SUSTAINING THE SMALL MILLET CROPPING SYSTEMS THROUGH CONTEXT SPECIFIC FARMER-LED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN INDIA

KARTHIKEYAN, M1, PALANISAMY, M.2, PATIL, C. S. P3, SEETHARAM, A4, MANISH, BIJAY, K.N.5, VEDIAPPAN, V.5& NADHIYA, M.5

Presented at the International Food Security Dialogue 2014

“Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and Nutritional Security in a Changing World.”

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Topics covered in this presentation

•Need for this study•Methodology •Results and Discussion•Conclusion •Way forward

Need for this study….

• Malnutrition issues are widely prevalent across South Asia• Among the children under the age of five years in India, 48% have stunted growth, 43% are underweight and 19.8% are wasted. In Nepal also 49% of children under 5 years have stunted growth and 39% have underweight. In Sri Lanka, 22% of married women in the reproductive age group are malnourished.

• Research and epidemiological evidence link the decline in dietary diversity to these health issues

• Small millets are one of the important food groups that had been moved out of the food basket in recent time

Need for the studySmall millets (SMs- Little millet, Finger milllet, Kodo millet, Barnyard millet, Proso millet & Foxtail millet) are known for their superior nutritional qualities in terms of higher micronutrients and dietary fibre and lower glycemic index

Also known for • Ability to grow under harsh environments• Nutritious intercrops and uncultivated edible greensAbility to meet food, income and fodder security

Need for this study

Despites these advantages India witnessed a 76% decrease in total production (except FM) and a steep fall in consumption between 1961 and 2009

Consumption has also consequently declinedGiven the high potential of SMs to contribute to the nutritional security under the prevailing conditions of high levels of undernutrition issues, it is important to sustain these cropping systems

Need for this study

Reasons for decline in production• Low productivity• Site specific varieties were not developed• Drudgery in harvesting, threshing and more particularly

in dehullingAddressing these production constraints can help in

sustaining the SMCS With this objective on-farm research is being attempted

since 2011 in India under an action research project -'Revalorising Small millets in Rainfed Regions of South Asia (RESMISA)'

RESMISA Project Locations

Methodology Context specific, Farmer-led and Gender sensitive methods

were followed which builds on the indigenous knowledge of the farmers and scientific knowledge of the researchers

Why participatory method was followed?

• Diverse nature of the working sites which demand context specific solutions

• To build on the indigenous knowledge

Conceptual framework

Focus of participatory research for SMCS

Three focus areas1) PVS

2) Improved agronomic practices and tools

3) Developing/ improvising suitable harvester, thresher and dehuller

Training to farmers on line sowing- Peraiyur

Line sowing in Jawadhu Hills

Guli method (SCI) of Finger millet cultivation- Anchetty

Results of on-farm production trials in project sites

• Anchetty: Yield increase of 20-27% was possible by topdressing with urea or Jeevamrutham (liquid organic manure)

• Bio-pesticides were equally effective as insecticides in reducing damage by pod borer in field bean and red gram crops.

• Jawathu Hills: Optimum plant population by using seed drill and reducing seed rate resulted in 17% yield advantage; it needs further standardisation

Results of on-farm production trials in project sites

• Peraiyur: MN application did not show much effect on growth and yield in barnyard millet.

• Bero: Guli method recorded 28.8% increased grain yield and 9% increased straw yield over the normal practice;

• Two farmers obtained as high as 17q/ac by Guli method as against about 10 q/ac of their own practice.

Introduction of efficient small tools

• Three types of ploughs (Anchetty, Uthangarai and Tirupathur) were tested in J Hills and based on the preference of the farmers, Thirupathur model was promoted to 220 farmers.

• For selection of good quality seeds from the farm saved seeds, suitable sieve for grading of seeds was developed for each crop and its variety in four sites and disseminated to the farmers

• Thinner and harrows from Anjetty was popularized in J Hills.

• Grain pro bags was introduced for reducing the storage loss of pulses.

Location specific NRM measures identified and popularised

• Silt application for increasing soil fertility and to improve soil structure

• Solar fencing for protecting the crop from wild animals

• Earthen bunding

Research for addressing Harvesting and Dehulling constraints

• Field testing of mechanical harvester• 32 times efficient in terms of time• 32 labour days saving in harvesting of one hectare

• A reaper cum binder was tested for little millet in Jawadhu Hills.

• Improved dehuller developed in the project was field tested in two sites for little millet. • Women in the working sites expressed that the drudgery in milling

is reduced

• Evaluation of ‘Four walker multi-crop thresher’ model in two sites for finger millet and kodo millet• Further fine tuning is needed.

Improved Dehuller for Small Millet

Farmers Participation in the 5 Research sites of India

Male Female

PVS 1435 773

SAK besides on- farm trials

2012 -13 127 36

2013-14 261 248

On farm research trials

2013-14 211 60

NRM 2013 -14 35 248

Conclusion

• PTD approach adopted in the project helped in • Identifying the site specific constraints • Prioritising them for on farm research• Identifying 2-3 potential interventions in each sites• Identifying the areas for improvement of the harvester, thresher

and dehuller.

• PTD also helped in improving the capacity of the farmers in the site for experimentation

• Farmer to farmer training was found to be more effective

Way forward

• Large plot demonstrations combining more than one interventions will be taken

• The identified interventions will be classified into two categories;• 1. Technologies that can be adopted by the farmers on their own &• 2. Technologies that needs support for adoption• Accordingly promoted through farmers organisations. • Credit from SHGs will be appropriately used

• Efforts would be taken to get support from the prevailing government schemes like INSIMP for the identified technologies.

Thank you!