Field Trip Presentation

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Field Trip Presentation

• SOLAPUR GROUP

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Group composition
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Group as a whole
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Solapur district at a glance

• In the Decan Plateau
• District with 11 blocks (40-110 villages)
• 4th in size and 17th in population
• 3.2 mil in population, 2.5 mil (rural)
• Average annual rainfall 550mm, highest 770mm
• Soil type thin soil layer, sloppy, undulating,
  poor water holding capacity
• In Sangola 108 villages (42 dry), 125,000 people
• Main crops pomegranate, maize, sorghum, millet,
  grapes, sugar cane
• Water table 200-250m, decreasing
• Average land holding size 1.5ha/family

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Tipehali as an example

• Tipehali 3,000 people (350hhs), 30 landless
• 4 shop owners, 5 in public admin

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Input/Ouput market

• One weekly market (haat) serves 10 15 villages

• 2 Krishi Utpanna Bazarr Sammittee (auction
  markets)

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IDE Solapur

• Started in 1997
• 5-block coverage
• 4 staff (IDE Solapur director and 3 support staff)

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Places visited
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People met

• Drip farmers
• Drip distributors/dealers
• Drip manufacturer
• Agri. input dealers
• Nursery
• Commission agents
• CBO
• Transport agent
• Packing box manufacturer

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Situation before IDE

• Migration (whole family as sugar cane cutters,
  80-100km away, 6 months/year, school opportunity
  limited/neglected, gross 10K Rs/6 months)
• Limited and uneven rainfall
• Limited pomegranate cultivation (up to 1997),
  area increased by NGO/Govt projects - well
  deepening with introduction of ISI drip
• Promotion of horticulture/pomegranate led to
  increased demand for water
• Poor irrigation and drinking water shortage
  (tankers)
• E.g 1997 shortage of water ? no harvest of
  pomegranate (PG)
• Supply chain (Sanga ? commission agents available
  ? etc.) available without drip systems

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IDEIs intervention

• Promotion of AMIT (non-ISI), then easy drip
• Establishment of AMIT supply network,
  facilitation of market linkages
• Capacity building (experience sharing) for
  farmers and input supply chain

• Constraints
• better cash crop ? PG ? higher water demand ?
  drip (ISI) ? affordability of ISI ? AMIT ?
  affordability of AMIT ? easy drip
• Excessive use of pesticides

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Drip users

• Crops under drip PG, veggies, banana, sugar
  cane, chilies
• ISI 20 yrs guarantee, expensive, better off
  farmers
• Non-ISI half of the price of ISI
• Bucket kit for kitchen garden for own
  consumption, less water requirements
• Crisis adoption less acreage production under
  drip, buy water, flood irrigation ? drip (bucket
  kit, easy drip) well deepening and recharging

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Story of happy Balu Karvande

• Before 1998
• Had 160 PGs in 1993 from govt with flood
  irrigation
• Had 2 or 3 labors working
• Prepared border to prevent water run-off
• Needed 3-4 hrs/day for watering
• PG yield 25kg/plant (70 fruits)
• Market local
• Migrated every year with family, made 10K Rs in 6
  months for the last 16 years

• After 1998 since drip use
• Added 260 more with ISI and non-ISI
• No additional labor required
• Needs 1-2 hrs/day. Night watering possible
• Yield 40kg/plant (125 fruits), better color
  (thanks to drip and/or more fertilization), price
  doubled
• Market local and export
• Stops migration

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Story of happy? Balu Karvande

• After 1998
• Paid 80 of his loan from the LNGO (Rs. 16K)
• Helped his brother with the wedding
• Expanded PG areas up to 410 plants, bought more
  drip for watering
• Upgraded house, deepened well

! Took risky decision buy water for PG just to
keep them alive till next year
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Supplychain
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Story of a drip distributor

• Mr. Datta Thorat in Madha village
• Ex-NGO worker before 2002, not successful in
  seeking job
• Then attended a training for assemblers/dealers ?
  took the decision to participate in the
  distribution of drip
• Learnt business know-how by himself by visiting
  other assemblers/dealers as well as manufacturers
• Products traded non-ISI 5 easy drip 95
• Sells to 7 dealers (40-45) and farmers (in and
  around the villages, some 200km away)
• Provides credit for 10 of farmers (25 of the
  total amount)

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Story of adripdistributor

• Service oriented (tries to provide good service,
  e.g takes farmers to visit demonstration drip
  systems, and keeps all spare parts)
• Supplies from Jalgaon (good quality, good
  price), order thru phone, delivery by truck/train
• Has business expansion plan (expects potential
  for business), is aware of increasing
  competitors, persuades manufactures not to sell
  to others
• Long-term vision to get into manufacturing
  business
• Trippled income (Rs 500K), built a new room

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Mr. Prakash T. Mane from Tipehalli

• A farmer himself, realized free time after crop
  harvest ? decided to become a commission agent in
  1999, thinking that he would sell his produce at
  a a better price and also could supply other
  inputs to farmers. Pomegranate growing was
  limited at that time.
• Business diversified input supply (pesticides
  easy drip), PG collection commission agent
• PG collection process trucks pick up PG from
  local producer at farm gate in bags (with name
  on) twice a week ? send to Delhi market thru
  transport agents.
• Payment process get paid 15 days after produce
  sold in Delhi market thru banking wire, then pays
  farmers after deducting debts
• Export competitors purchase better quality PG
  directly from producers, gets angry but no
  reaction, since he also benefits as a farmer
  himself
• Irrigated areas doubled. 600K boxes in 2002 to
  Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai ? Rs. 600K (Rs. 1/box)

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Support/facilitation role

• 1. Role of IDEI
• Promotion of drip (AMIT)
• Capacity building for farmers and other market
  actors
• Facilitation of market linkages
• Networking among farmers and input/output
  providers

• 2. Infrastructure roads, electricity, phone,
  banking system, industry (introduction of easy
  drip), education, commission agents, institution
  linkages, IDE, govt, CBO, haats, Krishi Utpanna
  bazarr samittees (auction market), transport, NGO
  support

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Insights/suggestions

• Insights
• basic infrastructure/facilities are very
  favorable key roles of commission agents
  auction
• value of crops, increasing demand for crop,
  monopoly of crop (opportunities and risks)
• biotechnology, vermicompost
• present situation farmers are under threats
  (weather condition missing rainfall)
• low international market ? potential for the
  future
• win-win chain every actor is a winner, but could
  be different this year due to water problem
• positive role of IDE impact on livelihood of
  farmers

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Insights/suggestions

• Suggestions
• stressing the importance of using drip in a right
  way
• reliability/replication of learnings
• encouraging biotechnologies
• no honey no money
• Promotion of fruit processing
• Promotion of crop diversification
• Encouraging the participation of other local
  institutions (e.g Sangha)

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Dhanyavad!
Questions? Comments?