Environmental degradation is a major threat confronting the world, and the rampant use of chemical fertilizers contributes largely to the deterioration of the environment through depletion of fossil fuels, generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and contamination of water resources. It leads to loss of soil fertility due to imbalanced use of fertilizers that has adversely impacted agricultural productivity and causes soil degradation. Now there is a growing realization that the adoption of ecological and sustainable farming practices can only reverse the declining trend in the global productivity and environment protection. On one hand tropical soils are deficient in all necessary plant nutrients and on the other hand large quantities of such nutrients contained in domestic wastes and agricultural by products are wasted. It is estimated that in cities and rural areas of India nearly 700 million ton organic wastes is generated annually which is either burned or land filled. Such large quantities of organic wastes generate also pose a problem for safe disposal. Most of these organic residues are burned currently or used as land fillings. In nature’s laboratory there are a number of organisms (micro and macro) that have the ability to convert organic waste into valuable resources containing plant nutrients and organic matter, which are critical for maintaining soil productivity. Microorganisms and earthworms are important biological organisms helping nature to maintain nutrient flows from one system to another and also minimize environmental degradation. The earthworm population is about 8–10 times higher in uncultivated area. This clearly indicates that earthworm population decreases with soil degradation and thus can be used as a sensitive indicator of soil degradation. In this report a simple biotechnological process, which could provide a ‘win-win’ solution to tackle the problem of safe disposal of waste as well as the most needed plant nutrients for sustainable productivity is described.

 

Background of Sabarkantha District 

Nearly 80% of the population of Sabarkantha District, Gujarat, resides in rural areas and earns their living through agriculture based activities, animal husbandry and dairying. These livelihood options result in the accumulation of large amount of recyclable organic wastes in the form of cow dung, agricultural crop residues etc. However the lack of waste segregation practices among villagers results in discarding of such organic and recyclable waste along with non-organic toxic waste. As a result, essential raw materials that can be used for preparing nutrient-rich natural manure for farming are lost and farmers are compelled to use chemical fertilizers that result in environmental degradation, are more expensive and increase artificial chemical levels in plants. Furthermore, the absence of a dedicated waste segregation and collection effort also results in the piling up of such waste near rural houses inviting growth of harmful insects and bacteria that affect human health.

Integrated Watershed Management Programme at Sabarkantha District 

Recognizing these opportunity in rural waste management practices of Sabarkantha, the District Watershed Development Unit (DWDU) has taken as a livelihood activity in various project of Batch I,II & III as (Individual or group SHG) for recycling agriculture and animal husbandry waste into nutritional organic manure through the method of vermi-composting.

Fig. 1 : Vermicompost Unit

Fig. 2 : Vermi compost unit with side net

 

Vermi-compost: 

Vermi-composting is a simple biotechnological process of composting, in which certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of waste conversion and produce a better end product. Vermi-composting differs from composting in several ways. It is a mesophilic process, utilizing microorganisms and earthworms that are active at 10–32°C (not ambient temperature but temperature within the pile of moist organic material). The process is faster than composting; because the material passes through the earthworm gut, a significant but not yet fully understood transformation takes place, whereby the resulting earthworm castings (worm manure) are rich in microbial activity and plant growth regulators, and fortified with pest repellence attributes as well! In short, earthworms, through a type of biological alchemy, are capable of transforming “animal wastes” into ‘gold’. 

Improved soil physical, chemical and biological properties 

Studies on vermin-compost indicate that it increases macrospore space ranging from 50 to 500µm, resulting in improved air-water relationship in the soil which favourably affect plant growth. The application of organic matter including vermin-compost favourably affects soil pH, microbial population and soil enzyme activities. It also reduces the proportion of water-soluble chemical species, which cause possible environmental contamination.

Process: 

Individuals/SHG beneficiaries has given HDPE bed for vermi-composting, organic waste is collected at a place and treated with adequate moisture. After this treatment, earthworms are mixed with the waste in order to allow them to feed on the matter. Over a short period of time (45 days) the worms break down the organic matter in the vermi-compost unit, and leave behind nutrient rich substance which provides many benefits, for the soil condition of sabarkantha districts which varies from Hilly area hard stony soil to black cotton soil, silty loam to morrhum soil from Khedbrahma to Prantij and Himmatnagar to Bayad.

Fig. 3 : Collection of vermicompost

Fig. 4 : Screening of compost

 

Intervention: 

There are 9 talukas and 23 IWMP projects are being implemented in Sabarkantha district. The vermi-compost units have been taken in all 23 IWMP projects. In Batch I & II projects production of vermicompost has started and utilised by the beneficiaries in their own field. Various trainings were conducted in coordination with KVK Khedbrahma and Maize Research centre Bhiloda to generate awareness among farmers.

 

Table No. 1 Details of Vermi-compost production in all Batches 

Sr.No	Name of Batch	Unit Installed (Individual or SHG groups)	Production of Vermi-Compost Unit from  Installed (Individual or SHG groups)	Total Production of Vermi- Compost (in Kg) for 1 cycles	Selling of Vermi-Compost in local market and village	Remark
1	Batch I	286	209	109934	0	All framers has used in own agricultural land
2	Batch II	180	118	69502	0	All are use the in own field
3	Batch III	57	0	0	0	Production not received
	Total	523	327	179436	0

Total production from vermi-compost bed is 179436 kg from batch I & II batch and from batch III production is not yet received. Considering Rs 2 per kg market price of vermicompost, the total implicit income is Rs 3.5 lakh approximately.

 

Table No. 2 Details Crop Production 

Sr.No	Batch	Name of Crop	Nos. of beneficiaries	Total Area cropping (ha)	Approx. Production  (kg/ha)
1	Batch- I & II	Maize	50	22	1180
2		Vegetables	34	14	845
		Total/average	84	36	1012

The use of vermicompost has increased soil fertility and reduces the cost of cultivation by substituting chemical fertilisers. With this intervention 84 farmers cultivated 36 ha of land using vermicompost.

Challenges: 

• The production cycle increased from estimated 45 days to 60 days and in some cases it increased to 90 days. 
• Less awareness among the community for small activities like sprinkling of water timely, turning of compost upside down to speed up the process of production. 
• The package of practices given to the members required closer monitoring and identification of training needs. 
• Less sensitivity towards practicing the package of practices in production during the first cycle resulting into to breakage of cycle, increased cycle period. 
• Proper use of the vermi-compost and still used the chemical fertilizer along with it. 

 

Conclusion: 

Earthworm serves as “nature’s ploughman” and form nature’s gift to produce good humus, which is the most precious material to fulfil the nutritional needs of crops. The utilization of vermicompost results in several benefits to farmers, industries, environment and overall national economy.

To farmers:

• Less reliance on purchased inputs of nutrients leading to lower cost of production. 
• Increased soil productivity through improved soil quality. 
• Better quantity and quality of crops There is huge scope of promotion of vermicompost in this District. 

DWDU is actively participating for promotion of this green technology and farmers are also gradually interested to convert their farming processes.

Contributors: Sidharth Sing Bisen (Technical Expert); Sunil Patel (MDT Agri)

Agriculture contributes nearly 14.5 % of India’s GDP but more than 60% of workforce is workforce depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Hence agriculture is considered as the backbone of India. Being home to more than 17% of world’s population and due to constant increase in population at an alarming rate the pressure on agricultural land is being increasing constantly. On the contrary agricultural land is reducing due to industrialization and growing number of cities, thus creating job opportunities for skilled and unskilled labors. Due to all these reasons and changing life style migration is a major challenge for the rural economy. Although there are different opinions about positive and negative effect of migration, but in long term migration is not a solution. So there is an urgent need to generate alternative employment within the villages to stop migration.

Jamnagar is known as Halar in Saurashtra region. It is situated at the sea coast of Gujarat. Natural calamities like uneven rainfall, drought, and earth quake affect the farmers. Kharachia village of Jodiya block is situated near the sea coast. Total population of the village is 1860 comprising of major communities like Patel, Rajput, Bharwad, Koli and Harijan. Rainfed agriculture is the major source of livelihood in this village. Fadsar, Kharachia, Utbet sampar and Zinzuda are the 4 villages selected under IWMP-10 (Integrated Watershed Management Programme- Fadsar cluster). According to village survey conducted before preparation of Detailed Project Report, after the monsoon season due to lack of work agriculture and casual labors migrates to nearby cities and women were confined to stay back at home without any work. Women could not go for work as per the socially imposed structure. During survey and focus group discussion with the villagers it was elicited that women want to do home based works without hindering their daily household works.

After providing various concepts building training for SHGs, Shree Khodiyar Bachat Mandal was formed with 10 members in May 2012 with monthly small savings of Rs. 300 (@ Rs. 30 per member at Dena Bank, Aamran branch. Before finalizing livelihood activity under IWMP, various group level and village level meeting were conducted by the watershed development team. As there is a predominant demand of the sewing work for the local market and according to the requirement of the group for home based work, sewing activity was selected for this group.

In November 2013 a memorandum of understanding was signed between VWC and SHG to start the activity. Ten sewing machines were purchased at the cost of Rs 6200/- each and Rs. 30000/- for purchasing procuring raw materials from nearby market at Dhrol, Aamran and Morbi.

One month training and workshop programme on sewing activity was arranged by the Project Implementing Agency (DWDU) for imparting necessary skills to the SHG. Other trainings were also conducted in coordination with Vikas charitable trust as per demand of SHG members with support of VWC and WDT members.

Fig. 1 : Training on sewing of Shri Khodiyar Saving Mandal

After implementing the activity there is remarkable growth of their business. Now after 3 months the group is able to earn Rs3000 (approx) per month. The work orders of items like stitching uniform (150 rs/piece), blouse (120 rs/piece), fall (30 rs/item), dress material (100 rs/piece) from nearby blocks has been increasing constantly. The group has also started to make cushion cover (80 rs/piece) and carry bag (30 rs/piece) to sell in their own village and nearby villages.

Fig. 2 : Sewing activity of Shri Khodiyar Saving Mandal

According to the president Jyotiba Parakramsinh Jadeja of Shree Khodiyar Bachat Mandal : “All of us are women residing in Kharachia village belong to other backward caste (OBC). Our literacy level is very low and our family is totally dependent on our husbands, who were the sole breadwinners of our families. Thus, managing the household expenses was always a major problem and we had to slowly cut down our food expenses in order to meet the children’s education expenditure. Now after starting sewing business our economic status has increased as we have started contributing to our family”

This small initiative has brought a great economical and social change in their lives. With the extra source of income the women are not only contributing to their family income but also started lending to other members. The group members have started to participate in the decision making process inside their houses. Even in social gathering and Gram Sabha’s the group has started their participating actively. Considering the escalating demand of the products the group is now planning to expand their business. This micro entrepreneurship is not only helping this village to reduce migration but also acting as a role model for women empowerment.

Contributors: Smit Hingrajiya (Technical Expert), WDT Team (IWMP-10), DWDU Jamnagar

Area Profile 

Surendranagar is a Saurashtra region district with 10,489 square kilometers of area. Surendranagar is also known as the "Entrance gate of the Saurashtra region”. 8.63% of the total population of the district belongs to the Scheduled Tribes and 12% belongs to the scheduled Castes.

Navapura Village falls under the Dasada Taluka of the district. Navapura is around 71 Km away from the district town. There are total 54 households in the village and are mainly agriculturists and also have animal husbandry as there secondary occupation.

 

Scarcity of the lifeline 

The entire water requirement of the village from irrigation to drinking water for Human and animals is mainly supplied from the village pond. Due to the siltation and depreciation of the pond bund the storage capacity of the pond is reduced resulting into huge scarcity of the water available for the villagers. In arrival of the situation irrigation support from the pond water has been stopped and thus the farmers practices rainfed agriculture mainly. With this less availability of green fodder for the livestock of the village had affected the milk production of the village. Due to this single crop a year and with less milk production the economical situation of the villagers was also striking the bell slowly.

Intervention 

DWDU Surendranagar has been implementing Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) in the district and was acting as a district agency for the programme. Sanctioned in the year 2009-10 Navapura village was taken up as project village under IWMP-8 and Wild Ass Sanctuary, Dhrangadhra was appointed as the Project Implementation Agecy (PIA) for the project. IWMP has been working for Soil and Water conservation in a watershed area. As a part of participatory planning De-siltation of the village pond was taken on urgent basis under Entry Point Activity (EPA) head.

 

Outcome 

9193 CM de-siltation was done with in an expenditure of Rs. 3.56 lakhs from IWMP cost and the storage capacity of the village pond was increased to and the bund was strengthened with the excavation. Due to this the availability of water has irrigated near about 80 ha has increased and the total production of cumin were sought highest as near about 600 Qt. from the area the average productivity of the cumin is about 750 Kg/ha which is four times higher than average productivity of the village before the intervention. Out of total household 54 households practicing agriculture in the village and among them 26 farmer are getting irrigation water from the village pond. Before completion of the intervention the average income was near about Rs. 34,000/ ha. from cotton crop and after the availability of irrigation it went up to Rs. 43,500 and cropping pattern of the area has been changed due to availability of irrigation water. It also increased the milk production. Now the availability of fodder for the animal has gone up and it has been observed in increasing of milk production of the village. As per the villages survey, over three – forth of the farmers are found to be benefiting from this De-siltation of the village pond.

Conclusion 

In these two years the project has changed the whole of Navapura from one of abject poverty and underdevelopment to prosperity and on the development path. Today, Navapura is a success story and inspirational model for water conservation measures. These activities have had a major impact on the area; and have changed the face Navapura village. The lost flora and fauna are returning and even the villagers are reaping its benefit. The impact of this project has been manifolds. It has checked soil erosion and has helped the soil to retain its moisture. Also, Fodder and Fuel wood is available a plenty. In fact with each year the prodution has grown and so has the distribution.


“Assessment: The community participation has been the key to the success of Watershed Development Project in the Area. It was ensured all through the implementation of the project that the people’s enthusiasm and interest does not wane away after the initial euphoria. Most importantly, the project functionaries’ from the beginning was a distant spectator, only providing the technical inputs while actual nuisances of design, execution and management was left to the users committee. This micro-level planning has provided people with an opportunity of earning of managing the scheme and also given them the confidence that they can now do the government support. This project has truly been the project of the people, for the people and managed by the people. The project wasteland development project has raised hopes that wasteland can be made fertile and bring about prosperity to the area.”


Contributor: DWDU Surendranagar, Hariom Nirala (Technical Expert)