of cultivation

50% increase in

productivity

Wheat with zero

tillage with

sprinkler (150

farmers)

Purnea - 2.15

tons / ha

Purnea- 3.00 - 5.00 tons /

ha

50% reduction in cost of

cultivation

25% increase in

productivity Nawada - 9.16

tons / ha

Nawada - 11.00 - 15.00

tons / ha

Dairy (1105 farming

families) with

productivity

enhancement

measures

Milk yield per

cattle - 2 - 5 litres /

day

Milk yield per cattle - 3 -

5 litres / day.

More than 1000 AI

250 female calves

with 7 - 10 litres / day

milk yield capacity.

Increase in household

income by Rs 10,000/

annum

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Interventions Past Status Improved Status Output of the project

Banana Bark, jute

and other natural

fibre

Living standard of

artisans

at Baisi is average

(earning around

Rs. 20 - 30 per

day).

Wage per artisan banana

bark rope making - Rs

100 / day. Wage per

weaver per working day

is Rs 150

More than 50% increase

in wage labour rate.

Past livelihood & Wages:

Rs. 30 - 50 (seasonal, about 2-3 months in a

year of employment) in agriculture, Litchi

products

Rice Fish Culture Very Low

Productivity of

0.75 tons with

high risk of loss of

crop

SHG /Federation Poor were not

properly linked

with institutions

of their own

100% project

beneficiaries linked with

SHGs and their

federation

Two collectives one each

at Purnea & Nawada to

continue working

towards the issues of

livelihoods.

Gender

Empowerment:

trainings for women,

attended also by

men

No women farmer

got proper training

in agriculture

Improved women

farmers’ decision making

in agriculture

The women farmers

trained on scientific

methods / practices to

enhance productivity and

continuously motivating

the others women from

surrounding villages to

adopt it.

The Consortium has initiated interventions along the above lines and at the end of the project phase

in June 2012 has achieved progress as per plan.

• The introduction of SRI results additional production of rice by 1.5 to 2 times more of the

average yield of paddy cultivated in traditional method. Average yield of paddy increased up to 2 to

5 ton per hectare as compared to 1 to 2 ton per hectares in conventional method followed by the

beneficiary farmers in the project area. 2211 numbers of farmers had been trained under this

project and adopted this new technology of cultivation of rice. These VRPs were trained by IARI,

RAUs on technological aspects.

• Zero tillage in wheat was introduced in the project villages of Purnea and observed the

average yield of 4.5 tons / hectares against the base line figure of 2 tons / hectares in conventional

method. Project had arranged the zero tillage machine and hand holding support to farmers through

village resource persons under the guidance of project team.

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• Principles of system of wheat intensification was introduced with 146 famers and observed the yield of 4 tons / hectare against the base line of 2 tons/ hectare. The intervention had led to drastic reduction in seed quantity by 75 % (conventionally these beneficiaries use 125 to 150 Kg wheat as seed now by adopting this principles only 25 to 40 kg seed / hectares is being used).This finally lead to reduction in cost of production of wheat in the project area. • Introduction of hybrid onion cultivation in 4 hectares with 140 women farmers of Nawada

cluster, project has observed the yield of 25 tons / hectare against the base line figure of 10 to 15

tons / hectares. This intervention has encouraged the women farmers in the project to grow onion at

as a cash crop.

• 40-50% reduction in cost of cultivation of potato is being observed in project implementing

area of Bihar. 50% increase in productivity of potato of 45 potato growing farm families by using TPS

tubers in their field. Following this success around 200 farmers from this district has adopted TPS to

grow potato in successive season.

• The experience with Artificial Insemination and health care for milch animals has also been

appreciated by farmers. The diversification into poultry with Kroiler chicks has borne good results

and is likely to increase over the coming years. More than 1000 Artificial Insemination of cattle has

been introduced under this NAIP project in Nawada and Purnea districts. There is increase in

household income by Rs 10000/ annum of 1105 farm families by adopting this service for

productivity enhancement of the cattle.

• The diversification into poultry with Kroiler chicks has borne good results and is

likely to increase over the coming years. It is observed that an average poor household

has managed to earn more than Rs 5,000 per annum from a meagre investment of Rs

350/-.

• In terms of Institutions building , the project has mobilised two producer organizations

located in Purnea ( AJeevika Purnea) and Nawada ( Ajeevika Nawada )with total membership of 3427

and these producer organizations had mobilized sustainability fund of 2.5lakhs rupees. These

producer organizations are developed as livelihood service providing institutions. These institutions

are developed but it requires a consistent support for keeping it vibrant and effective. Special focus

had been given in this project to involve women’s development corporation to give

impetus to involvement of women from the beginning in institution building, extension,

training, marketing, learning new skills etc. This ensured that the benefits of the

program were focused on the HH and just not male farmers.

• The change process was initiated through local community resource persons so as to develop

confidence of the farmers in the availability of technical support at the time of need. Substantial

investment was made in building the capacity of local resource persons as well as farmers in the field

of new technology,

• Seeing the cropping pattern, the need for less water, better productivity, BASIX in

collaboration with CIMMYT and KVK Nawada introduced a dual technique of Showing wheat using

Zero tillage technique as well as practicing the principles of SRI in wheat, known as the resource

conservation technology. This has saved 10-15 day time in sowing for Wheat and in Land preparation,

reduces the cost in land preparation by Rs600-800 per acre, saved 50 % in first irrigation and 10-15 kg

of seeds was saved by using Zero tillage machine.

• Addressing the environmental safety aspect this project adds the component in project

activities like use of vermi compost and organic fertilizer to the tune of 2000 metric ton, soil testing

of sampled 500 farmers had been done so as to guide them the balanced use of chemical fertilizer,

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introduction of IPM practices among 500 farmers and back yard poultry; designed in a way to grow

using kitchen waste.

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1. Introduction Bihar is currently reported as the fastest developing states in the country but still it is

low in most of the economic and social development parameters (like HDI, GDI,

incidence of poverty, consumption expenditure, mortality rate, literacy, access to safe

drinking water, access to formal education, life expectancy, infrastructure, poor

availability of credit for economic and livelihood activity etc.). It has among the highest

number of poor people with 42 % of the population living below the poverty line (families

of 5 having annual income less than Rs.22, 000/annum).

The composition of primary, secondary and tertiary sector in the Gross State Domestic

Product (2004-05) is 42%, 9% and 49 % respectively. The growth rate in the primary

sector in Bihar (agriculture and allied sector has been between 3.5 to 4.5 % (national

average of 2.6%). These figures indicate that for 79% of the population there is high

dependency on agriculture as a source of livelihood. This is also evident on the sectoral

distribution of main workers. The proportion of cultivators in Bihar and India stands at

29.3 and 31.7 % respectively, the corresponding %age of main workers engaged as

agricultural labourers is 48.0 and 25.6 %.

It is clear from the figures stated above that agriculture continues to be the mainstay of

the population but its productivity is among the lowest in the country. Without

increasing productivity in the agricultural sector as well as change in cropping pattern,

not much can be done to the overall growth of Bihar. It is to be noted that Bihar has the

potential to produce about 5-6 % of the total agro-based industrial products in India, and

this will enable the industrial sector in the State to become one and a half times of its

present size.

Poor social and economic infrastructure in the state has also staggered the growth in

almost all sectors in Bihar. Lack of proper road, electricity, power, irrigation, health

facilities, primary education, credit facilities coupled with a rigid feudal social and

political structure are some of the key reasons for low economic and social growth of

Bihar. The agrarian and caste ridden social structure discourages the development of

grassroots and higher order institutions of the poor.

The banking sector even with a large network of Commercial, RRBs and Cooperative

banks is unable to meet the credit requirement in the state with low CD ratio (Bihar

ranks 27th among the states in India).

Farmers profile in the project area: The base line survey report reveals that average

landholding size is 5.8 acre in all the 5 clusters. The average cultivated area is 3.0 acre.

Land Holding (Average Land Holding / Village)

(in acres)

District Cluster Landhol

ding

Cultivat

ed area

fallow

area

Waste

Land

Cultiva

ted

area

Irrigated

area

Rain

fed

area

NAWA

DA

HISUA 4.8 2.5 1.3 2.5 1.5 2.5

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The average area under irrigation is about 3.987 in all the clusters. Majority of the households

surveyed do not have any modern mechanical or modern irrigation facilities. In K.Nagar and

Baisi tube wells without electricity are the main sources of irrigation therefore surveyed

farmers had to incur expenses for buying water for irrigation.

Area ( Average – acreage / respondent / cluster)

District Cluster Irrigated area in acre

NAWADA HISUA 3.545

NAWADA NARDIGANJ 3.987

PURNEA AMOUR 4.374

PURNEA BAISI 3.989

PURNEA K.NAGAR 4.135

Thus it is clear that among other things, there is a necessity to work in the agriculture

sector in Bihar, especially for the small and marginal families. This would help in overall

development of state at a macro level whereas it would improve the overall standard of

living of the poor.

Cropping Intensity:

Cropping intensity of the sampled area is about 1.8. Two cropping annually with some

vegetable in between was found to be prevalent in the surveyed villages of Nardiganj and

Hisua cluster. In Nardignj and Hisua clusters the respondents spoke about cultivating rice

during Kharif and wheat during Rabi season. Paddy and vegetables are the main Kharif crops

in Hisua and Nardiganj clusters. Crops like wheat, mustard; Chickpea, lentil, potato, tisi etc

are grown in Rabi season by some respondents who have irrigation facilities.

The main Kharif crops of the sampled villages of Purnea are paddy, maize, jute and sun hemp,

vegetables, fruits. In the clusters of Purnia district the major Rabi crops are Wheat, Boro rice,

Lentil, Potato, Chickpea. Maize is another important crop grown in Rabi season in the

surveyed clusters of Purnia district.

NAWA

DA

NARDI

GANJ

6.5 3.3 1.2 2.0 3.3 2.5 3.3

PURN

EA

AMOU

R

5.8 3.1 1.0 1.7 3.1 2.0 3.1

PURN

EA

BAISI 5.5 3.2 1.3 1.0 3.2 1.9 3.2

PURN

EA

K.NAG

AR

4.9 2.5 1.1 1.3 2.5 1.5 2.5

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1.1 The Agriculture sector

Some of the common issues confronting the sector is tabulated below:

Obstacles Missing links

Opportunities

Poor Quality of seeds→ Poor

productivity and return/acre

Fertile soil

Limited irrigation facilities→, hiring

pump sets → high cost of water

Water table is high→ Surplus

generation

Availability of alternative technology

Quality seeds

Poor infrastructure facility : Cold

storage & electricity

Better market

Low Surplus → Reinvestment/back

investment is low

Formation of local institutions of

small and marginal farmers→

prosperity

No timely or easy credit Education

Lack of processing facilities Health

Caste feeling→ political lawlessness Diversification of income stream

1.2 Agri-allied Sector A. Dairy is an obvious choice as an agri-allied option

because of the existing Bihar State Milk Cooperative

Federation named as (COMFED) which is covering

about 350,000 famers. The milk co-operatives has thus

been able to support the dairy farmers to some extent

through supply of dairy feed and insurance as well as

technical advice. However, there were some constraints

in promoting a commercial dairy at a household level,

especially in small and marginal category due to the

following reasons:

• Low yield of local breeds and lack of veterinary care services: Although farmers are

aware of low yield of local breeds, introduction of cross breeds has not been practiced.

Cross-breeding services through artificial insemination for improvement of local

breeds are scarce. Lack of timely veterinary care services has resulted in higher

expenses and low productivity in cattle.

• Availability of fodder is a major constraint: The volume of production of cereals, the

by-product of which could be used as fodder is low and thus creates a problem for

small and marginal producers. Alternative fodder, Azolla culture etc. is not being

practiced.

Tube well

Voice of

the

communit

y

Storage

facilities

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• Infrastructural Bottlenecks: Poor infrastructure, especially road connectivity is major

hindrance to organized milk procurement and linkage with processing /chilling plants

• Low credit availability: Credit for purchase of milch animals from the formal source

is often not available to poor households

• Formation of Producers Co-operatives: Organization of producers into co-operatives

and its smooth functioning is an arduous task due to cultural issues of caste and

creed divide in the villages, a social malaise in the state.

B.Other agri-allied activities:

• Poultry and goatery are next best alternative

activities observe d but not seen on a commercial

scale. The reasons for the same were primarily

lack of space at household level, absence of grazing

lands leading to conflicts and probably poor

orientation among the poor about the same.

Fisheries Sector : Bihar blessed with abundance of

rivers, ponds and water from seasonal floods has a

huge potential for promoting large number of

livelihood s of its population, however there is a

huge gap between the potential and actual

production, due to lack of proper infrastructure and

support system.

1.3 Non-farm and service sector Bihar presently has a population of 80.4 million with more than 42% of its population

living below the poverty line. Near absence of non-farm activity at village level is

because of several factors as mentioned beforehand.

There is hardly any surplus that may be used as the initial investment, in non-farm

activities as a risk mitigating activity like small retail shop or even a tea stall. Similarly,

present day agriculture is not in a scale that might call for services like repair of pump-

sets or a input shop, etc. which are observed in developed economies.

Other constraints

Skill level available within the community, but low demand locally

• Vocational training support was non-existent.

• Processing facilities for fruits and vegetables not observed

• Lack of aggregation of demand through group activity or

through cooperatives

• Poor, at individual level are unequipped to access suitable

business development services & distant market

Scope Vending

- Tyre repairing

- Mason work

- Banglemaking

- Zari clothwork

- Lac bangle

- Handicrafts in Nalanda

- Incensestick making in

Gaya and Bhagalpur

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• The poor mainly dependent on the informal source of finance for consumption, production

and emergency needs, the interest rate for which varies between 5-10% per month.

• Micro-finance: Field observation shows that the SHG groups formed in Bihar are weak in

several counts such as cohesiveness, regularity of meetings and savings, empowerment and

use of loans for activities.

2. Base Line Livelihood Scenario Under NAIP, the districts of Purnea and Nawada from two distinctively separate agro –

climatic Zone (Purnea- North East Alluvial Plains and Nawada- South Bihar Alluvial

Plains) has been selected, where there are possibilities of innovative interventions to

resolve the livelihoods issues and thereby enhance the income of the poor.

An average small and marginal household is dependent on a multiple activities year

round to take out their livlihood, mostly operating at a subsistence or sub-optimal level.

Hence, the families are also engaged with homestead poultry, goatery, which helps to

meet their emergency needs. Some poor families do also keep one or two milch cattle

(which is mostly are non descript) where they face problem of market, right price of milk,

availability of feed and fodder etc. and thus making it un-remunerative.

Migration to nearby towns or to distant places is common in the project villages and

hence remittance has become a major support to poor families in the villages. It is

generally observed that 1-3 persons from almost every household in the villages have

been migrating.

The cropping system is mainly rice-wheat-jute (Low paddy yield 1.3 tons / hectare).

Knowledge of improved cultivation practices was not translated into practice due to poor

economic status restricting their confidence level to take the risk and adopt it. Seed

replacement rate is less than 10% in the project villages. Cropping intensity of the sampled

area is about 1.8. Average landholding size is 5.8 acre in all the 5 clusters. The average

cultivated area is 3.0 acre while average irrigated area is 2 acre In all the five clusters use of

ground water is the main source of irrigation according to the baseline survey. In terms of prevailing

leasing system, ¼ of the total land area has been leased out for summer crops in Hisua, Amour

and Baisi while in Nardiganj 1/3 of the area has been leased out.

Capture fish is still predominant although culture fish in their personal ponds has made

its way into their practice. At the existing rate of 2 acres of pond with water submerged

area of 1.5 acres varies from Rs 7000 to 10,000/- per year. In Amour and Baisi cluster of

Purnea the capture fish is still predominant however even if farmers are practicing culture fish

in their personal ponds they use to follow traditional practice.

.In the surveyed area approximately 9.55 % of the population is into livestock rearing. On

average households having cows sells 2-3 litres of milk per day. The price for selling milk

ranges from rs.15 to 25/-. The families sell their livestock at local market. Access to

veterinary services is to the farmers in the project villages is very poor. The average area under irrigation is about 3.987 in all the clusters.

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Area ( Average – acreage / respondent / cluster)

District Cluster Irrigated area in acre

NAWADA HISUA 3.545

NAWADA NARDIGANJ 3.987

PURNEA AMOUR 4.374

PURNEA BAISI 3.989

PURNEA K.NAGAR 4.135

Average annual income from agriculture is Rs. 18500 whereas annual income from migration

is Rs. 17288. Income from non-agricultural work is more than agricultural work as depicted in

the table below. Income from service was found to be higher than any other occupation only 2

of the households in Nardiganj spoke about their members’ engagement in service. Wage

pattern for labouers is given below: Wage rate for agricultural labor is somehow volatile

owing to the vagaries of nature and inconsistent demand pattern. The average wage rate is

only Rs. 30-50 per day.

Majority of the households surveyed do not have any modern mechanical or modern irrigation

facilities. In K.Nagar and Baisi tube wells without electricity are the main sources of irrigation

therefore surveyed farmers had to incur expenses for buying water for irrigation.

2 Loan and its utilization

As witnessed in poor households, the prime reason behind taking loan is either fulfilling daily

household requirements or meeting crisis.

Most of the families (62%), have taken loan to meet the daily requirement according to the

survey while 23% of them required loan for meeting medical expenses.

Occupation Average

income/year/family

(Rs.)

Agriculture 18500

Business 15043

Service 53865

agriculture labor 7187

Non-agriculture

labor

11880

Migration

17288

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Area of intervention

Private and Confidential

Clusters in Purnea:

1. K.Nagar

2. Amour

3. Baisi

Clusters in Nawada:

1. Nawada

2. Hisua

3. Project Objectives and Components The long-term objective of the project is to improve livelihood security of poor in two

disadvantaged districts of Bihar by introducing improved farming system, institutional

development with a focus on women farmers and their family.

The specific objectives of the project are:

Objective Responsible Partner

To develop and strengthen suitable and

sustainable institutions of the poor with a

special focus on women

Women Development Corporation (organizing the

households into SHGs and federating it into a federation)

3

30

51

18

2 00

83 4

1 05

1 1 0 1 14

0 0 0 0 02

23

1

19

2 06

14

58

3 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

daily requirement

social expenditure

asset purchase

Animal purchase

medcal

others

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Objective Responsible Partner

BSFL (techno managerial support to the collectives)

To strengthen the livelihood of poor

households through productivity

enhancement and cost reduction in kharif

and summer paddy and dairy sub sector

BSFL (organizing the poor households, designing the

technology transfer mechanism, handholding support

through village resource person under supervision of SRFs)

IARI (technological backstopping, technical guidance and

training)

KVK (technological backstopping, technical guidance and

training)

Facilitate market linkage of small and

marginal producers

BSFL (critical input support through project and linkages

with market players)

WDC (convergence with the government)

To provide linkages with main stream

financial institutions and making available

saving, credit, and insurance services to the

poor households.

WDC (credit linkages with banks & convergence with the

government schemes)

The interventions to achieve the above mentioned objectives were planned under

component 3 which basically centered on promoting Sustainable Rural Livelihood

Security with special focus on women.

The main components of the project are: 1) System of Rice Intensification (SRI), 2)

Productivity enhancement in dairy, 3) Seed Production & Distribution, 4) Rice –Fish

Culture, 5) Culture of short - cycle species in seasonal ponds and ditches, 6) Banana bark

craft, 7) True Potato Seed, 8) Zero tillage in Wheat, 9) Institutional Development.

4. Brief of Project Implementation Agency & their key role

The NAIP project implemented by Consortium of five partners which are as follow:

Major Role of Consortium Partners

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BSFL

• Design of Project Action Plan.

• Developed Monitoring, Implementation, evaluation tools.

• Conducted workshops and Liaised with NAIP and consortium partners

• Developed linkages with private sector, research institutions, market information

institutions

• Baseline survey, consensus building

• Resource mapping & Awareness camps

• Developed location specific plan and strategy

• Facilitated formation of SHG

• Provided Institutional Development Services to strengthen the SHG& their

Federation

• Input & Output Linkages

• Provided Training to Project Implementation team & Farmers for various

livelihood & agricultural activity like System of Rice Intensification, Productivity

enhancement in dairy, True Potato Seed, Seed multiplication, Banana Bark, Jute

and other Natural fiber craft, Rice Fish Culture etc.

WDC

• Women Empowerment and Institution Building

• Facilitated formation of SHG

• Provided Financial Services to woman’s SHGs

• Policy support for women in Agriculture

Patna Animal Development Private Ltd.

• Provided technical support in livelihood intervention related to Dairy & poultry.

• Provided six month training to 6 youth from both project location on Animal

husbandry. Now they are playing role of Para-Vet in their area.

KVK Nawada & IARI PUSA

• Provided technical support in livelihood intervention related to Agriculture.

• Provided training on good agricultural practices to the farmers.

5. Implantations strategy Implementation Arrangements

The consortium members were designated different roles for the NAIP implementation.

The Women Development Corporation was entrusted with the responsibility of women

SHG mobilization and nurturing. The identification and development of location specific

plans for intervention was done by Basix. Identification of Village Resource Person and

his training was also done by Basix in Nawada and Purnea district. Technical back

sporting was provided by KVK, Patna Animal Development Pvt. Ltd and IARI.

Strategy for intervention:

Following strategy had been adopted to implement the project. These were as follows-

• A study was conducted through agriculture scientist and rural development

professionals to identify suitable sites and collaborators for all the modules.

• Strategy of Collaborative Polygon: Collaborations was developed with different

stakeholders like local Cooperatives / Producer Groups for input and output

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linkages, Agriculture University (PUSA) / KVKs for package of practices and

training on scientific method of seed multiplication and local agriculture experts

for implementation of standard package of practices and input & out linkages.

Project in a snapshot

Title of the Sub-project: To Promote Sustainable Livelihoods of the small and

marginal farmers with a focus on women’s empowerment in Nawada and Purnea

district of Bihar.

Starting Date: April 2009

Closing Date: June 2012

Lead Centre & CPI: Bhartiya Samruddhi Financial Limited (BSFL),BASIX

Partner & CCPI:

Women Development Corporation, Govt. of Bihar

IARI Research Station, Pusa

KVK,Nawada

RAU,KVK, Purnea

Patna Animal development Pvt. Ltd.

Budget sanctioned: (Total) – 423.0078 ( in Lakh)

Budget released: (Total as on 31.12.2010)- 79.58( in lakh)

Budget utilized: (Total as on 31.12.2010)- 59.78( in lakh)

Private and Confidential • Institutional development services to these Cooperatives / Producer Groups for

input & output linkages. In the same, the approach was building systems of the

proposed organization and capacity of the functionaries to manage the proposed

grass root institution.

• Special focus had been given in this program to involve women’s development

corporation to give impetus to involvement of women from the beginning in

institution building, extension, training, marketing, learning new skills etc. This

ensured that the benefits of the program were focused on the HH and just not

male farmers.

• Following is the list of the spread of livelihood interventions;

Intervention No. of beneficiary

Total

Purnea Nawada

SRI 1199 1012 2211

SWI 146 524 670

Zero tillage 35 69 104

TPS 45 -- 45

Tuber Potato 143 487 630

Kroiler- breed of chicken 401 81 481

Fishery/ Rice Fish Culture 40 --- 40

Handicraft (Banana Bark) 35 --- 35

Vegetable (backyard) 239 773 1012

Dairy Development 655 450 1105

Onion --- 427 427

Goatry --- 64 64

P a g e | 19

Intervention No. of beneficiary

Total

AI ( Artificial Insemination) 433 450 883

6. Technologies introduced by NAIP, BSFL (BASIX) The technology intervention is the major component introduced by NAIP for

improvement of livelihood of rural poor , specially the rural women in Purnea and

Nawada districts of Bihar. Following are technology intervention b NAIP project.

6.1 System of Root/ Rice Intensification

The conventional method of paddy cultivation

requires large amount of water and inputs

which contributes to high cost of cultivation and

depletion of water levels. Indiscriminate use of

chemical fertilizers and pesticides damage the

ecosystem equilibrium and reduces the quality

of produce leaving the residues behind.

Cultivating a 1 kg of rice requires 5,000 litres of

water in conventional method. Due to frequent

drought in the southern part Bihar, conjunctive

water use has become a thrust as well as a

concern for the scientists and farmers.

Major Missing Links before intervention:

• Low productivity (1.3 tonnes/ha),

• Poor seed replacement rate (less than 10%),

• Lack of good quality seeds,

• Lack of extension service

BASIX had implemented SRI in both project locations with around twenty two hundred

farmers. Key intervention introduced by BSFL (BASIX):

• Introduction of green manuring plant (dhiacha) in SRI plots.

• Introduction of vermin-compost in SRI plots

• Motivation of farmers for seed treatment

• Introduction of nursery bed preparation, seed sowing in nursery bed, nursery bed

raising

• Introduction of line sowing in equal spacing during transplanting

• Implementation of recommended dosages of chemical fertilizers & organic

manures

• Technological guideline of harvesting and post harvesting method.

To promote the sustainable use of water BASIX had introduced the SRI system of rice

cultivation that requires half of the water needed for conventional rice cultivation,

increased yields by 20 to 25 %, substantially reduced or eliminated the need for chemical

fertilizers and cut seed requirement..

P a g e | 20

Status after Intervention:

Enhancement in productivity (30-50%, around 1.9 tonnes/ha), Seed replaced (25-30%),

Availability of extension services (Training on good agricultural practices by KVK and

BASIX)

6.2 Portable shed net

In implementation of Good Agricultural

Practices the main challenges that needed to

be addressed was poor germination of seeds.

BASIX tried to address this issue with using

low cost local polythene technology for

quicker and better germination of seed.

This is a good and very useful tool for

vegetable growers. Farmers used to raise

nursery in this net-shed and transplant in

main land in appropriate season. Due to good

germination of seed in portable shed net, farmer got very good yield. Total 400 portable

shed nets have been distributed to project beneficiaries in Nawada &Purnea.

The shed net for nursery purpose is very useful to the farmers in terms of minimising

mortality of the saplings.

6.3 Poly House Poly-house or greenhouse is dedicated to provide a quality seedling to the farming

community as well as commercial farming

for some of the off-season vegetable like

tomato; capsicum etc grown under the

controlled environment for eight months

and for the other 4 months floriculture and

horticultural crops can be practiced. We are

working with a clear motto of providing

healthy seedling to the farming community

to grow healthy crops with a better yield.

4 poly-houses have been established in

total in project area i.e 2 poly-house in

Nawada and 2 poly-house in Purnea. Along with poly-house one vermi-compost unit at

each poly-house has been established.

6.4 Sprinkler irrigation system Sprinklers were very new in our area of work

and in initial days most of the farmers were not

ready to use this new system of irrigation. They

hardly believe that sprinkler could be helpful in

better crop. Through NAIP project we have

installed minimum one sprinkler in each village

and convince the farmer if it will not work then

we will not press you to use this next time.

P a g e | 21

Farmers started its application in wheat and vegetables and they found very good results

like:

• Irrigation time reduced significantly that saved time and fuel

• Less disease attack in their crop.

Other factors which could not be articulated by them but were explained to them in some

degree were : a)Conservation of water.b)Eco-friendly and c)Very less emission of

carbon-dioxide gas etc.

So it was a very economic and useful tool in respect of resource conservation. Total 120

set of sprinkler irrigation system have been distributed to 120 farmers in Nawada

district.

6.5 True Potato Seed The availability of good quality, disease free seed

tuber has been a major constraint to increase both the

area and productivity of potato in Bihar. Requirement

of seed tuber per acre, is 10 quintals which is quite

voluminous, require transportation and space to keep.

Moreover, as it is vegetative material, farmer has to

keep a part of the produce for next year for planting

material which is at least is 10% of his total

production. To overtake this hurdle BASIX had

introduced True Potato Seeds (TPS) in the project

location.

This intervention was completely new to our farmers so we had tried our best to

minimize the risk by giving only 2 gm of seed to each beneficiary for demonstration but

the result were eye opening. Yield of TPS varies from 45-60 kg from 2 gm in a 0.02 acre

of land. They had followed all the principles & method what-so-over they had learnt from

CPRS, Patna during the training programme as conducted by BASIX in the month of

September 2011 and January 2012.

Now they have stored their produce in cold storage with an expected hope to increase

their TPS yield into tuber. Looking at the benefits additional at least 100 farmers of

nearby villages adopted this technology in their fields in the next season.

Advantages of True Potato

Seeds (TPS) Seed requirement is less,

only 50 gm per acre

High field tolerance to late

blight.

Seeds were free from

viruses.

Big reduction in seed cost.

P a g e | 22

6.6 Potato Tuber Cultivation

This intervention with breeder seed is completely new to our location so we’ve focused on

scientific method of cultivation like seed treatment, spacing, roughing, IPM and the most

important practice include application of Mancozeb and Metalaxyl against late blight of

potato which is one of the most deadly disease prevailing in these area, defaulting

process and how best can be go for storage.

We are highly obliged to CPRS, Patna for giving us the training twice on tuber and TPS

cultivation. This was carried out in last week of September 2011 just before the sowing of

seed and during the first week of Jan 2012 just before the harvesting. Yield was

approximate 10 times of the seed sown in the field. This has motivated the other nearby

farmers and around 50 nearby farmers followed application of Mancozeb and Metalaxyl

in their field to control late blight attach.

6.7 Commercial Vegetables Cultivation

Growing of commercial vegetables for regular cash income is picking up in agrarian

economy of Bihar due to growing population and urbanization. However some vegetables

are always in high demand and fetch better price.

Poor farmers, while growing vegetables prefer low risk in production and market and

which have a longer shelf life. In districts like Nawada and Purnea it was found that

introduction of new vegetables like bean etc along with the existing practice like tomato

cultivation, brinjal cultivation, chilli cultivation of desired cultivar fetch better price by

adopting scientific method of cultivation.

In districts like NAWADA we find that introduction of hybrid onion in collaboration with

a seed company can help farmers get better and assured returns for their investment.

Existing

practice

Tomato

Brinjal

Chilli

New practice

Tomato

Brinjal

Chilli

Beans,peas

P a g e | 23

For the above said reason various seed were procured from Plandu, Vegetable research

centre, Ranchi. We have packed the 10 different seed into a single packet having seed

like brinjal 2 types, chilly 2 types, tomato, different bean, pea etc worth Rs.50 each.

BASIX facilitated with a better market linkage for procurement of good quality vegetable

too.

6.8 Onion We have introduced very good and high yielding variety of onion in project area. Farmers

have seen following benefits:

• High yield

• Shelf-life was very good

• Size of onion was good.

• Colour was attractive

228 quintals of onion seeds were distributed

among the 178 Nawada farmers covering

around 11.5acres. Project has observed the

yield of 25 tons / hectare against the base line

figure of 10 to 15 tons / hectares. The cost

benefit analysis enlisted in Annexure 5

reveals that there is a profit of more than

Rs.30,000/- as observed on a plot of 40

decimals.

BASIX facilitated with a better market linkage for procurement of good quality hybrid

onion tubers, with scientifically developed POP and training of farmers by KVK,

Nawada. As an intervention we also introduced low cost sprinkler irrigation for efficient

use of water and better productivity of onion in NAWADA.

P a g e | 24

6.9 Dairy Development for strengthening Livelihoods

The intervention has been designed in two ways :

- Make timely extension services

- Inclusion of the target group into a robust value chain The intervention was focused through the Para-vets (as got training from Patna Animal Development Pvt. Ltd, Patna)

Farmers were completely happy with such cross-breed calf because each calf fetches Rs. 3000-4000/ by investing just Rs.100 on AI.

Getting into sustainability : Second aspect of this intervention has been multi-fold : - to develop linkages with market (inward for medicine and cattle feed & outward for sale of

milk)

- provision of credit & animal insurance.

-

Moreover those who are following such type practice are fully confidant by way of

learning cum doing. Sometime they also assist in operation process along with vet doctor

from the respective block of Nawada and Purnea.

Extension services Vaccinations for HSBQ & FMD, de-

worming (Floda medicine), animal

health check up camp, training to

customers on feed and fodder

management, training to customers on

management of dairy enterprise.

The success rate (chances of calving) after AI is

more than 60% : Very high!

P a g e | 25

6.10 Backyard Poultry

Rural backyard poultry was taken up

because it hardly required any

infrastructure while providing

necessary animal protein adding to

nutritional value of the diet of a poor

household.

and also is very easy to sell off effecting quick upliftment of the economic status of a

household.

6.11 Banana and natural fibre products With the increasing demand

for natural fibre, the

introduction of banana bark

products as a cottage industry

has been very popular.

This intervention enhanced the

skills of the local artisan

women to get value added

products. This is the one

attempt on establishing a new

sector in Bihar.

6.12 Fisheries The districts like Purnea

are blessed with a large

network of rivers and lot of

village ponds, Rice-fish

culture was introduced

which did not require much

Backyard Poultry Unit of 10-20 kroiler (colored) chicks

(under 3% mortality rate. Passes off as

a country variety and grow taller

High egg production quality

High fat content in meat

Sells at Rs. 120-150 per chick

Profit margin is Rs.20-50 per chick

Rope making from Banana Bark

was attempted on a small scale

P a g e | 26

investments at the beginning.

BASIX had introduced this intervention to around 40 farmers in Purnea district. BASIX

had arranged quality seed (fingerlings) and provided training.

Key note from our intervention

• Compared to many technologies, rice-fish culture is a low risk technology. It

demands little money, is not particularly new or revolutionary for most rice

farmers and few conflicts with other farm activities.

• Fish cultured in rice field provide farmers with a continuous, predictable,

convenient supply of food.

• Rice-fish culture conserves water.

• Rice–fish culture saves farmers times, allowing them to undertake income-

generating activities or to improve on existing ones.

• The small amount of money needed mean that farmers need not take out loan.

This activity was ruined due to severe rain in

Aug 2011 a otherwise farmer were completely

happy to see the progress and were expectant

of double income. We are pretty much assured

that in coming year people will do rice-fish

culture without any project support.

6.13 Wheat (by Zero tillage Machine) & SWI (System of wheat intensification)

Wheat is the second most important food grain crop used as staple food in Bihar In

Bihar, Rice - Wheat cropping pattern is being followed among the farmers. The average

productivity of the crop is low as it is either shown late due to delay in paddy harvesting

as well as cultural practices followed in the area.

The baseline shows that the average productivity varies from 6-18 Quintals per hectare

and it does not meet the food security of the communities leave aside marketable

surplus. Nawada also falls under the rain shadow area and is always faces water

scarcity. Delayed sowing results in loss of 2Kg/day in yield. There is a substantial scope

of increasing the productivity of wheat and in reduction of cost. Thus introduction

of Zero Tillage helped timely sowing and gave other benefits to farmers.

Heavy rain caused fish to

flow off the plot

Benefits of zero tillage

- Saved 10-15 day time in sowing and in land preparation

- Reduce the cost in land preparation by 600-800 per acre

- Save 50 % in first irrigation in wheat by zero tillage

- 10-15 kg of seeds was saved by Zero tillage machine

P a g e | 27

By this technique, we placed granules fertilizers below seed for better utilization. Seeing

the cropping pattern, the need for less water, better productivity, BASIX in collaboration

with CYMET and KVK Nawada introduced a dual technique of Showing wheat using

Zero tillage technique as well as practicing the principles of SRI in wheat , known as the

resource conservation technology.

Farmers were taught and trained about potential environmental benefits of zero tillage.

It was also made clear that it is important to retain crop residues as mulch, and

diversification of crops.

In addition to the Zero tillage technique, principles of wheat intensification was also

introduced among 250 farmers both of Nawada and Purnea .

Output has been summarised in Annexure 4.

7. Impact of the project

7.1 Institution Building with a special focus on women

In terms of Institutions, the project had facilitated the formation of two producer

organization one each at Purnea and Nawada with the total membership of 3427 and

these producer organizations mobilized sustainability a fund of 2.5lakhs rupees.

P a g e | 28

The producers were identified from the SHG

promoted by the WDC to adopt the livelihood

interventions to improve their livelihoods.

These producer organizations involved the

women as producer for easy governance and

extension services were provided under the

supervision of BASIX through a strong cadre of

community resource persons, CRPs (bare foot

extension workers) identified and trained under

the technological backstopping of IARI & KVK.

Linkages were developed for quality seeds and

other

critical

inputs under the project.

The CRPs were provided with continuous

handholding and knowledge. and are linked

with IARI and KVKs for continuous knowledge

up gradation. These extension workers are also

charging a small fee (artificial insemination,

backyard poultry, fisheries, first aid, training

on improved vegetable production etc.) against

their services so as to sustain their income and

support the farmers group and producer

organization for a long period of time.

7.2 Productivity enhancement measures The model adopted was to identify the lead farmers having interest in taking up

livelihood intervention towards betterment of their income, once identified they were

trained by IARI & KVK.

These lead farmers had piloted the

interventions in first year under the

supervision of BASIX under the technical

guidance of IARI & KVKs, who became CRPs

and then have increased the scale of

cultivation.

Motivated by these CRPs, SRI was followed

by 2000 fellow farmers in surrounding

villages. Same is the case with backyard

poultry, wherein the success has attracted

dealers of Kroiler birds to supply the birds to producer organization as well as to other

farmers in and outside project villages.

System of Rice Intensification; The introduction of SRI resulted additional production

by 1.5 to 2 times, Average yield increased up to 2 to 5 ton per hectare as compared to 1

to 2 ton per hectares in conventional method followed by the beneficiary farmers in the

P a g e | 29

project area. Total 2211 farmers had been trained by LSP / CRPs trained by IARI, RAUs

on technological aspects. The replication of SRI by 2000 farmers had been observed in

the surrounding villages.

Principles of system of wheat intensification was introduced with 670 famers and

observed the yield of 4 tons / hectare against the base line of 2 tons/ hectare. This

intervention had led to reduction in seed rate by 75 % (conventionally these beneficiaries

has been using 125 to 150 Kg wheat as seed now with adoption of technology they are

now using 25 to 40 kg seed / hectares).

Zero tillage in wheat was introduced in the project villages of Purnea and Nawada and

had been observed the average yield of 4.5 tons / hectares against the base line figure of

2 tons / hectares in conventional method. Project had arranged the zero tillage machine

and hand holding support to farmers through village resource persons under the

guidance of project team. Synergy with CIMMYT & KVK Nawada was developed to

arrange the zero tillage machines and technical training on its usage.

Introduction of true potato seed with 45 farmers; as the intervention was completely new

to our farmers so we had tried our best to minimize the risk by giving only 2 gm of seed

to each beneficiary for demonstration but the result were eye opening. Yield of TPS

varies from 45-60 kg from 2 gm in a 0.02 acre of land. They had followed all the

principles & method what-so-over they had learnt from CPRS, Patna during the training

programme as conducted by BASIX in the month of September 2011 and January 2012.

Now they stored the seed and would use it in next season.

Vegetable seeds were procured from Plandu, Vegetable Research Centre, Ranchi and

packed into a packet comprises of 10 different seed having seed like brinjal 2 types, chilly

2 types, tomato, different bean, pea etc worth Rs.50 each. It had been observed that

these small and marginal women farmers had cultivated it in its backyard and started

consuming it which would lead to their nutritional security (since it was introduced in

last year of project the impact would only be evaluated after three years). Along with this

technologies like shed net had been introduced with farmers and it had been observed

that healthy seedlings raised in these portable shed nets.

Introduction of hybrid onion cultivation had been done in 4 hectares with 140 women

farmers of Nawada cluster. Project has observed the yield of 25 tons / hectare against the

base line figure of 10 to 15 tons / hectares. The cost benefit analysis enlisted in

Annexure 5 reveals that there is a profit of more than Rs.30,000/- as observed on a plot of

40 decimals.

1000 AI was done and average conception

rate had been observed to be 60% which

resulted into 250 female calf having 7 - 10

litres / day milk yield capacity, this had

resulted in asset creation of 250 families.

P a g e | 30

Rice fish culture had been introduced but due to flood it washed away but initial

experiences showed the confidence among the farmers they would be taking it up in

future.

Backyard poultry; kroiler breed was introduced to 481 households; it had been observed

that flock size of 5 to 10 birds was the best combination. The cost benefit analysis at

Annexure 6 substantiates a profit of about Rs.12,450/- after a period of 1.5 years over 20

chicks.

The intervention to use the by-products of Banana such as the bark for producing high

value artistic materials had been done with 35 women artisans. This has a high growth

potential with increasing demand for natural fibre products. This intervention enhanced

the skills of the local artisan women to get value added products. This was the attempt

on establishing a new sector in Bihar. Rope making from Banana Bark was attempted on

a small scale. However there is an opportunity to improve the livelihoods of the large

number of interventions, but this intervention requires a huge investment and

consistent effort to bring private sector market for buy back arrangement.

7.3 Facilitate market linkage of small and marginal producers Eight Para vets had been trained by Patna

Animal Development Private Ltd., and

linkages developed for artificial insemination

(semen straw, liquid nitrogen and advisory

services with Patna Animal Development

Services), once in 15 days the vehicle of Patna

Animal Development Services visited the

project area and provided required amount of

semen straw and liquid nitrogen. These para

vets used to charge a fee of Rs 100/- per AI.

Dealers of KEGGS farms were providing day old chicks to the producer organizations at

the rate of Rs 17 to 30/- per chick, these extension workers are collecting the demands

from individual farmers and supply at Rs 30/- per chick (services offered are vaccination,

husbandry practices).

To provide linkages with main stream financial institutions and making available

saving, credit, and insurance services to the poor households.

The federation of SHGs promoted by WDC had been provided with the initial

capitalization funder under Mukhya Mantri Nariy ShashaktiKaran Yojna of Bihar

government to provide credit support to strengthen their livelihoods. SHGs were able to

access Rs. 12 lakhs as credit support. Since this fund will remain with them they will

continuously assisting the credit support to meet the critical inputs.

P a g e | 31

8. Social & Environmental Measures

Social Measure Environmental Measures.

The producer organization formed comprises of women producers and they are involved in its governance also, the selection of beneficiaries is from this producer organization so as to ensure fair participation.

Use of vermi compost and organic fertilizer was used to the tune of 2000 metric ton. IPM practices had been introduced with 500 farmers

As the participatory selection of beneficiaries was conducted in consultation of community, it was an automatic transition towards being a community owned and managed entity

Soil testing of sampled 500 farmers had been done so as to guide them the balanced use of chemical fertilizer. Vegetable cultivation in backyard; there was no use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides

As the technology dissemination model was designed in a way that from identification, selection, training, handholding and implementation was through the community so all positive benefits of the flow goes to the beneficiaries

Back Yard poultry; designed in a way to grow using kitchen waste

9. Conclusion

Out of 4 major component of NAIP, BASIX Ltd got the NAIP project under component 3

which states to improve livelihood security of rural people living in the selected

disadvantaged regions through technology-led innovation systems, encompassing the

wider process of social and economic change covering all stakeholders. BASIX is the lead

consortium partner along with IARI-PUSA Samastipur, RAU, PAD, WDC, KVK’s and

other Govt. agencies to implement this project in Purnea & Nawada district of Bihar.

The prima facie of this project is to develop well-tested models for application of

agricultural research and technology for profitability of farming, income generation and

poverty alleviation.

Whole field activity can be broadly classified into Farm activity and Non-Farm activities.

In farm activities major interventions are SRI-Paddy, True Potato Seed (TPS) and Tuber

(including Breeder seed too), SWI & zero tillage in Wheat, vegetable cultivation, Rice-

fish culture, Boro Paddy (Improved practice on SRI principle).

In non-farm activities major interventions are Dairy (Artificial insemination, de-

worming, first aid treatment), Poultry-Kroiler, Short cycle fisheries (SCF) in ponds/

ditches, Banana bark craft unit etc

P a g e | 32

The NAIP Bihar (Purnea & Nawada) can be considered as successful intervention in

terms of technology promotion, institutional building and overall economic empowerment

of rural women.

This project successfully exhibited the

socio economic impact on farm families in

Purnea and Nawada districts with the

help of technology intervention in both

crop cultivation and livestock production

by increasing income of farm families.

The project also established that capacity

building and institution development of

women folk in rural areas is a key factor

for the sustainable economic growth of

the community.

In nut shell the intervention under NAIP project in these locations demonstrates its

outcome by virtue of hard work and strong determination to replicate well tested models

of agricultural research and technology for profitability of farming, income generation

and poverty alleviation. The project also focused on investing on the capacity building of

women in understanding agriculture technology, exposure visits and strengthening their

efforts to be in collectives as producers organisation.

Recommended models for livelihood promotion:

Model Beneficiary Input

required per

HH

Out put Amount of Income

received per

annum(Rs.)

Backyard

poultry

Landless, small &

marginal farmer

5 to 20 Body weight

(1000 – 1250

grams in 50

days)

Eggs laying –

150 eggs per

year

Rs 5000/- and above

System of rice

intensification

Small & marginal

farmers

0,25 to 1

acres

Incremental

increase in

yield by 50 to

100%

Reduction in

seed

requirement by

75%

Rs 5000/- and above

Principles of

system of

wheat

intensification

Small& Marginal

Farmers

0.25 acres 100% increase

in yield

Reduction in

seed quantity

by 75%

Rs 5000/- and above

P a g e | 33

Cattle breed

development

Small & marginal

farmers

Having cattle

of non

descriptive

breed

Average

conception rate

increased by

60%

Price of calves is

more than 7000/-

Asset creation as

the price of calves is

Rs 7000/- and above

Onion

Cultivation

Small & marginal

farmers

0.10 acres 200% increase

in yield

Rs 30000/- as an

income

P a g e | 34

Annexure

Annexure 1: Aagle Janam Mujhe Bitia Hi Kijo

(Case study Beyond Financials: Realizing self worth as a Woman)

It was a recently held cluster level

institution building workshop of BSFL-

NAIP clients at Nawada ,Rani Devi, group

leader from a local village. Throughout the

workshop, number women representatives

referred their envisioned development

through NAIP project to reach to a status

similar to Rani Devi. It was her clarity of

thought and communication during the

interactive that caught attention of the

forum. At the workshop an effort was made

to understand her life and livelihood …and

about being a women leader….

Rani Devi of her late thirties lives with her husband and three kids at village Ursa of

Dhanwe Panchayet in Hesua block of Nawada .Her husband was endowed with around 1

acres of land as per the settlement made by his parents’ .Initially, income from this lot of

land was sufficient for their family with two kids. They were getting better return from

land by using improved seed and chemical fertilizer.

However, it is in the last five to seven years when they started being concerned about

their life and livelihood. At one hand, Children grew up and were already into the school

or ready to be in the schools. Return from the land were stable or diminishing while cost

of cultivation was peaking up quickly. This was further intensified by draughts and

natural calamities in the region for the last few years.

It was in this time when they desperately thought of diversifying their livelihood

portfolio. Her husband started working as a driver with a monthly wages. Since children

were now grown up, Rani had some time to spare. They thought it would be proper to

buy some Milk producing animals with bank loan to ensure a regular stream of income

for the household activities. Further that would add up to organic manure and may be

beneficial for the field in long run.

However for the next three years she pursued every other bank in the local area for

loans and supports from the government schemes without any result. The situation was

far more complicated since they were not enlisted BPL in the latest list issued by the

P a g e | 35

block. While it was not feasible for her to arrange credits from the local informal sources

at exuberantly high rate of interest (10% PM) her parents and in-laws did not have

enough resources to offer them for short to mid term borrowing.

It is in this time when a BASIX LSA started visiting their village. From her interaction

with the BASIX agent she came to know that there are a couple of other households who

also have a similar requirement but lacks confidence to take a step forward. After an

initial discussion, in her own zeal, she visited every household, discussed with the senior

members of the households and with their permission visited BASIX office at Gaya to

check the physical establishments. Satisfied with the answers she took the lead to

establish Dipa Mahila Chetna as one of the initial SHGs in the Nawada District in the

year 2009 with 13 other like- minded women of the village.

As part of the SHG she received Rs.20000/- loan with 13 moths’ repayment period for

cattle induction in the month of December, 2009 @ 1.75% interests per month. She

purchased a cow at a cost of Rs.20000/- and invested some amount from her own to

create hygienic sheds and feeding facility for the animal.

The cow is yielding around 6 kg of milk every day. While 2kg of

milk ensures that her kids got proper nutritional supplements,

remaining 4 kg of milk is being taken off by the local vendor from

her doorstep at a cost of Rs.25 per kg. Thus for the last 10 months

she is getting a return of Rs. 100/-per day from the activity. Her

net additional income increases to Rs.3000 per month while loan

liability stands at Rs.1840/-PM.

She primarily spends the balance to arrange recurring educational expenses of the

children. Further, recently she opened up a saving

account in her name in the local bank for safe keeping

of deposit and as a means of identification for which

she was being harassed earlier while exploring credit

facilities.

Further she is the first woman in her household as well as in her village to buy an LIC

policy. Based on her experience with BASIX she has recently approached and able get a

further loan Rs.10000/- from another local MFI called MICROFINANCE to initiate

intensive Paddy farming in the last Kharif season.

BASIX led consortium have provided the technical knowhow of SRI method through

NAIP to facilitate the roll out of SRI operation in the village. Her story has become an

Net increase in

income till repayment

period is Rs. 1260/-

Bank passbook as a means

identity proof lack of which

can lead to harassment and

exploitation of poor

P a g e | 36

icon the local BASIX clusters. She actively narrates her positive experience so that more

and more women gets linked up with the MFI run SHG activities .She was working as

the senior leader of the group and is a natural choice to lead the cluster. When asked

about the responses and challenges from being a traditional society she says her family

members understand and acknowledge her contribution and started providing an added

importance for being women .They continue to reiterate the wish for their coming

generation ..Agle Janam Mojhe Bitia Hi Kijo…

Annexure 2 : PoP of SWI method

P a g e | 37

Annexure 3: Fund Utilization Status of the Project

Lead Centre- BASIX & All partners YEAR : 2009-2013

Items of Expenditure Fund Received

Expenditure

(April-June12)

Short/Excess

Expenditure

A. Recurring Contingencies

TA 893,403 1,008,329 -114,926

Workshop 522,641 309,994 212,647

Contractual Staff 4,470,297 4,226,527 243,770

Operational Cost 15,867,948 15,658,001 209,947

Sub- Total of A (1-4) 21,754,289 21,202,850 551,439

B. HRD Component

Training 1,520,267 1,485,393 34,874

International Training 0 0 0

National Training 0 0 0

Training organized for farmers 1,313,919 767,102 546,817

Consultancy 0 0 0

Sub- Total of B (5-6) 2,834,186 2,252,495 581,691

C. Non - Recurring

Equipment 858,704 849,491 9,213

Furniture 299,981 244,396 55,585

Work / New / Renovation 300,000 309,365 -9,365

Others/ Books 151,511 111,401 40,110

Sub- Total of C (7-10) 1,610,196 1,514,653 95,543

D. Institutional Charges 1,907,924 1,776,528 131,396

Grand Total (A+B+C+D) 27,584,743 26,746,526 838,217

P a g e | 38

Annexure 4: Output of the Project

Interventions Past Status Improved Status Output of the project

SRI (2000 farmers) Purnea –Average

yield of paddy 0.95

tons / ha

Purnea-Average yield of

paddy 1.80 tons / ha

100% increase in

productivity of paddy

Nawada 2.01

tons/ ha

Nawada - 3.70 tons / ha

True Potato Seed (45

farmers)

Nawada -6.17 tons

/ ha

Nawada - 6 tons / ha in

1st year and in next

season- 10 tons / ha

- 40-50% reduction in

cost of cultivation

- 50% increase in

productivity of potato

Commercial Onion

(427 farmers)

Nawada - 9.16

tons / ha

Nawada - 10.00 - 12.00

tons / ha

- 40-50% reduction in

cost of cultivation

- 50% increase in

productivity

Wheat with zero

tillage with

sprinkler (150

farmers)

Purnea - 2.15

tons / ha

Purnea- 3.00 - 5.00 tons /

ha

- - 50% reduction in cost

of cultivation

- - 25% increase in

productivity Nawada - 9.16

tons / ha

Nawada - 11.00 - 15.00

tons / ha

Dairy (1105 farming

families) with

productivity

enhancement

measures

Milk yield per

cattle - 2 - 5 litres /

day

Milk yield per cattle - 3 -

5 litres / day.

More than 1000 AI

-250 female calf

with 7 - 10 litres / day

milk yield capacity.

Increase in household

income by Rs 10,000/

annum

P a g e | 39

Interventions Past Status Improved Status Output of the project

Banana Bark, jute

and other natural

fibre

Living standard of

artisans

at Baisi is average

(earning around

Rs. 20 - 30 per

day).

Wage per artisan banana

bark rope making - Rs

100 / day. Wage per

weaver per working day

is Rs 150

More than 50% increase

in wage labour rate.

Past livelihood & Wages:

Rs. 30 - 50 (seasonal, about 2-3 months in a

year of employment) in agriculture, Litchi

products

Rice Fish Culture Very Low

Productivity of

0.75 tons with

high risk of loss of

crop

SHG /Federation Poor were not

properly linked

with institutions

of their own

100% project

beneficiaries linked with

SHGs and their

federation

Two collectives one each

at Purnea & Nawada to

continue working

towards the issues of

livelihoods.

Gender

Empowerment:

trainings for women,

attended also by

men

No women farmer

got proper training

in agriculture

Improved women

farmers’ decision making

in agriculture

The women farmers

trained on scientific

methods / practices to

enhance productivity and

continuously motivating

the others women from

surrounding villages to

adopt it.

Annexure 5: Cost Benefit Analysis of Onion cultivation

(per approx. 40 Decimals)

Sl.

Cost Income

Particulars Rate

(Rs.)

Qua

ntity

Total

Cost

(Rs.)

Particulars Rate

(Rs.)

Unit

(kg.)

Reven

ue

(Rs)

1. Cost of Seed (g) 0.2 500 100

Onion sold in

month of Jun 8 800 6,400 2. Seed Treatment (g) 5.0 2 10

3. Seed bed Preparation

Extra Rs. 10,000/-

per household!

P a g e | 40

Labour (Man days) 100 2 200

Irrigation (hours) 120 ½ 60

Onion sold In

last week of

August

12.50 2,500 31,250

4. Main Land Preparation

(Man days) 100 2 200

5. Transplantation (Man

days) 100 6 600

6. Fertilizer

7. Pesticide/ Insecticide

8. Weeding

(Man days) 100 6 600

9. Irrigation -5 times (Hours) 120 5 600 Onion for

family

members

0 250 0 10. Harvesting (Man days) 100 12 1200

11. Transportation (Man

days) 100 6 600

Grand total (Rs.) 4170 37,650

Net profit (Rs.) 33,480

Annexure 6: Cost Benefit Analysis of Backyard Poultry

Cost Income

Chicks

Cost

Rs.400

(@Rs.20/ chicks)

Sale of male birds (after

2.5-3 months; weight 1 Kg)

Rs.960 /-

(@Rs.120 / kg)

Medicine &

Vitamins Rs.100

Eggs production from

female birds (140-150 eggs/

year starting after 6

months)

Rs.9,240/-

(@ Rs.6/ egg;

11 female

chicks)

Sale of female birds after

1.5 years (average weight

of 2.5 Kg)

Rs.2,750/-

(@ Rs.100/ kg)

Total

Investment Rs.500 Total Income Rs.12,950

Net Profit in 1.5 years Rs.12,450