Livelihood Augmentation in Rainfed Areas - Development Support ...

Farmers practicing organic farming have reported an initial loss in productivity, which
was covered within 2-3 years. After this, the productivity improved and ultimately
outstriped even that of the chemical farming. The cotton farmers in Kutch, aligned
with AGROCEL, a private company with social motives, in order to convert to organic
farming. They were provided seed capital by the Shell Foundation, an international
NGO involved in promoting organic and fair trade value chains. Later, the farms were
certified to be organic and they became an integral part of a unique organic cotton
value chain (See Volume II for the case study).
Technology/Institutions to mitigate production risks
The greatest source of production risk in rainfed areas is the uncertainty of rainfall.
Whereas rainfall is required in measured dozes in critical periods of crop growth,
very often it arrives at the wrong time and with the wrong intensity. Water harvesting
methods practised in watershed treatment can help to provide critical support during
kharif season if rains have failed during the growth stage.
Crops also face the risk of disease and pest attack. Here too, prophylactic measures
like seed treatment to prevent bacterial and viral diseases are helpful. Agronomic
practices like timing the crop to avoid the cycle of the pests are also helpful in
mitigating this risk. Maintaining pest-predator relations, field sanitation, etc., are other
technological measures that farmers can take to prevent or minimize pest attacks.
However, technology alone may not succeed in eliminating the production risks
completely. With the growing problem of climate change, the monsoons are becoming
increasingly more erratic. Innovative weather insurance projects that are being tested
in various rainfed areas of India, may ultimately prove to be a viable solution. Whereas
the growth rate of the Indian economy is related to the quality of the monsoon, the
value of global financial markets are not. Hence, the global financial markets are well
suited to insure this risk (Cole, Tobacman, and Topalova, 2007).
Weather/Rainfall insurance
“Rainfall insurance is a financial contract, which pays policyholders a payout if
accumulated rainfall during a period falls outside pre-specified bands. The contract
specifies a weather station at which rainfall is measured along with start and finish
dates and the payout in case of shortfall and, sometimes, excess rain” (Down to Earth,
January, 2009).
Weather insurance products use weather parameters as proxies for losses in crop
production. Rather than measuring the actual losses, the insurers look at deviations
Watershed Development: From NRM to Livelihood Augmentation
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