A compendium of Technologies, Practices, Services and Policies for Scaling Climate Smart Agriculture in Odisha (India)

Stakeholders engaged in agricultural research for development (AR4D) are increasingly tackling risks associated with climate change in smallholder systems. Accordingly, development and scaling of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) are one of the priorities for all the organizations, departments and ministries associated with the farm sector. Having a ‘one-stop-shop’ compiled in the format of a compendium for CSA technologies, practices and services would therefore serve a guide for all the stakeholders for scaling CSA in smallholder systems. Bringing out a Compendium on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) for Odisha, India was therefore thought of during the workshop on ‘Scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture in Odisha’ organized at Bhubaneswar on 18-19 July 2018 by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in collaboration with Department of Agriculture (DoA) & Farmers’ Empowerment, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Rice Research Institute (ICAR-NRRI), Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) & International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) under the aegis of CGIAR Research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The main objectives to bring forth this compendium are: to argue the case for agriculture policies and practices that are climate-smart; to raise awareness of what can be done to make agriculture policies and practices climatesmart; and to provide practical guidance and recommendations that are well referenced and, wherever possible, based on lessons learned from practical action. CSA programmes are unlikely to be effective unless their implementation is supported by sound policies and institutions. It is therefore important to enhance institutional capacities in order to implement and replicate CSA strategies. Institutions are vital to agricultural development as well as the realisation of resilient livelihoods.They are not only a tool for farmers and decision-makers, but are also the main conduit through which CSA practices can be scaled up and sustained. The focus in this compendium is on CSA and it’s relevant aspects, i.e., (i) technologies and practices, (ii) services, (iii) technology targeting, (iv) business models, (v) capacity building, and (vi) policies. The approaches and tools available in the compendium span from face-to-face technicianfarmer dialogues to more structured exchanges of online and offline e-learning. In every scenario it is clear that tailoring to local expectations and needs is key. In particular, the voice of farmers is essential to be captured as they are the key actors to promote sustainable agriculture, and their issues need to be prioritized. CSA practices are expected to sustainably increase productivity and resilience (adaptation), reduce Greenhouse Gases (mitigation), and enhance achievement of national food security along with sustainable development goals. CSA is widely expected to contribute towards achieving these objectives and enhance climate change adaptation. CSA practices have to be included in State’s Climate Policy as a priority intervention as the state steps up efforts to tackle climate change. Furthermore, emphasis shoud be laid on CSA training for a sustainable mode to enhance CSA adoption in the state hence the relevance of developing this document. The adaption of climate related knowledge, technologies and practices to local conditions, promoting joint learning by farmers, researchers, rural advisor and widely disseminating CSA practices, is critical. This compendium brings together a collection of experiences from different stakeholders with background of agricultural extension and rural advisory services in supporting CSA. The contributions are not intended to be state-of-the art academic articles but thought and discussion pieces of work in progress. The compendium itself is a ‘living‘ document which is intended to be revised periodically

Research on organic agriculture in the Netherlands : organisation, methodology and results

Chapters: 1. Organic agriculture in the Netherlands; 2. Dutch research on organic agriculture: approaches and characteristics; 3. Dutch knowledge infrastructure for organic agricultur'; 4. Sustainable systems; 5. Good soil: a good start; 6. Robust varieties and vigorous propagation material; 7. Prevention and control of weeds, pests and diseases; 8. Health and welfare of organic livestock; 9. Animal production and feeding; 10. Special branches: organic greenhouse production, bulbs, ornamentals and aquaculture; 11. Healthfulness and quality of products; 12. Economy, market and chain; 13. People and society. A publication of Wageningen UR and Louis Bolk Institut

EFRC Bulletin 76 January 2005. With technical Updates from the Organic Advisory Service

The regular report from Elm Farm Research Centre - the Organic Research Centre in the UK - covering its own research and information and that of other relevant issue

Overview on the current organizational models for cultivar testing for Organic Agriculture over some EU countries.

Variety trials are an important way to evaluate the suitability of existing varieties (conventional, organic, landraces, heirloom, etc.) for organic farming, and are a necessary step in plant breeding and variety registration. However, it is essential that beside on-stations trials, varieties are also tested on-farm in different climatic regions as this gives more accurate and realistic variety performance assessment (Lyon et. al. 2019). Varieties of different crop species are in service to various stakeholders. Thus, their involvement may play an important role in variety trials. They could contribute, with knowledge, seed material in kind or financial support, to build cost-effective variety testing models also for crops that are not grown on a large scale and have small market share. In the report evaluation of different organic variety trials for pre- and post-registration as well as VCU across 15 EU countries (for arable incl. forage, vegetable and fruit crops) is presented through 4 main criteria (trial setup, organizational model, dissemination of results and financial model). Through the range of organizational models of variety trials there were some that were mainly governmentally supported and involving researchers, others that have strong engagement of breeders and seed companies, or are done within seed companies, and some that are running just if project financing is available or some that are mainly established by farmers and done on voluntary basis. Organizational models of variety trials have quite complex nature and therefore, it is not possible to give a general recipe for establishing successful variety trials network. Institutes or initiatives organize trials depending on different socio-economic conditions, such as financial possibilities, economic importance of the crop in the country, chain actors’ engagements, organic sector development, existing trial infrastructure etc. In the report, SWOT analysis of different organizational model groups give better understanding of pros and cons of the different systems and show necessary infrastructure for different models. These analyses will serve as a base for development of guidelines for on-farm trials models that are low budget, with alternative financing and new infrastructures

Child Bondage Continues in Indian Cotton Supply Chain: More than 400,000 Children in India Involved in Hybrid Cottonseed Cultivation

The study was commissioned by OECD Watch, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (DWHH), India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN), Eine Welt Netz NRW (EWN NRW), and International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF)This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.ILRF_ChildBondage_India_2007.pdf: 226 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Kollo – Fakara, Niger (NI0111)

The village baseline study of Tigo Zéno village in the CCAFS benchmark site Fakara in Niger took place from 23 to 25 of June 2011. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for men and women. Tigo Zéno’s natural resources are degraded, with sparse tree population. Water is scarce and temporary, the farmlands have eroded, and soil is infertile with low productivity. People are particularly concerned about the presence and expansion of gullies (“koris”) that have created uncultivable areas, major declines in soil fertility, destruction of crops during serious overflow of ponds and heavy rainfall, and significant reduction in the size of farmlands, especially those belonging to women, who have smaller farmlands than men

Unlocking the potential of contract farming: lessons from Ghana

This paper analyses sorghum contract farming in north-east Ghana in order to explore ways of making such arrangements viable for small farmers. The analysis draws on the convergence of sciences approach, which sees both science and social relations (interactions among the relevant stakeholders) as important for developing small farmer-relevant agricultural innovations (technology, procedures, new forms of organisation). The study reveals that the failure and problems encountered in this particular contracting scheme were both technical and institutional. The technical issues were a combination of pest problems, the environment and the sorghum variety chosen. The institutional issues involved the contractual arrangements and relations between the contracting parties. The authors argue that if contracts are to be fair, they must allow for compensation, contingencies and production risks. But scientific knowledge is required in order to adequately incorporate these elements

Enacting “Technology” and Everything Else: Gendered Practices and the System of Crop Intensification

This dissertation is a qualitative examination of the functioning of a rural development project in a Himalayan region of India, with a special focus on a particular project activity centred around an agro-ecological method of crop production, the System of Crop Intensification (SCI). Environmental changes and disasters along with rapid transformations in the rural economy in Uttarakhand has engendered a renewed interest in non-mainstream farming practices. However, the success and/or failure rates of adoption of new agricultural methods and technologies remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Studies of adoption rates tend to focus on the aspects of the technology itself, rather than its social life. Drawing from science, technology and society studies, agrarian studies, scholarship on rural livelihoods, political ecology, gender studies and practice theory, this research study examines how the discourse of SCI is articulated differently in different spaces, and the implications of these variations for extension and adoption practices. Beginning with the construction of knowledge at the institutional level, the research study first traces who articulates what, and how and why this process takes place, in both the national and regional contexts. Second, it examines how contestations in discourse translate into mediated practices and outcomes. Finally, the study focuses on the embodied identities of field development workers and the inhibitory as well as emancipatory effects of the structuring elements of the organisation. The study finds that SCI, and rural development projects more broadly, are co-produced both discursively and in practice, by project planners, development workers, and beneficiaries