Agricultural & Allied Activities

Decreasing expenditure
To reduce the use of costly inputs such as water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the society promotes drip irrigation, integrated nutrient management and integrated pest management. For example, farmers can fertilize their fields with vermi-compost, an easy-to-make mixture of organic matter and worm castings, which is both cheaper and more effective than chemical fertilizers.

Increasing agricultural output
Farmers can increase production and improve quality by adopting simple practices such as:

• Using better quality seeds
• Chiselling, to improve water penetration into the soil
• Raised-bed cultivation, to increase yields
• Intercropping, for optimal use of land

Promoting other on-farm opportunities
The society spreads awareness about how the farmers can enhance their income by diversifying crops, paying closer attention to crop quality and spoilage concerns, undertaking horticultural production, and collectively developing common lands.

Developing farmers’ groups and linkages
To organize farmers into associations enables them to increase their negotiating power and to directly link up with market retailers. As a result the farmers are able to capture a larger portion of the final retail price. This system also reduces spoilage as the produce is collected at the farms by the retailer.

Livelihood Advancement
Agriculture continues to be the mainstay of the Indian economy, with one third of the population depending on the sector directly or indirectly. However, the challenges that the agricultural sector is facing today are quite different from those in the earlier decades. The number of people engaged in agriculture is decreasing due to a decline in profitability, therefore there is an urgent need to create mass employment in the rural non-farm sector by introducing education and new skill sets.

The Livelihood Advancement program focuses on providing market oriented, demand driven livelihood skills training to the youth and women.

Vocational Training
The society's goal is to set up a state-of-the-art vocational training center. Computer literacy and spoken English are key requirements for good jobs and therefore, the Foundation has started computer and spoken English centers in the villages.

Micro enterprise Development
Self Help Groups of women are formed to inculcate the practice of saving and help them set up micro enterprises. Producer groups of women are trained and formed to make embroidered garments and bags. Market linkages are being established with financial institutions to access loans to start or expand micro enterprises.

DISTRICT EMPLOYMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT (DEEDS)
The basic objective of the DEEDS would be to equip rural youths with marketable skills to enhance their capacity to secure employment in the organized sector and set up micro-enterprises for self-employment with adequate income generation. This skill development programme would be an integral part of SGSY and training would be provided on the basis of market demand and potential market opportunities.

Target Group

• All rural youth above the age of 16 belonging to BPL households irrespective of their educational attainment.
• Coverage of SCs/STs should be at least equal to their population share in the district as per 2001 census.
• One third of the trainees reserved for women.
• Literate with minimum qualification from 8 to 10th pass

PROJECT LOCATION:
State – Chatisgarh
Districts – Raigarh, Jashpur
Covering Block – 29 blocks

DURATION OF PROJECT:
Since the training programmes to be covered under the special projects, these special projects would be of duration ranging from three to nine months, maximum permissible duration for a special project is Two years after commencement of the project (allowing for adequate slack time for start up activities, project completion formalities like documentation, audit, etc.)