Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPOSED ONE ACRE AGRI-HORTICULTURE-
FORESTRY MODEL
The Policy Recommendation regarding FPO formation and
strengthening business prospects of the FPOs are intended to facilitate
organization of farmers as large groups, who will have authority and
bargaining capacity to fix the price of the produce. Try as we may, markets
are volatile and all the factors of risk cannot be nullified. So the models
discussed here incorporate components towards facilitating the farmer
becoming self-reliant in his farm inputs. Therefore, native livestock
becomes a mandatory requirement for the farm. They provide dung,
urine and milk, all of which help the farmer in providing farm inputs and
income. In the agro-forestry model, there is adequate organic content
in the form of leaves and tree litter. This can be used as soil mulch,
fodder for livestock and as an ingredient for preparation of herbal pest
repellants. Thus, the majority of farm inputs, like compost, organic
growth promoters, organic pest repellents and leaf litter for mulch, are
available in the farm itself, through the livestock, trees and no-tillage
farming. This reduces the cost of cultivation significantly. So the income
that is achieved from the produce of the farm becomes the net income. In
addition, if the farmer includes cover-cropping, there will be additional
income from cover-crop produce, additional mulch and reduction in deweeding
expenses.
MULTIPLE FRUIT TREE SPECIES
The multi-fruit crop model proposed involves combination of
varieties like mango, sapota, orange, lemon, guava, pomegranate, amla,
ber, jamun, and jackfruit. The combinations have been worked out taking
into account the compatibility of the crops, canopy of the crops, root
competition aspects, bio-diversity aspects, and economic aspects so as to
achieve an early return on investment while concurrently resulting in a
significant canopy. Poly-culture fruit species have been chosen not only
for complementary reasons, but also to buffer the farmer on account of
unexpected losses in any one species. An important aspect of providing
income stability to the farmers is to choose crops in a manner that reduce
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