Adaptation of small scale farmers to climatic risks in India - Sustainet

equipment and machinery). The model was developed for land units of 1-2 hectares under rain-fed
conditions, which previously cultivated cotton. It aims at providing a resilient agro-ecosystem with inbuilt
resistance against seasonal weather variations by careful selection of different crop varieties.
As the total growing period in the area is only 6 months, crops which are able to grow side by side are
necessary. The model uses a combination of cash crops and food crops to diversify the farmers’ food
sources and achieve nutritional security, as well as economic benefits through sales of cash crops.
Table 13 shows the degree of production autonomy of a household achieved after 3 years of “selfreliance”
farming:
Table 13: Degree of self-reliance achieved from one hectare of rain fed dry land - average of three years (2004-
2006)
Crops Family needs per
year (kg)
88
Production from one
hectare (kg)
Cereals (excluding wheat) 302 245 81
Pulses 80 300 374
Spices 27 9 33
Vegetables (for 3.5. months) 50 63 127
Oil seed (for 50 litres of oil) 120 120 100
Other food 10 18 183
Cash crops (cotton, soybean, pigeon
pea)
Cash (from sale of cash crops and
fodder, plus external wages
Source: Chetana Vikas
700
Rs. 11,789
Self-reliance
achieved (%)
With the help of Chetana Vikas, some farmers in Wardha district started practicing the “self-reliance”model.
They experimented with different combinations of crops (6 to 25 crops on one plot) and chose
the one best suited to their farm. One of the farmers, Chirkut, from the village Bonderthana told that he
was able to manage a combination of 25 crops in 1.5 acre of land. The different crops are presented in
Table 14.
88