UPL KhedutPragati

UPL Khedutpragati

  • 88% of the population in Dang is directly or indirectly dependent on Agriculture and allied activities for their sustenance.
  • 66% of the agricultural land is situated on slopes with uneven terrain, which determines the agricultural production pattern.
  • Majority of the farmers depend on rain fed irrigation.
  • The agriculture production pattern is slowing changing from traditional coarse grains like Ragi, Kharsani and Tuver to Rice.

 

Given this scenario, multiple agri projects have been taken up under the umbrella of “UPL Khedut Pragati Program. Our initiatives aim to improve the overall well being of the farming community by focusing on the following:

  • Promoting Sustainable Livelihood from agriculture
  • Capacity Building of farmers
  • Improved nutrition for the families
Sustainable Livelihood

UPL Ltd’s agri interventions focus on making farming a sustainable and profitable venture for the farmers through the following:

  • Increase in per acre yield of Paddy
  • Reduction in cost of production
  • Better natural resource management

System of Rice Intensifiation(SRI) is a methodology that encompasses all the above and brings about improvements in land, capital, water and labor simultaneously!

Based on the SRI principle, we have undertaken 2 programs. One is called UPL AKRSP SRI Project, which is implemented in partnership with Aga Khan Rural Support Program. Farmers are trained in SRI technology and quality input (seeds and fertilisers) are provided at the appropriate time. Exposure visits to other SRI farms also helps in improving their understanding of the technology.

This initiative was started in the year 2012 and has been instrumental in improving the financial prospects of 1500 farmers in Dang.

Motivated by the results, we decided to take the interventions to more farmers and villages and hence we started Dang Paddy Development Program in the year 2013. The program follows the SRI methodology in letter and spirit and is benefitting around 350 farmers today in the Dang district.

Our agri intervention strives to build the capacity of the farmers through the following:

  • Dissemination of knowledge and best practices
  • Application of lab technology to farmers land
  • Promoting allied activities like animal husbandry
  • Institutional and infrastructural support

All the agricultural interventions are driven through the farmers group known as UPL Pragati Sheel Farmers Group. Orientation programs, exposure visits and trainings are organized keeping in mind the interest of these groups.

The backbone of the Capacity Building Program is the Farmers’ Training School now known as UPL Centre for Agriculture Excellence. This centre was started in the year 2000 and till date more than 13,000 farmers have benefitted by the various trainings and exposure visits organized by the centre.

UPL Centre for Agriculture Excellence was inaugurated by Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) GOI and Shri Rajjubhai Shroff, CMD, UPL Limited.

Vandri Cluster development project: Vandri is a small cluster located in the Narmada district of Gujarat. 100% of its inhabitants belong to the Scheduled Tribe and are completely dependent on rain fed agriculture for sustenance. However, the village topography is unsuitable for farming; the average rainfall in the region is 1100 mm on an average. Water management systems are nonexistent and hence water cannot be stored for irrigation. Under the KhedutPragati Programme, UPL decided to reach out to the farmers in Vandri and work with them. The following areas have been identified for intervention and work has already started in Vandri.

  • Water Resource Development and Management
    • Building Check Dams, Nala plugging and Bori bund
    • Stone bunding, Farm bund etc.
  • Land development through land levelling and improving the fertility of soil
  • Agriculture Development
    • Provide better quality agri inputs like seeds, fertilizers etc
    • Provide knowledge and skills through trainings, exposure visits, demonstrations etc
  • Formation of community based organisations like Farmers Group, Women SHG, Youth Group
  • Promotion of Micro irrigation system

Global Parli Project

Global Parli is a pilot project of providing 360 degree development to 15 villages in Parli tehsil (Distict- Beed) in Marathawada. The primary goal is to increase the per capita income of 5000 families by 250% in 3 years.

This project is being implemented by “Global Parli” team under the leadership of Mr. Mayank Gandhi. UPL Limited is supporting the Global Parli project to develop replicable model of Rural Rejuvenation by providing financial, technical & management support to the project. The project is working in the given 5 verticals and a lot of development has happened so far.

  • Gram Swaraj: The community has been actively involved in working for their common cause of deepening and widening of rivers. Village administration has improved by leaps and bounds.
  • Social reforms like removal of dowry and reducing alcoholism
  • Water Management through rain water harvesting, recharging public bore wells, deepening and broadening of rivers etc. Work has started to clear the obstructions of the Paapnashi river which flows through all 15 villages.
  • Economy- Economic development through agriculture development, direct-to-consumer marketing, animal husbandry, horticulture, cottage industry, value-addition machineries, storage facilities etc.
  • Human Development through health, education, skill development, job creation, sports etc.

UPL Ltd has taken up the challenge to improve the nutritional value of farmer’s meals along with improving land productivity.

Dang Moringa Development Program and UPL BoriBagicha is a step in this direction.

Moringa (commonly known as Drumstick in English) is a vegetable with the highest nutritional value among many types of food. It is a great source of vitamins A, C, iron, potassium, protein and calcium. We distribute high quality Moringa seeds to interested farmers and help them with plantation. Various meetings are conducted where the benefits of eating Moringa are taught.

Similarly, we promote plantation of BoriBagicha and Kitchen gardens. BoriBagicha is a technology where vegetable plants are grown in plastics bags requiring minimum space. These light weight bags are portable and hence very convenient for kitchen gardening. This program has a twin objective of supplementing nutritional value of tribal homes in Dangs and slowly becoming an alternate source of income too! Seeds of vegetables (belonging to the Cucurbita family having high nutritional value) are distributed to the farmers and training is imparted on the up keep of the kitchen garden.