Report on AID volunteer’s site visit to CHANARD
Yogesh L. Simmhan Periyakulam District, Tamilnadu March 25th 2005
Introduction
This is a report of the site visit to the project proposed by the Center for Human and Natural Resources Development (CHANARD) at Periyakulam District in Tamilnadu. CHANARD had submitted a proposal to AID Bloomington to impart organic farming training to farmers in 15 villages in this district. The core aspect of this project was holding workshops that teach vermi-composting – using of fertilizers generated by worms feeding on organic waste – instead of chemical fertilizers. The project committee of AID Bloomington, of which I am part of, had taken a positive view of the project based on the proposals and a series of question-answer interchanges that we’d had with the NGO. My visit was intended to provide the committee with an onsite evaluation of the NGO, the work they have already done, and their capability to undertake this project.
The Trip
From Chennai, I talked to Mr. P. Krishnamoorthy, the secretary and our liaison with CHANARD, about the site visit I wanted to undertake. He was enthusiastic about the idea and furnished details on how I should get from Dindugul – the nearest railway station – to Batlagundu (Vatalagundu in Tamil) where their head office was located. We decided on Saturday, 25th March 2005 as the date of my visit and he agreed to meet me at the Batlagundu bus stand. I reach Dindugul Junction at the wee hour of 4:50AM on the 25th March 2005 took the bus to Batlagundu, reaching there at 5:45AM. I rendezvoused with Krishnamoorthy and two of his colleagues – Mr. M. Thangamuthu, the Executive Director of CHANARD, and Dr. R. P. Maruthamalai, the technical coordinator for the project. We visited their office at Batlagundu and they presented their official documents (Tamil Nadu NGO registration, FCRA clearance, Audit reports, press clippings, etc. – copies enclosed with this report) and gave an overview of their primary projects. We then visited 4 villages in succession where CHANARD is active and form part of the 15 villages in the Theni district where the project is to be undertaken. These plots were at Pullakapatty, Erumalainayakkampatty, XXXPatty (I missed the name of the village, and hence refer to it as this), and Bomminayakkampatty, all of them within 45mins by car from Batlagundu. I interacted with the farmers whose lands had been identified in these villages for constructing the vermi-compost pits. In Erumalainayakkampatty, I also talked with the members of the SHG in that village. In between, we also visited the location of a commercial vermi-compost yard and talked to the lady managing that facility. We finally
visited another office of CHANARD at Periyakulam village where we went over some details of CHANARD’s proposal. I left by about 1PM from there to Batlagundu bus stand, and onwards to Trichy for a personal visit. The following sections are the essence of what I gathered from these conversations. For a chronological list, refer to the transcript of my conversations (attached). I’ve given relevant citations within curly braces {}.
CHANARD and their activities
CHANARD has been a registered NGO since 1996 {records attached}. They operate in the Theni district and seem to have a good reputation with the villagers there. Their primary impact in the region is through projects implemented through funding from the Tamilnadu and other government agencies as part of their rural development schemes. These include the TN “Mahalir Thittam” (Women’s Self Help Group – SHG) [2003], TN Comprehensive wasteland development [2001], TN Integrated water development [2004], and NABARD’s Integrated wasteland development [2005]. Many of these projects are funded for 3-5 years. They have also received funding from private groups such as the Voluntary Health Services (VHS), Chennai in their US-AID funded AIDS awareness project [2003] {records attached}. They have also conducted smaller projects on health awareness and setting up bus shelters {press clippings from vernacular newspapers attached, personal inspection}. All said they seem to have a good presence in this district. According to them, there are only a few other big NGOs in Theni and Pariyakulam – Community Development Center (CDC), Vaigai network, RTU (Reading to Un…), and a group at a local college. They also seem to be on good terms with the local government officials, quite likely because they are significantly funded by the TN government.
CHANARD and agriculture
This region is primarily an agricultural belt and I noticed no large industries except a few spinning mills. Farmers form the main chunk of the population. A village has between 750 to 2000 acre of farm lands with less than 1000 farmer families {farmer X}. Each farmer holds between 1 to 30 acres – with those with 30 acres very few. The primary crops are cotton, paddy, sugarcane, vegetables like brinjal (egg plant) and lady’s finger (okra). These are sold in the Otanchataram village which has a huge market, in the nearer Batlagundu market, or in Kerala since this district is on the TN-Kerala border. CHANARD is the nodal NGO agency implementing the government agricultural schemes in this district and they have worked with many of these farmers in implementing the wasteland development and watershed development projects {chanard, records attached}. The intention of these projects is to bring in unused lands into cultivation and provide employment to farmers. Of this, they identify fallow lands that have not been cultivated for the past 3 years due to the unfertile nature of the soil or lack of water availability, or if the paddy yield from the land is less than 300 Kgs per acre. CHANARD has done surveys in this region to identify these lands. Then the government
provides funds to drill borewells and install pumps in these lands the water from which are shared by a few farmers (1 borewell for 10 hectares). The farmers may provide additional capital to dig deeper borewells or provide more powerful motors. Once they put in their money too, their involvement and cooperation increases. Then sturdy, drought tolerant plants such as amla, cashew, jathropa, and herbal medicinal plants are provided from government nurseries to the farmers. CHANARD is given an annual target by TN government in this scheme and they have so far brought in 1300 hectares of wasteland under cultivation {chanard, corroborated by farmers}. They are in-charge of promoting awareness, identifying farmlands and farmers, contracting borewells, supplying seeds, saplings, and fertilizers, and providing scientific help in growing the plants. All of this is funded or subsidized by the government. For this, CHANARD has a team of about 5-6 members with Diploma in Agriculture who travel in that region and help the farmers on a regular basis. They also solicit help from the government Horticultural College in that area. Overall, its my opinion that CHANARD has a good rapport with the local farmers in that district due to the various government schemes that they implement.
CHANARD and the SHGs
CHANARD has also been appointed the NGO responsible for implementing the TN Women’s Self Help Group (SHG) project or “Mahalir Thittam” {chanard, records attached}. The TN government has training centers in nearby towns and villages that impart management skills like entrepreneurship development, dealership training, and group management, and also income-generation skills like making herbal medicine, and sanitary napkins {chanard, SHG member Y}. Once trained and established, they are provided with subsidized loans (8.5% per annum) matching the funds they themselves raise, to the tune of about Rs. 1.5 lakhs (Rs. 150,000) repayable over 2 years {chanard}. CHANARD has started these SHGs in 2003 and setup 352 SHGs in this region. CHANARD is also coordinating the activity and training of the women on a constant basis {chanard}. There are 12 members in each “sangha” or group, and about 3 sangha per village {SHG member Y}. In their 1 year of existence, the women have managed to get management training and some income-generation training. They have currently raised Rs. 10,000 and been given Rs. 3000 per person as initial loan. With this, they have put their skills to manufacture and market herbal medicine within the village itself and at monthly melas where different SHGs bring their product to one place and sell them. They are hoping to get additional loan allocation from the government next year so that they can expand their activity. Using this form of micro-finance, they use their saving and loans from the government as seed money. Some of the other activities that some women have been given training in are rabbit and turkey farming, running Public Distribution System, mushroom farming, running a nursery, preparing simple chemicals like Phenoyl and washing powder. In addition to the SHG, CHANARD has also worked with the younger girls in providing them computer training and tailoring classes {CHANARD}. The women I met were very enthusiastic about the SHG they were running. They were all wives of farmers. While they may not have achieved much other than getting training
over the past year, they feel confident of growing over time. Since all the SHGs are managed CHANARD, there will hopefully be good interaction between these groups and they can take up coordinated production and marketing activities.
Vermi-composting at the Commercial Plant
I had a first hand experience of vermi-composting when we visited a commercial vermicompost setup at one of the villages in Theni district. The lady managing the company has a B.Sc. (Agriculture) and she was able to provide a lot of independent information on vermi-composting which is given below in this section. They have been running the plant for 4 years so far and their customers are mainly big farms in Kerala. Dr. Maruthamalai from CHANARD also gave a scientific description of the technique at this vermicompost manufacturing facility. The CHANARD group and the commercial company seem to interact occasionally and exchange ideas. The commercial setup uses pits of about 20’x4’x2’ that have concrete sides and are open on to the ground at the bottom. These pits have a lifetime of about 10 years. The get organic waste material from the dung of goats and poultry that they grow, and they also buy green (plant) waste from outside sources since they themselves do not grow plants. Any kind of waste physically generated by plants – plant stems after harvesting, leaves, coconut branches, weeds – and animal refuse from cattle and poultry can be used for composting. Processed waste like paper, plastic, metal, etc. should not be used since the worms cannot feed on them and they may even die. The organic waste has to be decomposed so that they are edible by the worms. For this, the waste has to be slightly dried and then watered for a week or so before they are in compost form that the worms eat. Vermi-composting is the excreta of earth worms when they feed on organic waste material. There are two types of worms: thick, big worms that sounded like “Bigwee” or “Uridilus” and small thin ones called Ithenia. Big worms are more prone to being killed when mishandled – as might happen when the farmer adds more compost material or removes the vermi-compost. The smaller ones are more sturdy and are good survivours. The big worms produce vermi-compost of larger granule size and pore sizes while the small worms produce smaller granules. Apparently, smaller granule size allows better absorption of nutrients in the vermi-compost. The feeding capacity of the smaller worms is also supposed to be higher and more evenly distributed across the waste in the pit. Also, the big worms have a habit of coming out of the pit to the open when it starts to rain! Due to these factors, CHANARD is planning to use the smaller worms in their demonstration plots. The commercial plant that is operating has pits with both these types of worms. One difference between the two worms is their feeding habit. The big worms feed from the top of the waste to the bottom and leave behind layers of vermi-compost on the top. All the waste can be added at the beginning and the compost collected as soon as it is created. The small worms eat waste from the bottom to the top of the pit and the organic waste will have to be added 3 inches deep at a time. Once the worms have eaten the 3 inches and come to the surface, another 3 inches of waste is added and so on. The vermicompost will be collected once the entire depth of the pit has been filled 3 inches at a time.
The pit will have to be maintained in a shade for the worm population to survive. The pit will also have to be watered regularly to keep it moist and allow for proper decomposition. At the same time, water should not stagnate at the bottom but seep through, hence the bottom of the pit is not plastered. About 50 litres of water is required per day for one pit. The rate at which the waste is consumed depends on the density of the worms in the pit. It is also necessary to regulate the addition of feed material to ensure all the waste is consumed and converted to vermi-compost. About 2Kg per square foot of waste in the pit would be ideal. In their experience, the yield from 1 tonne of organic waste is about ½ tonne of vermi-compost. One cycle in their pit can generate about 2 tonnes in 60 days. They can start harvesting the vermi-compost even staring from 15 days in the case of the big worms that feed from top to bottom leaving behind the vermicompost on top. We find out that the compost is ready when we get an “earthy” smell (like upon the first raindrops fall on the ground). The quality of the compost depends on the kinds of organic waste that used and whether the worms consumed all of them evenly. If some parts of the waste were not eaten, then it reduces the concentration of nutrients. The worms have a lifetime of 90 days and they reproduce during their lifecycle. It takes an egg 20 days to hatch and attain the capacity to consume the waste. When the compost is ready, then the worms are attracted out of the pit by keeping some jaggery by the side of the pit. The worms are collected in a bucket and the compost harvested. These worms can then be used in the next waste cycle and they are self-sustaining. The commercial plant has 24 pits and they generate 200 tonnes per year. Not all pits are used all the time since it depends on demand and they use some pits for sieving and packaging the vermi-compost. The main running cost for their setup is in buying and transporting the organic waste, and to a lesser extent, supplying water to the pits. It costs them Rs. 2000 to produce 1 tonne of vermi-compost and they sell if form between Rs.3000 to Rs. 4000 per tonne. Another product called vermi-wash is also produced by this company. This consists of mixing a concentrated layer of vermi-compost with water to get a liquid form of the vermi-compost. This is also sold by them so that it can be sprayed on plants. The quantity of vermi-compost required depends on the type of crop it is being applied to. For example, rice requires about 350 Kg per acre. Applying more fertilizer will give better yield. When applying organic fertilizers like vermi-compost to the land for the first time, the amount of fertilizer required will be more. This allows a faster recharging of the many nutrients that are absent in the soil due to the earlier use of chemical fertilizers. Once organic fertilizer has been used for a few years, the dosage can be reduced. It is also important to use organic pesticides like need oil, need compost, and other herbal organic pesticides. These they produce and sell for about Rs. 10 per Kg. One challenge that the lady sees in getting farmers to use vermi-compost is in changing their existing mindset. Big farmers in the Theni district and adjoining Kambam district have started adopting organic farming but the small farmers have not yet. She feels strong awareness program need to be started and the farmers shown the effectiveness of organic farming before vermi-composting will catch on with them.
Interaction with Farmers
The first farmer I met was Mr. Ramar at the Pullakapatti block. He cultivates about 2.5 acres but has more lands (few acres) adjoining and shared between 3 brothers that is uncultivated. I would categorize him as falling under the 5-10 acre ownership category. He is a professional photographer who has graduated from the Hyderabad movie institute but has undertaken farming in his lands in the past 3 years. While he checks the weekly activities, he does not work hands-on in the field and he has a labourer family living in the farm who manage the farm. Other labourers are hired as necessary for working on the farm. He has one borewell (I think from the government’s wasteland development project) and the water is shared between multiple farms owned by the brothers. He cultivates paddy, sesame, “kira-nelli”, brinjal, tomato, herbal plants, and coconut trees. He has one pair of bullocks to till the farmland. He has no loans on the land and earns about Rs. 20,000 or more profits per year from this agriculture. He has been cooperating with CHANARD in their other agricultural projects and has a good impression of them. He feels CHANARD’s field workers are enthusiastic and help the farmers by providing fertilizers and saplings (through the government scheme) and monitoring the growth of the plants using progress cards. There are about 8 farmers nearby and they all interact and exchange agricultural information. If a CHANARD fieldworker comes, they drop by to share information and get questions answered. Mr. Ramar’s land has been selected as one of the sites to put the demo pit on. The second farmer I met was Mr. Devakandan who has a farm in Sathakapatty but resides in the adjoining Erumalainayakkampatty. He has 16 acres of land he and works fulltime in the land himself. He has received a borewell connection with the help of CHANARD through the TN wasteland development program. Though he has sunk twelve borewells of his own, only this government sponsored well gives good water yield. He has also been the head of a local farmers association many years back and seems to be a progressive farmer who tries out new techniques. He has even procured genetically-modified (GM) cotton seeds (Bol-Cotton from Monsanto) through private seed vendors and finds their yield good. He knows that GM seeds may be risky but is trying it nonetheless due to better yield. He has been also been advised by the Amakapatty TN village agriculture department about the benefits of organic farming and had tried to use organic pesticides in the form of Neem oil. He used it for 2 months but in the third month, the number of insects was unmanageable and he switched back to chemical pesticides. He uses 14 different types of chemical sprays. Due to this bad experience earlier, he is skeptical about using organic techniques, but he is willing to try it out under the guidance of CHANARD. He sees the analogy that by using chemical fertilizers, the plants have become “drunkards” and addicted to it. Organic farming is necessary to wean them away from this “drunkenness”. He is also willing to have other farmers visit the demo plot. He feels if the results from the demo plot are positive, then many farmers will start adopting it. The third farmer I met was Mr. Srinivasan from a village whose name I did not record. He is a marginal farmer (less land holding) with just 2 acres of land. He has currently planted green chillis and cotton. He has been farming for more than 10 years so far and
has four bullocks in the land. He also has two borewells. He has a portion of land shaded under coconut trees which has been identified as a site for the vermi-compost pit. The final farmer I met with was Mr. Mani and Mr. Thangaiyya from Bomminayakkampatty village. They have 3 acres and 2.15 acres respectively. They grow chilli and cotton in their farm. They see that the chemical fertilizers cause the chillies to droop and fall off in the hest. The government agriculture officials have suggested to them to use organic farming techniques but have not teold them how to go about doing it. They have tried Neem as a form of pesticide and have used regular compost occasionally, but not vermi-compost. The farmers in their village have between 2 and 8 acres of land.
CHANARD and Vermi-composting
The information in this section about implementing the project was given by CHANARD’s personnel during the site visit. CHANARD has been working with many farmers as part of their wasteland development project. They want to introduce organic farming through vermi-compost by leveraging the farmer base established in different villages for their other current and previous projects. They have taken a participatory approach in those projects whereby CHANARD provides the infrastructure and guidance while the farmers provide labour and agrees to manage their farms according to CHANARD’s instructions. It is important for this project that the farmers see for themselves the benefits of organic farming. The farmers having the demo pit have to set aside ½ to 1 acre of land in which the vermi-compost can be applied properly and no chemical fertilizers will be used. They will have to follow CHANARD’s instructions on what crops to plan and how to maintain them. There has to be a basal application (under the ground when planting) and also top dressing on he surface. In addition, only organic pesticides should be used. This way, by comparing the yield from the organic farming to those using chemical fertilizers, they can know the exact benefits and also the cost savings in not purchasing chemical fertilizers. Once the success has been shown in one farm, it will be easy to replicate the model in other farms. There are different aspects of vermi-composting that the farmers have to be taught. The pits have to be placed in a shaded region. They can use existing shade under trees for this or create temporary thatched roofs over the pits. The pit has to be near water source so that it can be watered regularly. They have to be taught to select proper biomass available in the farm that can be used for composting. For example, currently they throw away the shoots of paddy once the crop is cultivated. But this can be dried and partially decomposed to form feed for the worms in the pit. 1 acre of paddy gives 20 tonnes of green waste. Weeds are a big problem in the farms. These weeds can be put to use by plucking them and decomposing them for use as input to the vermi-compost pit. Using chemical pesticides or fertilizers along with organic fertilizers makes the use of organic go waste. So they have to be taught to exclusively use organic to reap the full benefits. Continuous use of organic fertilizers will recharge the land and they can reduce its usage over the years and still get good yield. They want to select different blends of farmers – marginal farmers with less land, and also progressive farmers with more land and willing to try new techniques. They are
willing to discuss with us the ratio of marginal farmers to larger farmers. They also want to select farmers who take regular interest in their farmland and not just attend to their land occasionally. They want to select experienced farmers they have already worked with so that the interaction will be easier. The farmers will also have to have proper facilities available to make vermi-composting a success. Having cattle, shade, water supply, and organic waste sources in the farm are important. Also, farmers whose wives play an active role in the SHGs will be preferred since the SHG can assist the farmer in preparing and marketing the compost. For now, they have already identified sites in the 15 villages for these demo plots. It takes about 5 months to setup the initial vermi-compost pits and get 2-3 batches of organic fertilizers that can be used on the plants. By then, looking at the yield, the other farmers learning from the demo plot will get an idea of its benefits. They can then be assisted in starting vermi-compost pits in their own land. Wasteland development already has farmers associations. CHANARD will start similar associations for vermi-composting to spread awareness. Once vermi-compost becomes popular and the farms start producing more output than required for their lands, the SHGs can step in. They can help to create demand with other farmers in the village and outside villages and start marketing the organic compost. The following is their chronological plan of actions when they get funding: Months 0-5 Training on micro-compost and capacity building for 2 people (1 field staff + 1 assistant) from CHANARD coordinated by Dr. Maduramalai. Training provided at TN Horticultural college and other locations. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) where resource maps, seasonal diagrams, and matrices are developed by CHANARD field staff and the villagers interactively. One takes place at each village. Form farmers association comprising of known farmers and those who were enthusiastic during the PRA, and the local SHG members. CHANARD field staff and assistant give theory and practical training to the farmers by showing existing vermi-compost plot (like the commercial plant?).
Months 6-12 Build the demo plots and prepare 5 batches of vermi-compost. Starting program in July is ideal to time it properly with the monsoons. For the first year that the demo plots start producing vermi-compost, it will be exclusively applied to the ½ acre test farmland in the farmer whose land the pit is present. Chemical fertilizers will be used in other parts of his land to see the comparison. After the first year, the vermi-compost produced could be shared among the farmer’s association. Maintaining the demo-pit by controlling worm population, keeping the moisture, feeding the worms and harvesting the vermi-compost will be taught.
Simultaneously, training on applying vermi-compost, preparing vermi-wash and using it with irrigation, preparing bio-pesticides will be given. The SHGs can help with harvesting the vermi-compost and they can later even lease these pits from the farmers when they take up marketing.
About the budget and costs, they said we can negotiate any scheme that is suitable to both AID and CHANARD. For example, for the first batch of demo plots, AID could bear the entire cost. For extending the program in the next stage, the farmers and AID could both pool in funds.
Personal Evaluation
Pros CHANARD has a network of 40 personnel working among different projects. Some of them have Diplomas in Agriculture while others are trained. They also have access to experts like Dr. Marudamalai who has good scientific knowledge. Some of them have been onlookers in another external vermicompost project Kariapatty near Madurai. Dr. Marudamalai has also worked with an organic certification agency. They have the commercial vermi-compost plant nearby and the lady there seemed quite helpful. While the government agriculture officials have mentioned about organic farming, there is not targeted project by the TN government in that area for organic farming. CHANARD does not expect such a government project to start in the next few years. NGOs which work extensively in that area have a better reach and can be more effective in promoting such projects. Cons One of the main challenges of this project is to change the perceptions of the farmers that chemical fertilizers may be bad but they get short-term results. In most cases, farmers are more convinced by practical proof than by theoretical arguments. So to expect success, the demo plots using the organic fertilizers should produce a better yield. The problem of using chemical pesticides may be harder to tackle than fertilizers since the farmers I talked to feel that organic pesticides are not as good as chemical ones. So a proper plan for teaching effective organic pesticides should also be incorporated in the project, and this is absent right now. There has to be a clear policy on which farmer group is out target group and how the selection of farmers for the demo plot is done. No particular clique should get preferential benefits of having the pit constructed in their farms. It should also be clear on what is expected in return for constructing the pit in their farm – not just as a tool for teaching, but also in how the vermi-compost that is produced in that pit is shared. The key to this project is to have the knowledge propagated across the villages. There should be a explicit evaluation criteria on the progress, implementation, and success of the project. E.g. Progress: take an attendance of farmers attending each workshops and the practical training at the pits; Implementation: what is the yield from the vermicompost pits and what is the relative yields from the farms using them and chemicals;
Success: how many farmers have taken up vermi-composting after 6 months, 1 year, and 18 months. The effectiveness of large-scale production and marketing of the vermi-compost remains to be seen. The lady at the commercial plant felt that the yield from a pit would be sufficient only for that farm and not enough to sell. While that may possibly be a reaction to a potential competition to their business, only after the pits produce a few batches of vermi-compost and their usage pattern is determined will we know if they have any marketability. Of course, the SHGs are already formed and available, so it may turn out to be a harmless experiment and mutually beneficial. Its success could be a criteria for the project’s success, though to a lesser extent. CHANARD is currently involved in at least 3 projects related to agriculture and SHGs. The resource allocation for this project should be made clear so that AID does not end up paying for the same work done by a person for two different projects. This may be hard to judge. Attachments Photocopies of CHANARD’s original registration documents and press clippings Raw transcript of conversations during the site visit (voice files available on request) Photographs from the visit