Annual
Report 2018-19
Menu
Introduction Early Childhood Development Education Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Livelihood Skill Development New Interventions Community Strengthening Financial data Board of Trustees, Partners & Donors
Abbreviations/ Acronyms

Livelihood – Programme

Kalike engaged with small & marginal farmers across 50 villages to enhance their agricultural productivity. We have set out to build a robust community-based extension system so as to increase the community’s risk-taking ability and strengthen the value chain for Kharif and Rabi seasons.

Highlights

  1. Intervention implemented in 50 villages (with a cumulative reach of 8,000 farmers)
  2. Technical partnerships forged with expert institutions such as the University of Agricultural Science-Raichur, Krushi Vigyana Kendra-Kavadimatti, Agricultural College- Bheemarayanagudi, Department of Agriculture and Horticulture
  3. Improving Crop Yield: three major crops were selected and monitored, timely inputs offered in field day visits and 641 Kharif and 725 Rabi crop demonstration plots set up
  4. 19 field day events conducted for beneficiaries across three major crop types
  5. Dairy Milk Co-operative Society was inaugurated and milk production boosted from 40 to 100 litres per day from 150 member families
  6. Soil and Water Conservation: sessions reached 3000 armers and taught techniques for farm ponds, micro-irrigation, de-silting, reviving catchments and traditional water bodies. Two clusters for developing pilot watersheds were identified as well
  7. Establishment of a Village Information Centre (VIC) to facilitate seasonal trainings
  8. Custom Hiring Centre (CRC) at Konkal benefitting 246 farmers

Farmer Groups

Intervention implemented in 50 villages with a cumulative reach of 8,000 farmers

The implementation strategy included forming a network of Farmer Groups (FGs) wherein 15 – 20 farmers combine to form a single FG whose key roles are:

(a) Sensitisation and awareness building
(b) Trainings based on Package of Practices (PoPs)
(c) Inputs on new technologies

The role of a FG is to strengthen the existing government scheme. Village Resource Persons (VRPs) function as an extended arm of Kalike at grassroots level and work closely with FGs through VICs setup by Kalike. In the coming year, we plan to federate these FGs at block level into Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) to provide end to end market linkage.

Case Study

Kalike augmented the implementation of Government’s concept of a Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) in Konkal through an innovative step. CHC has been set up in response to the farmers’ need for agricultural implements. While, the equipment was in place, local farmers had to rely on richer farmers for transport to and from the fields. To mitigate this, we took critical decisions and secured a tractor as well as a driver ensuring the equipment was equally accessible by all. It has emerged as a best practice in the Livelihood intervention

The CHC also has hired a centre manager for enhanced functionality. The centre has been such a valuable asset to its farmer beneficiaries that the latter have requested the addition of additional and varied equipment such as seed drills, cultivators and ploughs. The centre maintains its relevance by consistently responding to dynamic needs of the agricultural community here. The team conducted a cost analysis, and found that the farmers’ input costs have significantly reduced by as much as 20% as a direct result of fixed and subsidised rates of equipment. This enlarges their profit margin considerably.

The secretory of the local Farmers’ Co-operative, Mr. Gurunath Reddy, has appreciated the CHC’s services, and has suggested that we invest in more equipment to meet the growing demand. Certainly a promising indicator of the future and success of Kalike’s CHC.