According to Chegg, sustainability is “Balancing the requirements of today without jeopardizing the capability of forthcoming generations to fulfill their own necessities.

Sustainability and sustainable development

Sustainability aims to preserve natural and physical resources, ensuring their availability for the future. Sustainability is vital for development as it safeguards natural resources for future generations. Careless resource usage leads to depletion, hindering a country’s development progress. Types of sustainable development include environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and economic sustainability.

What is the main goal of sustainable development?

To achieve a harmonious balance between economic advancement, social justice, and environmental stewardship for long-term prosperity.

Three pillars of sustainability for development

The concept of the Three Pillars of Sustainability offers a popular framework for understanding sustainable development. This model highlights the essential components of environmental, social, and economic factors in discussions about sustainability.

Environmental sustainability

This pillar underscores the significance of natural resources and biodiversity in sustaining life on our planet. It emphasizes the need to preserve and protect our environment for the well-being of current and future generations.

Social sustainability

This aspect focuses on fostering social structures, promoting well-being, and achieving harmony within communities, addressing challenges such as poverty, conflict, and injustice, emphasizing the importance of social equity and cohesion.

Economic sustainability

This is the capacity of an economy to grow and thrive over time. Because financing is crucial for sustainable initiatives, economic sustainability is vital. Financial viability and a strong economic foundation are both needed to support sustainable development efforts.

Why Is Sustainability Important for Development?

We’ve explored various definitions of sustainability and the tools used globally to measure our impact on the environment, societies, and economies. But what makes sustainability so crucial for development?

A few reasons:

What are sustainable development goals?

In 2015, the United Nations issued a global challenge. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. This ambitious agenda serves as a universal call to action, aiming to eradicate poverty, protect our planet, and ensure prosperity and peace for all by 2030.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are interconnected, acknowledging the ripple effect of actions across different areas. They emphasise a holistic approach to development, balancing social, economic, and environmental well-being.

Countries around the world have pledged to prioritize progress for the most disadvantaged populations. The SDGs aim to achieve a future free from poverty, hunger, diseases, and gender discrimination.

Fulfilling these goals requires the collective ingenuity, expertise, technology, and financial resources of all members of society. Only through a collaborative global effort can we achieve a sustainable future for all.

Objectives of Sustainable Development Goals

This version uses strong verbs, focuses on the positive outcomes, and emphasizes the global nature of the SDGs.

To witness sustainable development around you, in your city, country, etc., you need top rural development NGOs to intervene.
Why?

Top sustainable development NGOs bring expertise, resources, and innovation crucial for rural development. With their experience, funding from the government or corporations, and community engagement, they drive holistic initiatives tailored to rural needs, fostering sustainable growth, empowering communities, and advocating for policy changes essential for long-term development and well-being.

Which is the top sustainable rural development NGO in India?

S M Sehgal Foundation

The mission of S M Sehgal Foundation is to enhance community-driven development efforts, fostering beneficial social, economic, and environmental transformations in rural India. Our vision is to empower every individual in rural India to lead a secure, prosperous, and dignified life.

The Sustainable Approach Toward Rural Development

Despite significant funding for rural development programs in India, from government, businesses, and charities, these efforts fall short due to problems getting them to the people who need them most. A lack of information sharing and limited involvement from local communities are the main roadblocks. Village leaders often struggle to run these programs effectively because they don’t have enough information, skills, or resources. This is especially true for rural women, who face additional challenges due to limited education and lack of knowledge about health, finances, and self-confidence.

Rural women are particularly disadvantaged due to significant gender gaps in education and skill development. They often possess limited knowledge regarding health and hygiene, financial security, and generally lack confidence, which exacerbate the challenges they face in contributing to village development.

S M Sehgal Foundation’s Local Participation and Sustainability Program ensures the projects’ long-term success. Sustainability is seen as an ongoing process where communities gain skills and confidence throughout a project and beyond. The program works to make people invested in the project by showing them the advantages it brings and encouraging communities to actively participate and contribute resources to keep the improvements going. Additionally, the program helps village councils (gram panchayats) tap into government funding and subsidized programs to support the upkeep of the project’s result. The ultimate goal is for communities to take charge of their village’s development and ensure the project’s benefits continue well after its implementation.

Sihri-Singalheri Panchayat, Punhana block in the Nuh district of Haryana, had two village chaupals, one each in Sihri and Singalheri villages. Both were in a dilapidated condition so that local people were not able to utilize them. As a result, the local community had trouble organizing meetings and training to discuss matters pertaining to village development.

What Actions Were Taken?

A CSR project implemented by S M Sehgal Foundation was initiated in May 2022. One of the activities of this project was to set up resource centers in Sihri and Singalheri villages. By the end of 2022, the two unused village chaupals were upgraded into resource centers, creating a stimulating environment, particularly for women and children. A Village Development Committee (VDC) was formed in the village, involving active community members to monitor project activities and take ownership of village development. Regular capacity-building sessions on village development and government programs are held in upgraded resource centers.

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Kitchen gardens have immense potential to establish a sustainable model ensuring food security and diversity, as well as creating an alternative income for resource-poor rural households. In the vast tapestry of rural landscapes, a small yet powerful movement is taking root—kitchen gardens. These pint-sized patches of greenery are not just about growing vegetables; they represent a sustainable practice that holds the promise of transforming lives in rural areas.

A kitchen garden, often referred to as a vegetable or herb garden, is a small plot of land cultivated near or around homes. It is purposefully designed to grow a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that can be used for household consumption. Kitchen gardens are scalable, making them feasible even in limited spaces, and they empower individuals to take charge of their food production.

Kitchen gardens emerge as powerful instruments of empowerment for rural women, offering a transformative blend of sustainability and myriad benefits. These small but potent plots of cultivated land not only provide women with a means to contribute to their household’s nutrition but also serve as a source of income generation. By growing diverse fruits, vegetables, and herbs, women can ensure a steady supply of fresh, locally sourced produce, enhancing dietary diversity , good health, and well-being of their families.

Read more about SMS Foundation’s efforts towards Agricultural Development here

The sustainable practices inherent in kitchen gardening, such as the use of organic waste for fertilization and water-efficient cultivation, not only reduce environmental impact but also empower women with valuable agricultural skills. As this produce is sold or traded, income generation, breaking barriers to economic participation and contributing to the overall resilience of their communities become key factors. In essence, kitchen gardens become a catalyst for empowerment, fostering a cycle of dietary diversity, improved quality of life, and source of additional income for rural women.

How are Kitchen Gardens Sustainable?

Sustainability is at the heart of kitchen gardens. These micro-farms contribute to environmental, economic, and social sustainability in several ways:

Benefits of Kitchen Gardens:

Read more about our Foundation’s Farmer Field Schools ‘Learning by Doing’ philosophy here

How Can Rural Women Benefit?

Kitchen gardens play a pivotal role in empowering rural women in various ways. Kitchen gardens serve as dynamic platforms for the multifaceted empowerment of rural women, ushering in transformative changes across economic, health, and skill dimensions.

Firstly, the cultivation and subsequent sale of excess produce from kitchen gardens provide rural women with a direct avenue for additional income. This may, in return elevate their individual status within the family but also contributes to the overall economic resilience of their communities.

Secondly, as primary caregivers, women take center stage in ensuring their families’ well-being. Kitchen gardens become a source of fresh, diverse, and nutritionally rich produce, significantly impacting the health outcomes of family members. By reducing reliance on store-bought, often processed foods, these gardens become cornerstones of preventive healthcare.

Moreover, the act of engaging in gardening activities itself serves as a powerful tool for skill enhancement. Women acquire hands-on experience in agricultural practices, fostering a deeper understanding of cultivation techniques, crop cycles, and resource management. In essence, kitchen gardens transcend mere cultivation; they become catalysts for holistic empowerment, equipping rural women with the tools and resources to shape a more sustainable and resilient future for themselves and their families.

Contributions by The S M Sehgal Foundation

The S M Sehgal Foundation is at the forefront of promoting sustainable practices in rural areas, with a focus on empowering communities. The foundation recognizes the transformative potential of kitchen gardens and actively works towards their implementation in various regions.

Stories of Impact:

In 2017, S M Sehgal Foundation distributed seed kits, consisting of ten types of vegetable seeds, to almost 600 families in Samastipur and Kalyanpur blocks of district Samatipur, Bihar. The cost of one vegetable-seed kit is Rs 135. The kit consisted of the following crops; Bhindi (Lady Finger), Lauki (Bottle Gourd), Baingan (Brinjal), Barbatti (Cow Pea), Kheera (Cucumber), Lal Saag (Amaranth), Mooli (Raddish), Karela (Bitter Gourd), Shalgam (Turnip) and Nenua (Ridge Gourd).

Santo Devi, a beneficiary of Sehgal Foundation’s kitchen garden initiative and a resident of Bedoulia village in Samastipur says, “Apart from an increase in income, the kitchen garden initiative also helped me to ensure food security and improve the nutrition status of my family. Regular intake of nutrient rich vegetables like Bhindi, Lauki and Kheera increase energy levels and efficiency in work.” Another beneficiary, Phulan Devi, Ajna village, Kalyanpur block mentions, “Vegetables like Cucumber, Lady Finger, Bitter Gourd grew in abundance in my backyard garden. I sold the surplus produce in the local market and earned Rs 6000 which was used to meet some of my household expenses.”

Another beneficiary, Amina is a resident of Gabanspur village, who has a family of 14, and owns 3 acres of land. She had been struggling with poor health since long and falls ill almost every month. Doctors consistently recommended that she should increase her intake of green leafy vegetables, but because of her low income made it became difficult for her to afford adequate quantity of these healthy ingredients. Amina attended a training program on the role of kitchen gardens in improving household nutrition in 2022 conducted by S M Sehgal Foundation as a part of a CSR supported village development project. During the training, Amina was taught about the importance of growing healthy vegetables in the empty space around the courtyard of her house. Subsequently, she was provided with seeds of various vegetables, including spinach, fenugreek, coriander, brinjal, radish, carrot, tomato, beetroot, cauliflower, among others. She planted these in a 30 x 30 sq.ft. plot as her personal kitchen garden and successfully implemented the knowledge she learned during her training to grow multiple vegetables with minimum effort. Now Amina is able to cook balanced meals including both macro and micro nutrients on a daily basis for her family from vegetables grown by her, and she feels more energetic than before. She doesn’t have to invest additional cash to restore the balance of nutrients in her daily meal plans which makes the solution affordable and long-lasting for her family.

Amina says, “Through the capacity building sessions and the kitchen garden demonstration organised as a part of Project Vriddhi, I learned about the importance of wholesome nutrition for good health, and the skills required to manage a kitchen garden. Its positive impact has brought my family much joy and has improved the quality of life as a whole”.

Read more about the impact of S M Sehgal Foundation through Kitchen Gardens here

In the grand tapestry of rural development, kitchen gardens emerge as vibrant threads, weaving a story of sustainability, empowerment, and growth. As organizations like the S M Sehgal Foundation continue to sow the seeds of positive change, the impact of kitchen gardens is poised to blossom, transforming rural landscapes and cultivating a future that is both green and sustainable.

About the Author

Ms. Debika Goswami
Senior program lead, Local Participation and Sustainability, S M Sehgal Foundation

She has around 15 years of experience with a demonstrated history of leading various rural development programs. Thematic areas of work include local participation and sustainability, women empowerment, nutrition and sanitation management, sustainable agriculture, and natural resource management, among others. Over the years, she has been engaged in partnership management, program management, end-to-end project planning, implementation and monitoring. She has served as a member of the Gender Committee at S M Sehgal Foundation from 2016-18. She has a master’s Degree in Modern History from Presidency College, University of Calcutta, and another one in ‘Non-Farm Activities and Rural Development in Developing Countries’ from the University of Rome, La Sapienza.

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Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) is focused on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. The United Nations adopted this goal as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, recognizing that education is a fundamental human right and a key driver of sustainable development. SDG 4 aims to ensure all individuals have access to quality education and the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in a rapidly changing world. The goal is also to eliminate gender disparities in education and promote opportunities for lifelong learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of quality education and the need for innovative approaches to ensure continued learning in the face of unprecedented challenges. The achievement of SDG 4 is essential for the personal development and well-being of individuals and the social and economic progress of communities and nations.

What Are the problems being faced by India in achieving SDG 4?

India must address the following challenges to achieve SDG 4 and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Several challenges are faced in achieving SDG 4:

What Are Some Initiatives Taken by the Indian Government to Achieve SDG 4?

The Indian government has implemented several initiatives to achieve SDG 4, which focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Some of the key initiatives include:

These initiatives demonstrate the Indian government’s commitment to achieving SDG 4 and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all. However, more efforts are needed to address the challenges that persist in the education system and to ensure that all children have access to quality education.

Corporations can help achieve SDG 4 by leveraging their technologies and innovation to create new educational platforms and tools that will reach a wider audience, especially those in remote and underserved areas. Corporate partnerships with government agencies and nonprofit organizations will create a powerful collaboration that will lead to sustainable and scalable educational programs. The private sector can also provide funding for research and development of new educational models that can improve learning outcomes and reduce the cost of education.

Collaborations to Achieve SDG 4 In India

Corporate interventions have the potential to significantly impact and promote education by leveraging resources, expertise, and networks to address educational challenges. Many corporations recognize that investing in education is a social responsibility as well as a strategic business move that will create a skilled and productive workforce for the future. They can play a crucial role in promoting rural education in India and contributing to the achievement of SDG 4. They can do this by partnering with NGOs, government agencies, and other stakeholders to implement education initiatives that focus on enhancing the quality of education, improving school infrastructure, and increasing access to education.

Corporations can provide funding, resources, and expertise to support education initiatives in rural areas. They can also help to design and implement innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by rural schools, such as improving teacher training and introducing digital learning tools.

Corporations can also contribute to the development of sustainable education models that can be scaled up and replicated in other parts of the country. By partnering with local communities, corporates will help to create a sense of ownership and sustainability around education initiatives.

Hamari Paathshaala (2018–2021)

Implemented by S M Sehgal Foundation in partnership with the Power Grid Corporation of India, Hamari Paathshaala provides quality education to children in remote and underserved areas of Haryana, India, by improving school infrastructure and introducing digital learning tools.

The project transformed the lives of children in the villages of Basduda and Gudha. Prior to the intervention, children in these villages attended school under the shade of trees due to the lack of proper school buildings. The conditions were not conducive to learning, and many children dropped out of school due to the difficulties they faced.

Through this, S M Sehgal Foundation and Power Grid Corporation of India have built new school buildings, furnished them with furniture and digital learning tools, and provided teacher training to enhance the quality of education. The new infrastructure and learning tools have transformed the learning environment for children, providing them with access to quality education and better learning opportunities. It has also had a significant, positive impact on the children’s academic performance and attendance rates. The project has helped to create a sense of community ownership and involvement in the education of children in the villages.

Transforming Rural Government Schools

S M Sehgal Foundation, a sustainable rural development NGO in India, works to improve the quality of education in rural areas of the country. The foundation has been working in partnership with local governments and communities to transform the infrastructure and educational outcomes of these schools.

Challenges faced by rural government schools in India include inadequate infrastructure, lack of trained teachers, and low educational outcomes. S M Sehgal Foundation has been addressing these challenges through a range of interventions, including infrastructure development, teacher training, and community engagement.

S M Sehgal Foundation’s approach to transforming rural government schools involves working closely with local communities and governments to identify the specific needs of each school and developing tailored interventions to address those needs. The foundation has also been focusing on enhancing the capacity of teachers through training programs and developing teaching and learning materials that are relevant and accessible to rural contexts.

S M Sehgal Foundation has helped rural schools make improvements with respect to educational outcomes, increased enrollment, and the creation of a positive learning environment for students. The foundation’s sustainable approach involves building the capacity of local communities and governments to continue driving the transformation of rural government schools.

The rural development NGO places significance on education in driving development and on reducing poverty in rural communities. S M Sehgal Foundation’s work in transforming rural government schools has a positive impact on the lives of rural communities in India, by improving educational outcomes and creating opportunities for social and economic mobility.

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SGD 4, or Sustainable Development Goal 4, is one of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations. The goal of SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In the Indian context, SGD 4 is particularly significant given the country’s large population and its commitment to providing education for all. One of the main challenges is the quality of education, particularly in rural areas. There is also a significant gender gap in education, with girls having lower enrollment rates than boys. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the existing inequalities in education, with millions of students being unable to attend school due to school closures and a lack of access to digital learning resources.

What Are the Challenges to the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals –the Indian Context?

Sustainable Development Goal 4 focuses on providing inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Some of the main issues to achieve SDG 4:

Initiatives Taken by the Indian Government to Achieve SDG4?

S M Sehgal Foundation and its Contribution Toward Achieving SDG4

S M Sehgal Foundation is a sustainable rural development NGO in India that promotes sustainable development solutions for rural communities. The NGO focuses on creating sustainable solutions to address the challenges faced by rural communities in India, such as poverty, lack of education, and limited access to resources, by providing them with access to basic amenities such as clean water, sanitation, digital and life skills education, and healthcare.

The Transformation Unfolds

In 2020–2021, a school in Manchi, Bhandari, with a registered enrollment of 237 students, faced significant challenges due to its poor infrastructure. Out of the five rooms in the school, two were half-constructed and unusable, with one reserved for staff members. Students were forced to study in the remaining two rooms or sit outside under the trees. Classrooms lacked basic furniture and electricity. The school’s hand pump for drinking water was shared among the students and staff. The dysfunctional toilets made it difficult for students to attend school regularly, and they commonly either went home or used the open area.

Prathmik Vidyalaya Ward Number 1, another school in Bhandari village, faced similar issues. With a registered enrollment of 130 students, the school had only four rooms, with one reserved for the staff. Students used the remaining three rooms or studied outside under the trees. The school had only one hand pump for drinking water, which was shared by the staff and students. These schools catered to other primary schools that lacked proper infrastructure.

To address these issues and improve the infrastructure of the government schools in Bhandari Panchayat, Sitamarhi district, Bihar, S M Sehgal Foundation collaborated with PTC Foundation and Power Finance Corporation Limited under their CSR initiative to implement Hamari Paathshaala (2018–2021). The initiative provided the schools with intact classrooms, safe drinking water, working toilets, solar-powered energy, and digital smart classrooms. The school transformations have had a positive impact on the students and teachers, providing a better learning environment with enough classrooms, furniture, functional toilets, and smart classes. The BALA concept, which uses visual art to strengthen language, communication, and numerical skills, and connect students with nature and the environment, has further enhanced the learning experience.

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Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), was a global initiative started in 2000 with the main objectives being the eradication of poverty and hunger, disease, and promotion education in rural India amongst others. A notable effort, the MDGs set the ball rolling and drove progress in key areas. A global movement was witnessed and substantial progress was achieved in the areas of access to water and sanitation, among others.

Thereafter, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by nations under the aegis of the UN with the objective of fast-tracking the achievements of the MDGs and putting up a framework for a set of universal goals to tackle environmental, and economic challenges facing the world.

All the 17 SDGs are integrated—that is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The underlying commitment of the SDGs also looks to create a global commitment to permanently end poverty, albeit with the progress that is sustainable and safe.

Goal no 6 of the SDGs specifically recognised the need to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. It is an accepted fact that availability and access to water, sanitation, and hygiene are fundamental to preserving the health and well-being of millions. The idea was to maximise reach to those who were bereft of water since they lived in remote areas where water was scarce or polluted. This goal aimed to achieve universal and equitable access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, end open defecation and eliminate dumping by expanding international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries.

Issues In Fixing India’s Wastewater Management And Sanitation

India is a large country and one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. However, its track record on basic sanitation leaves a lot to be desired. Open defecation is an endemic problem and people relieve themselves behind trees, by roadsides, and on railway tracks and river banks. A substantial part of the urban population also lacks decent toilet facilities. With untreated solid waste being dumped into freshwater rivers and lakes, the problem keeps multiplying and is leading to polluted water sources besides infection and disease. The reality is grim and there are several reasons that this could be attributed. Some of these are –

Progress In Addressing Issues In India

The government of India realised that the changing landscape of India was leading to an insurmountable problem with respect to sanitation. With rampant consumerism and societal divide came increased waste generation leading to compromised sanitation practices. Huge landfills adorned the outskirts of urban India and the rural areas grappled with issues emanating from open defecation, lack of wastewater management, drainage system, and poor sanitation awareness.

The Government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October 2014 under which all villages, Gram Panchayats, Districts, States, and Union Territories in India declared themselves “open-defecation free” (ODF) by 2 October 2019.

About 100 million toilets were constructed in rural India and statistically, India has now achieved ODF status. The initiative has now moved on to the next phase i.e ODF-Plus to reinforce ODF practices and management of solid and liquid waste in villages.

To address sanitation issues in Rural India, The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India launched the 10-year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029). This initiative looks at achieving a situation where everyone uses a toilet and every village has access to solid and wastewater management. The contribution of development partners in this endeavour is also a focus area and their role is being recognised going forward.

The results are there to see. A report by the Joint Monitoring Programme on water, sanitation, and hygiene by the World Health Organization and UNICEF released on July 1, 2021, found that India achieved the largest drop in open defecation since 2015 in terms of absolute numbers.

Issues Remain

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)’s surveyed toilet coverage and use at the household level in the report ‘Drinking water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Housing Condition’ and ‘Survey of Persons with Disabilities from July 2018 through December 2018. The ‘draft’ report, pegged toilet coverage in India at only 75 percent. Close to 80 percent of those were being used. The findings were divergent from the government’s claim of being ODF-free. The report found that households did not use toilets regularly despite building them. The major reason for this was the non-availability of water. Some say that the actual number of toilets built is inflated. The government gives a grant of Rs. 12000 to a household to construct a toilet. However, the construction was not verified and even if it was, toilets were not maintained and went into disrepair.

The government has to now look at overcoming the challenges of a) Getting people to the toilet and b) Safe disposal of the waste collected. With little or no water supply, the ODF programme is threatened at the ground level. The absence of sewerage systems particularly in the rural hinterland is only adding to the burden. Waste is dumped at pits or beside water bodies and the intended benefits have turned around.

Clearly, Sanitation in India is still a work in progress, and achieving finality is not going to be easy despite government claims.

The Way Forward

The adoption of Sanitation has to be a concerted effort by policymakers, implementing agencies, stakeholders, and partners in progress. Sanitation needs to be marketed to influence behaviour towards sanitation and cleanliness. A planned process that applies theories of attitudinal change is key to the success of the sanitation programme. Besides, the umbrella of the sanitation process needs to be completed with last-mile infrastructure like waste processing and availability of water, etc. Without these, the piecemeal efforts will all remain statistics on paper and will go waste. For this, the government agencies, private sector, AND agents of change (read NGOs and voluntary organizations) need to act in a coordinated and selfless manner. Only then will we come closer to the goal of minimising issues in rural development in India, wastewater management, and sanitation, and delivering a healthy environment to society.

Leading The Way

S M Sehgal Foundation (Sehgal Foundation), a rural development NGO in India, has been working selflessly since 1999 to improve the quality of life in rural communities in India. Established as a public, charitable trust, the S M Sehgal Foundation creates sustainable programs to address rural India’s most pressing needs. Sehgal Foundation has five main program areas – Water Management, Agricultural Development, Local Participation, and Sustainability, Transform Lives one school at a time, and Outreach for Development. The mission of the S M Sehgal Foundation is to strengthen community-led development initiatives to achieve positive social, economic, and environmental change across the country. The vision is to achieve sustainable rural development in India and empower the rural communities so that they could lead a more secure, prosperous, and dignified life.

S M Sehgal Foundation is working at the ground level to spread awareness about wastewater management, and sanitation and also helping to implement projects and create infrastructure.

Helping marginal families to build toilets in village Bayal & village Niajalpur, block – Nangal Choudhary, district Mahendergarh, Haryana

A rural development project implemented by S M Sehgal Foundation in the above areas has made communities aware of health and hygiene and provided financial and construction assistance for building household toilets.

The beneficiaries for assistance in household toilets are selected on the basis of their poverty and the absence of a toilet in their dwelling unit. As part of the project, financial assistance

Amounting to Rs. 20,000 was provided to the beneficiary family if they contributed Rs. 8,000. With this economic assistance, lower-income bracket families have been able to construct toilets. With this intervention, people do not have to walk far distances and women feel safe as they do not have to venture out. Villagers have become much more aware of overall cleanliness, and they participate in all activities pertaining to sanitation in their village.

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“If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the
biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.”
~ David Suzuki, environmental activist

Soil is a critical resource especially when viewed in an agricultural development context. Improper management of this resource can lead to its degradation, and this makes soil management important for the farming community. Healthy soil is the foundation for a vibrant and sound agriculture and sustainable development system. The soil ecosystem is a complex and dynamic balance of microorganisms and roots that lead to a synergy with minerals and organic matter; thus healthy soil has the innate capacity to achieve a balance of water, air, and other essential nutrients.

Achieving soil health is the ability to sustain agricultural productivity and protection of natural resources. Benefits of healthy soil translate into better plant growth, pest control, nutrient optimization, and adequate supply of essential water and air, making it critical for farmers to understand the physical, chemical, and biological components of healthy soil and their management.

The need for food security for a burgeoning Indian population led policymakers to take radical steps in the mid-1960s. The Green Revolution was conceptualized around 1965, which led to India gaining self-sufficiency in food production in the subsequent years. Focus areas were based on technological upgradation, e.g., farm mechanization through tractors, use of high-yield seeds, upgradation of irrigation facilities, pesticide use, and correct fertilizer application. Fertilizer use that was less than a million tons before the mid-1960s, registered a phenomenal growth to around 12.73 million tons by 1992.

High-yielding seeds required increased use of fertilizers and their application, which was positive in the short term but started to show disadvantages over a period of time. Soil pH started increasing due to the use of alkaline chemicals and led to an increase in heavy metals in the soil. Increased toxicity destroyed beneficial pathogens, and a decrease in the yield was due to a decline in the fertility of the soil. The golden period lasted for around thirty years before crop yields became stagnant and started dropping in the mid-1990s. The impact on environmental pollution from excessive fertilizer use also led to soil and water acidification, contamination of water, and increased greenhouse emissions. Some of the measures taken as part of the Green Revolution deviated from the natural laws of balance and functioning, and were unsustainable.

Even after all this time, farmers in agrarian states still look at fertilizers as urea and phosphates. Their knowledge of fertilizer application is limited to NPK nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Unscientific use of NPK continues to have a detrimental impact on nutrients in the soil and has led to reduced crop yields across the country. The problem is a vicious cycle, and to counter the decreasing yields, farmers continue to pump nitrogen and phosphorus into the soil, leading to further degradation. Part of the problem lay with the policy on highly subsidized urea. The almost three fourths of its price subsidized resulted in overuse and continues to alter the soil chemistry even today. Soil health remains an area of concern for the government and it is putting in efforts and investment to arrest soil degradation and decline in fertility.

RESTORING, IMPROVING, AND MAINTAINING SOIL QUALITY

As is clear, a concerted effort is needed to educate the farming community on the synergy between fertilizers, crop yields, and soil health. Some fertilizer specific methods that could be taken to restore, improve, and maintain soil health:

TAKING STEPS

S M Sehgal Foundation, established in 1999 as a public charitable trust, promotes livelihoods through capacity building of farmers through its path-breaking work in the agrarian heartlands of India. For their exemplary commitment to the cause of agriculture and sustainable development, they have won several awards including the FICCI Sustainable Agriculture Award 2021 (2nd place) in the category of Climate Resilient Agriculture Development. Their work includes promoting improved agricultural practices and new technologies to increase crop yields, water conservation and management, and improving soil fertility.

S M Sehgal Foundation teams work with smallholder farmers in rain-fed and irrigated areas to facilitate adoption of improved and advanced agriculture and sustainable development practices that include soil health management, crop production management, input-use efficiency, small farm mechanization, water-efficient irrigation techniques, horticultural development, livestock management, and the use of information and communication technology in agriculture and development.

Krishi Jyoti: Lighting Farmer Lives

A large number of farmers continue to adopt outdated farming techniques, leading to continual depletion of soil quality. This leads to a reduction in the potential and benefits that they can derive from their farmlands. To overcome the information deficit and develop requisite infrastructure, S M Sehgal Foundation has partnered with Mosaic India Private Limited to support small farmers.

Since its inception in 2008, the project has directly impacted the lives of thousands of farmers. Supported by Mosaic Fertilizers India, S M Sehgal Foundation implements the agricultural development project works to enhance soil health, providing agricultural development inputs, and giving expert advice to the farmers. Farmers are provided with good quality seeds and fertilizers, macro and micronutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, etc.

The second core focus of the project is water management. Mosaic helps in promoting water conservation and management, building infrastructure and encouraging water-efficient irrigation techniques. The project supports building check-dams for farmers as well as helping them with the use of drip-irrigation facilities.

The Krishi Jyoti project supports farmers by providing micronutrients, fertilizers, and capacity building. The work done under the project has won various awards including the FICCI Water Award in 2013 and Bhamashah award of the Rajasthan government in 2016 and 2017 in different categories. This is evidence of the efforts being put by Mosaic and S M Sehgal Foundation to bring about a positive change in the lives of small-scale farmers.

GOING FORWARD

Fertilizers are key in achieving food security for the large population of India. With the projected growth of the population, the task is even more challenging. A balance must be derived between crop yields and soil health in the long run. Sharing of knowledge with the stakeholder’s is essential. The farmers are key to a successful outcome.

A lot is happening on the ground. The government has implemented several developmental schemes like Integrated Watershed Management Programme, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, and more recently the National Mission on Soil Health Card. However, in a large country like India, soil health management at the national level also requires public private partnerships (PPP). Fostering partnerships and networks for successful implementation of soil health management is the way forward in this transitory process.

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Economic and social development is considered an essential goal for a society. The progress on rural development initiatives in the country depends on how well these programs reach the grassroots level. However, in a populous and diverse country like India, development efforts do not fully reach the masses, despite the intentions of the government, due to structural inefficiencies. The lack of awareness about and benefits of the programs for sustainable rural development in India often result in lapses in execution.

Though many decades have passed since independence, poverty remains a core challenge in development efforts. There is a growing recognition that all stakeholders in the country should benefit from efforts targeted at economic, environmental, and social sustainability. The true path to progress is dependent on programs that ultimately benefit marginalized sections of society. The last-mile reach of these efforts is key to sustainable rural development solutions that would make India an economic power.

Community-Driven Rural Development In India

Success of development programs is dependent on building transparency, a participative approach, and local capacity. Community-driven rural development is the way to reach remote and vulnerable groups in India. Thus, community participation is essential so the intended beneficiaries are aware of the issues on the ground and can work toward their own betterment.

Local participation and sustainability programs create awareness among communities and tend to have a beneficial effect in the reach of government programs. Working with communities to enhance knowledge and choices in village development programs is the way forward for inclusive and sustainable development. The last-mile delivery can be facilitated through PPP (public/private partnerships) with a social perspective.

Objectives and Scope of Community-Led Initiatives

The prime objective of initiatives targeted at sustainable rural development in India is to upgrade the standard and quality of life of people in areas that are bereft of policy initiatives. Community participation is critical for:

The scope of community participation is vast. To correct the imbalances in development, efforts are possible in some of the following areas:

Also Read – Sustainable Agricultural Water Management

STORIES FROM THE GROUND

Fakruddin Creates Cleaner And Safer Surroundings For His Family.

Waterlogging and poor liquid waste management were longstanding issues plaguing inhabitants of Punhana, Nuh, Haryana. Lack of awareness on water management and the importance of sanitation and wastewater management practices resulted in people suffering from diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, and dengue.

Fakruddin had constant waterlogging in and around his house due to lack of proper liquid waste management system. With no drainage system to take care of the household’s wastewater, it remained stagnant in the passage of his house.

As part of a CSR project implemented by S M Sehgal Foundation, he attended sanitation-awareness sessions where the objective was to sensitize villagers to maintain good hygiene and sanitation practices in their daily lives.

Fakruddin learned the importance of maintaining good personal hygiene and creating cleaner surroundings for a healthy and disease-free life. He was inspired to install a low-cost underground pipeline system from his home to his agricultural land for the disposal of wastewater. His family now has fewer incidences of diseases, and has saved a considerable amount of money on medical expenses.

Fakruddin recalls how earlier his family was facing great inconvenience due to odor, mosquitoes, and diarrhea, and lived in unhygienic conditions because of stagnant wastewater in and around his home. “Awareness sessions organized as a part of the project changed my outlook toward sanitation and waste management practices.”

Anganwadi and Health Sub Center Repaired in Teharki’s School

Village Teharki in Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh has an Upper Primary school where 138 children study in grades six to eight.

The school was in a dilapidated state with weak doors and windows, broken walls, and a filth-strewn courtyard. The anganwadi and health center inside the school were also in a deplorable condition.

In a CSR-supported partnership project, S M Sehgal Foundation took up the initiative of repairing the anganwadi and hospital and repairing and beautifying the school. A discussion was held with the school’s headmaster, the sarpanch, and community members, who also put in their wholehearted effort.

New strong metallic doors and windows were installed, flooring in classrooms and veranda was redone, brick benches were constructed, new doors in toilets were fixed, the school compound was leveled, whitewashing and wall paintings were done, among other improvements. Now the school looks attractive and has become a place of pride in the village. The enthused community and school committee have taken charge to keep the premises clean, and the children are studying better.

CONCLUSION

Development of rural India is attracting investment from government, corporates, and civil society/ nonprofit organizations, among others. However, the objectives remain partially fulfilled due to lack of community participation and structural deficiencies. Rural institutions remain constrained through lack of awareness and skills. A concerted effort is required to bridge the gap, cut through gender gaps, promote skill development, and education. Healthcare is neglected and the lack of financial security is a dampener, leading to a general lack of confidence.

Local participation and sustainability program of one of the best rural development NGOs in India, S M Sehgal Foundation, works relentlessly toward the success of sustainable rural development in India. Communities must play an active role and eventually own the development programs or initiatives, thus validating the effort of agencies and ensuring sustainability of the impact created. This is achievable through community participation and can lead to equitable and sustainable outcomes.

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In Part 1 of Tryst with Destiny, I said we must “streamline an aggressive implementation of the 4 S’s to double the income of India’s farmers within five years.” The 4 S’s stand for Seed, Soil, Season (rain plus supplemental irrigation), and Stand (density of plants in the field). Here in Part 2, I address each of the four requirements in more detail.

Good-quality seed is the primary delivery system for genetic improvements added through classical breeding or new gene technologies. In any strategy to improve agricultural yields, high-quality seed is a key input for high productivity.

Good soils, rich in organic matter, and a balanced fertility program (fertilizers) are essential to achieve high yields. Good rainfall (monsoon) or provision for supplementary water-efficient irrigation is needed. About 60 percent of the agriculture area in India is rain-fed, and only 40 percent is irrigated. The monsoon is becoming increasingly erratic with global warming.

A host of other factors include credit and crop insurance, fractured land parcels, timely availability of farm supplies, machines, and consultation services. Land titles and accumulation of fragmented land must be digitized with a sense of urgency to improve the land holdings.

Seed Facts: First the Seed

Improved seed can be hybrid or non-hybrid (variety). Both types have been critical in increasing agricultural productivity. The public sector played an important role in the diffusion and spread of HYVs and associated high-input production technologies, whereas hybrid seeds have been primarily bred by the private sector seed industry and commercialized worldwide.

Improved seed, hybrid or non-hybrid, is a critical input in any strategy to improve agricultural productivity. Improved farming techniques, such as mechanization, balanced nutrition, and precision farming, are only effective if seed has bred-in potential for high yield. This means that farmers everywhere require a secure source of good-quality seed for good harvest.

The seed must be bred for the areas in which it is to be gown, and extensively evaluated there prior to its large scale release. Further, an improved hybrid or variety is useless unless its seed reaches the farmers in sufficient quantity, good quality, and good purity. Good bred and high-quality seed is available in the country with both public and private sectors, but its access to farmers needs to be streamlined by improving the delivery chain.

Water Facts

India is a water-stressed country. India is the world’s biggest user of groundwater for farming, and groundwater depletion is beginning to cause severe yield losses that cannot be compensated by increasing canal irrigation.

In 1972, India declared self-sufficiency in food and became a net exporter of food rather than an importer. But self-sufficiency came at a very high cost. Since agriculture takes 70–80 percent of available freshwater, farmers extracted water from the aquifers, literally sucking them dry over the years.
When I was growing up in Punjab, it was very common to use a hand pump to draw groundwater. With intensive agriculture, the bullocks used to draw water for agriculture from the open wells were replaced by diesel or electric motors. A 5HP motor was sufficient at first, but the water level has become so deep that farmers in many places now use 15HP motors to draw groundwater. In some areas, the water level has gone from 50 feet in 1970 to 700 feet in 2021. Bigger and bigger motors are being used to pump water from greater depths.

Groundwater depletion is a serious crisis to farming. Declining water levels mean degradation of water quality. Moreover, free or highly subsidized power further allows farmers to overrun irrigation pumps.

Planet Earth
Land: about 30%, and ocean: about 70%
Water: 97% saltwater, 2.5% freshwater
India
Land: 2.4% of the planet
Population: 18% of the planet
Water: 4% of available freshwater
70% used for agriculture
3% used in industry
27% left for human, animal, and environmental needs
Water storage capacity
US: 1,964 cubic meters per capita
China: 1,000 cubic meters per capita
India: 200 cubic meters per capita

Unfortunately per capita availability of water in India has been steadily declining since 1950 due to environmental degradation, population growth, and climate change. India needs storage structures big and small, including reservoirs upstream and downstream, because most of the traditional storage structures have either not been maintained, silted up, or are under concrete with urban sprawl. More than half of the water supplies in rural areas, where 70 percent of India’s population lives, are routinely contaminated with toxic chemicals and microbes. Exploitation of groundwater has reached critical levels in many parts across the country.

In spite of advances in science, we are still dependent on Mother Nature for freshwater. With India’s erratic rainfall and heavy downpours in the rainy season, which is becoming shorter and shorter, we must give top priority to rainwater harvesting technology. We must harvest every drop of rain that falls on planet Earth and store it in tanks (ponds) for use in the dry season, and/or direct it to recharge the aquifers via strategically placed recharge wells.

Managing wastewater disposal is critical for healthy living. Soak pits are a low-cost intervention with a big impact in reducing waterborne diseases and reducing filth and mud in the streets. Water harvesting is needed to augment water supplies, and storage structures are needed to store the harvested water. Water conservation in agriculture development is a must, as well as at each household level. Water leakage from pipes and taps must be stopped with a sense of urgency.

Since saltwater is abundant on planet Earth, consider desalination technology for augmentation. Israel has become a drinking-water-surplus nation by using desalination technology and by implementing conservation techniques such as drip irrigation and recycling of water twice or more. If Israel can do it, why not India?

Small interventions can have a big impact on the quality of life of the poor. Providing clean drinking water and separate toilets for girls in schools will significantly decrease and even stop the dropout rate of girls. These steps have the potential of keeping families from a dark future.

Soil Facts

Indian soils are broadly classified into six categories: alluvial soil, black soil, red soil, laterite soil, desert or arid soil, and forest and mountainous soil. These soils, rich in chemical ingredients, are formed by the sediments brought down by the rivers.

Soils have physical and chemical features, from soil type and pH to organic matter contents, water retention, and flow. Biological traits, such as microorganism populations, also influence soil. The soil microbiome is a delicate “universe.” Heavy chemical fertilizer use since the Green Revolution has unbalanced the soil’s natural equilibrium and destroyed the microbiological populations.

Soil is home to billions of organisms contributing to biodiversity; and serves as the original source of most of the world’s antibiotics. A well-structured soil contains a crumbly mix of fine and coarse aggregates that provides excellent housing for soil microbes that help transfer nutrients and water to crops. The aggregation mix spawns good infiltration that helps ensure crop roots can access water. Soil structure is a great indicator of a healthy soil. Indian soils lack organic content.

Since ancient times, most farmers have understood the added value microorganisms bring to agriculture, and relied on such populations to thrive. The addition of micronutrients and improving soil health by adding organic matter leads to a significant increase in agricultural productivity, which assists in enhancing farmers’ income. However, the organic manure from animals in India is used by many villagers more often as a fuel instead of applying it to the fields to enrich organic content.

Of the total 161 MH (million hectors) of arable land in India, about 141 MH are under cultivation at any given time. About 100 MH are becoming increasingly difficult to farm, owing to increasing cropping intensity on fragile soils, inappropriate application of fertilizers, and inadequate application of manure, reduced organic carbon, and severe nutrient deficiencies.

Agricultural experts have used soil tests to assess nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and organic matter levels for decades. To achieve balanced nutrition, the best way is to start is with soil tests, and accordingly one can develop what is required for a balanced nutrition for a particular field.

Soil scientists in developed countries have new tests to evaluate soil health like active carbon, which could eventually help boost farmland value just as drainage now does.

Soil health will be a major factor in future agriculture, so India must pay attention to good soil health before 100 MH become useless for cultivation.
A team of scientists from IIT Kharagpur and their collaborators have created a digital soil map for India that provides information on the pH, texture, and amount of organic carbon in the soils of India, which could help to use soil optimally and sustainably.

Infrastructure

Good quality seed, good and healthy soil, and good season with provisions for supplemental irrigation are the basic components of good of good harvest. But delivery and supply chains are poorly developed with lots of missing steps in between. Vegetables and fruits are high-value crops that need a lot of water, and without supplemental irrigation, the risk to grow them is too high. In addition, vegetables and fruits are perishable. India needs a well-organized delivery chain with cold storage chains for perishable crops in order to stop wasting about 40 percent of fresh produce that is destroyed due to the lack of required infrastructure.

Price stability for doubling farmer’s income is critical. India produces enough wheat and rice because government guarantees a minimum support price (MSP), which provides price stability. All other crops are at the mercy of the market, and the farmers go through a feast/famine cycle. Price stability is a must for the Indian farmer who can be ruined if he hits one bad year after another, which frequently happens in India.

Sustainability

Empowerment of the community is a must to create sustainability. Communities must have ownership of any development project for the results to be sustainable. One must work with the community or alongside the community, and not for the community. By working in partnership with communities, people become empowered to help themselves.
The Indian Constitution guarantees a dignified life to every citizen. Unfortunately in rural India, most villagers are not aware of their rights. With the understanding that overcoming poverty is a matter of human rights, the S M Sehgal Foundation approach to development is focused on local participation and sustainability. With training programs to inform and support, citizens can be empowered to ask for the goods and services they are entitled to receive. Similar support and training is used to develop the capacities of village-level institutions. People in rural communities are standing up and feeling empowered by the achievements that have been initiated. At Sehgal Foundation, we are flexible and change when the rhythm changes, as in a dance.

Besides the 4 S’s to achieve positive results quickly, empowering farmers is a prerequisite for sustainability. An empowered individual can create miracles if given an opportunity, guidance, and support. Doing so will put India on a rapid path to doubling farmers’ income.

(Dr. Suri Sehgal, has PhD, leading international crop scientist; chair of the Board of Trustees of S M Sehgal Foundation and Sehgal Foundation, USA; founder and chair of Hytech Seed, India; founder of the William L. Brown Center for Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, and emeritus trustee of the Garden.)

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In 2016, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government set a highly ambitious target of Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) by 2022. An inter-ministerial committee was set up in April 2016 to recommend strategies to achieve this goal. They submitted the report to the government in September 2018 with its strategy for doing so. The committee made some sound recommendations as follows:

“Doubling farmers’ income by 2022 is quite challenging, but it is needed and is attainable. The three-pronged strategy focused on (i) development initiatives, (ii) technology, and (iii) policy reforms in agriculture. The rates of increase in the sources underlying growth in output need to be accelerated by 33 percent to meet the goal. Research institutes should come with technological breakthroughs for shifting production frontiers and raising efficiency in the use of inputs. Evidence is growing about the scope of agronomic practices such as precision farming to raise production and the income of farmers substantially. Similarly, modern machinery such as the laser land leveler, precision seeder and planter, and practices like SRI (system of rice intensification), direct seeded rice, zero tillage, raised bed plantation, and ridge plantation allow technically high-efficient farming. However, these technologies developed by the public sector have very poor marketability. They require strong extension for the adoption by farmers. R&D institutions should also include in their packages grassroots-level innovations and traditional practices that are resilient, sustainable, and income enhancing. NITI Policy Paper No. 1/2017”

Unfortunately, the results so far have been marginal in spite of good monsoon rains.

The table below gives average rainfall over the past five years. LPA indicates long period average.

2017: normal (98% LPA)
2018: deficient (86% LPA)
2019: above normal (110% LPA}
2020: above normal (109% LPA)
2021: normal 98% per forecast of IMD (India Meteorological Department)

In my humble opinion, it will take longer, perhaps another decade or more, to come close to achieving DFI. The only way I can envision to double farmers’ income in five years would be to provide cash handouts equal to each farmer’s average income over the past five years, and gradually reduce that amount every year as the farmer’s income incrementally increases.

Historical perspective

In 1971, when conflicts in Pakistan increased, millions of Bengal refugees from East Pakistan took shelter in India. But India had no capacity to receive, house, and feed millions of refugees. The foreign minister of India appealed to the international community for assistance. In desperation, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to the US and requested help. The US government stood by its old ally, Pakistan. US President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia and failure of their strategy of opening China to US access.

Pakistan had far-superior military equipment as compared to India. Indian jet fighters supplied by the Soviet Union were no match for US aircraft in F series supplied to Pakistan. On the evening of December 3, 1971, the Pakistan Air Force launched surprise preemptive strikes on eleven airfields in northwestern India to try to crush the Indian Air Force. It came to be known as Operation Chengiz Khan. In a radio address to the nation the same evening, Prime Minister Gandhi held that air strikes were a declaration of war, and the Indian Air force responded with air strikes that same night, attacking Pakistan. This expanded to massive retaliatory air strikes the next morning. At Murid airbase in Pakistan, the Indian Air Force destroyed 5 F-86 aircraft on the ground, which shook up the Pakistani generals who considered themselves invincible.

The air action marked the official declaration of the Indo-Pakistan War. “Crush India” became a standard feature of propaganda throughout Pakistan.

Earlier in April of the same year, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had asked the Indian Army Chief General Sam Manekshaw if he was ready to go to war with Pakistan. According to Manekshaw, he refused. He then said he could guarantee victory if she would allow him to prepare for the conflict on his terms, and set a date for it. Gandhi accepted the conditions. In reality, Gandhi was well aware of a hasty military action, but she needed to get military views to satisfy her hawkish colleagues and public opinion, which were critical of India’s restraint.

The situation was quite unlike what happened during the invasion by the Chinese in the high-altitude area of Kashmir in 1962. The Indian troops were unprepared to defend the border. They had no heavy winter uniforms for the arctic weather conditions of the high Himalayan Mountains.

Only a few weeks earlier, the Prime Minister of China had visited India as an official guest of Nehru, and he was a given a red-carpet treatment. India had been giving full support to China. All over India were marches with children waving red flags and shouting, “Chini. Hindi. Bhai. Bhai” (Chinese and Indians are brothers). Nehru was an intellectual idealistic, and he had underestimated Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s hold on the communist party. The position of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai was important, but Chairman Mao ruled China with an iron first. India was not prepared for a war with the Chinese, nor was the military.

Prime Minister Nehru ordered the generals to go drive the invaders away, and the generals blindly followed Nehru’s order. That culminated in a humbling defeat for India. The irony of the whole situation was that President Nixon, Secretary of State Kissinger, and communist China supported military dictatorship in Pakistan; and the communist Soviet Union supported democratic India in the war.

In 1971, India defeated Pakistan in just a fortnight because of excellent planning and a winning three-prong strategy. Reaction to defeat and dismemberment of half of Pakistan was shocking among top military and civilians in Pakistan.

East Bengal declared independence on March 26, 1971, and the country came to be known as Bangladesh. India returned all Bangladesh territory to Bangladesh that India won in the 1971 war, and tried to repatriate refugees back to Bangladesh. But the refugees preferred to stay in India.

THE LESSON from this long story is that good planning followed by an efficient execution leads to success, whereas blue-sky projects and impractical strategies lead to failure. Jumping into something without having a clear winning strategy leads to failure irrespective of the best efforts of the implementers.

India’s distinguished experts and scientists must give their frank and honest opinions to the honorable prime minister, just as India’s General Sam Manekshaw did to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1971.

Food Shortages

Before the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab State always had a surplus in food and agricultural commodities. But after partition, the situation changed dramatically, and food became very scarce in India; even in Punjab, wheat flour, sugar, and fuel were rationed.

As a young school boy in Amritsar, I used to stand in endless long lines (from the latter part of 1947 and for a couple of years) to get permits to purchase food or fuel to buy meager quantities of ration. Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister of free India, came to Amritsar in 1948 or so. My father, being a Congress Party activist, had free access to where the prime minister was staying. I frequently went with my father to the guesthouse where Nehru stayed and sat on the cot with Nehru from where he addressed small gatherings in his room. I used to attentively listen to what he was saying, including the difficulties people were facing in finding food or fuel. Though I missed school quite a bit standing in lines to get permits to buy food while in high school (equivalent of middle school in US), I still scored well in my final exams (first class/ “A” average in the US).

Back then, the US had a glut of commodities like wheat and corn, and was known worldwide for its generosity for providing food aid to the countries in need of food, either free under “food as aid,” or against payment under the PL 480 act. Prime Minister Nehru visited the US in 1949 at the invitation of President Truman. He received a big welcome as a prime minister of the largest democracy in the world. In a meeting with the president, he hinted to Truman that India was in critical need of food. Truman was receptive to his request, and the US finally agreed to supply food to India.

In spite of imports from the US year after year, the food shortages persisted. At this juncture, Prime Minister Nehru made his famous statement, “Everything else can wait, but not agriculture.” India became very conscious of the need to create food security. But the shortages persisted. Again in the sixties after two years of severe drought, India had to ask for large quantities of food from the US under the PL-480 program. Now Indira Gandhi was the prime minister and Lyndon B Johnson was the US president. This was when India made a big push to become self-sufficient in food. USAID and the Rockefeller and Ford foundations greatly helped in this effort, and that period in India came to be known as “ship-to-mouth era.”

Seeing firsthand the food scarcity and near-famine conditions in India left a strong impression on me. I made up my mind that I wanted to study agriculture, but my parents were bitterly opposed to it. They wanted me to be a medical doctor or an engineer, the two professions that were most respected in India. Agriculture was considered at the bottom of the list. So I had to find a way not to get admission into medical school. I let my grades slip in premed, so that I was not qualified for admission to the medical school. Now I was a “bad boy” in the eyes of everyone, including my parents, and I would have to prove later that I could make a living in agriculture.

My dilemma: what to study?

The choices locally were limited. My parents could not afford to send me to any out-of-town school. My only option was to enroll in botany (honors) or horticulture. I decided to enroll in Botany Honors School of the Punjab University, which turned out to be a blessing.

After I finished my Honors School, securing first class first (equivalent to A+ average in the US), I went to Delhi to do an advanced degree in agriculture at IARI. I applied for a scholarship offering Rs 150/mo. ($30), which came if I was admitted to the graduate school. But I did not get in, which turned out to be another blessing! Biding my time, I took a teaching job at Deshbandhu College for Rs 250/month ($50).

On a visit to IARI, I learned from a US Rockefeller scientist, Dr Ernie Sprague, that a team of three agricultural scientists had visited India in 1952/53 to advise the government (GOI) on how to improve India’s agriculture. Among them was Prof. Paul C. Mangelsdorf of Harvard University. He was a member of the team of three who, after the Green Revolution, became known as “three musketeers.” Prof. Mangelsdorf was a consultant to the Rockefeller Foundation (RF). RF was recognized as an eminent philanthropic organization that had sponsored the team’s trip to India. RF had initiated their first agricultural project in Mexico, which later came to be known as CIMMYT at the request of Henry A, Wallace, secretary of Agriculture and vice president of the US in President Franklin D Roosevelt’s (FDR) administration.

While at Deshbandhu College, I corresponded with Prof Mangelsdorf. He guided me on how to apply to Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. I was very lucky to get admission due to my good grades. After four years at Harvard under the brilliant mentorship of Professor Mangelsdorf, I got my PhD in plant genetics. And later, I served for twenty-four years in the company called Pioneer Hi-Bred International that Henry A. Wallace had founded. He visited my research farm in Jamaica in 1965, and gave me many useful tips on maize breeding.

The 4 S’s: a winning formula for agricultural productivity: Green Revolution

Much has been written on the Green Revolution worldwide, so here I will focus on a few facts that are not well known.

Increasing agricultural productivity requires 4 basic elements: SEED, SOIL, SEASON (rain plus supplemental irrigation, and STAND (high plant density of plants in the field)

After Dr Swaminathan had identified the dwarf varieties that were looking very promising among the many sent by Borlaug to him, Professor M S Swaminathan, invited Borlaug to visit India and observe the wheat plots with him. Observing the performance of high-yielding varieties (HYVs), Borlaug would have most likely urged the distinguished professor to follow principle of 4 S’s to get maximum yield in the shortest timeframe—which is the traditional method used by farmers for centuries—except Borlaug urged farmers to combine the good seed with balanced nutrition and soils rich in organic content, and irrigate HYV fields with the supplemental irrigation. I was not privy to their conversation, but a conversation along these lines would have been quite plausible .

The enabling technologies like soil, irrigation, and the areas of Punjab, Haryana, and western UP were identified by the scientists in India. The key policy decisions at every level were made and implemented promptly. Later the lands where yields went up dramatically were called Green Revolution lands. Professor Swaminathan knew the can-do attitude of the Punjabi and Haryanvi farmers, and he was confident that they would deliver if supported with the technologies Dr Borlaug recommended.

Professor Swaminathan arranged Borlaug’s meeting with the Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Chidambaram Subramaniam; and the same day, the three of them met Honorable Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, stating that important policy decisions on enabling technologies of the 4 S‘s must be made. And she agreed.

India was all set, and the wheels of the Green Revolution started churning. Dr Swaminathan was the engine that drove the revolution along with his colleagues and the inspiration of Dr Borlaug. Wallace and Brown (my mentor after joining Pioneer in 1963) used the expression “Small Gardens and Big Ideas” in their famous book, Corn and Its Early Fathers. Their expression is rightly applicable to Dr Borlaug’s work.

Since India had handsomely benefited from the Green Revolution, which saved India from the brink of starvation and brought it to self-sufficiency. India is rightly proud of this achievement. In recognition of his outstanding effort to save India from starvation, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nominated Dr Borlaug for a Nobel Peace Prize, which he won. (There is no Nobel Prize in agriculture.)

Currently in India, seed access by farmers  is haphazard, as there are no organized input supply chains; Indian soils are loaded with chemicals with very little organic matter, and balanced fertilizer application by most farmers is lacking; monsoon is becoming shorter and shorter, and more and more erratic (floods or droughts). About 60 percent of the agriculture area in India is rain-fed, and only 40 percent is irrigated. This unfortunate situation calls for a winning strategy.

My sincere request to our eminent experts on DBI is to follow the time-honored principle of 4 S’s to achieve doubling of income in five years. Over time, the 4 S’s have been included by the DFI committee in their recommendations, but the implementation must be streamlined to be effective. Streamlined implementation of the 4 S’s will set the doubling of farmer’s income on a right and achievable path.

The questions to ask

If Mexican wheats had not come to India, would there have been a Green Revolution? The Mexican wheat, or the high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of wheat, were developed by the US scientist Norman Borlaug of Iowa, and his team based in Mexico. Similarly the high-yielding (HYVs) of rice that were introduced into India from the Philippines were developed by the US scientists, Dr Peter Jennings and Dr Henry Beachell, with their team based in the Philippines at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Besides the Green Revolution, for which India is grateful to the scientists from the USA for developing HYVs of wheat in Mexico and HYVs of rice at IRRI in the Philippines, the dwarf genes for wheat (that made Mexican dwarf HYVs of wheat possible) came from Japan and were sent to Mexico at the request of Borlaug. The dwarf genes, that made HYVs of rice possible, came from Taiwan where IRRI scientists got them in order to introgress dwarf genes into other varieties. Hybrid rice technology originated in China from where it was transferred to IRRI in the Philippines, and from there it spread to other countries, including India. The basic science of heterosis and application of heterosis breeding originated in the US. Hybrid corn was the first product. Now the application of this revolutionary technology to a host of agronomic and vegetable crops is worldwide, including India.

Biotechnology

To my knowledge, no revolutionary technology is on the horizon like HYVs or hybrids that will double or triple the yield in five years. Agbiotech and other farming technologies can bring incremental improvements in productivity and no more.

Although seed and agbiotech businesses have been good to me, I am not a fan of agbiotech, especially recombinant DNA technology for developing countries. The development costs are horrendous. And regulatory approval processes can be very lengthy and not worth the effort in my opinion. For select crops like cotton, it has been effective, but after it, what? Maybe Bt Brinjal (eggplant) the cultivation of which is yet to be approved by the regulatory authorities of India.

Bt technology for cotton came from the US, and the Bt gene was introgressed to locally adapted cotton varieties by the private sector seed industry.

Biotech is a good science and sound technology, and genetically engineered crops (GMOs) are widely grown in North America and Latin countries of South America where farms are large and farming systems are different. However, in India, the farms are small (average 1.1 ha) and the farmers are resource-poor. Agbiotech is effective but not economically beneficial for developing countries like India. It is cheaper to license-in the technology than to develop it indigenously. (I am referring to agbiotech, not pharma biotech). Allow the public sector to dabble in it for the long term. Other modern technologies are becoming very popular in rich countries, which include robotics, global positioning systems (GPS), drones, etc., and are being rapidly adopted by the farmers in the developed world. India must be selective in picking a few technologies, such as drip irrigation, laser leveling, solar pumps, etc., and adapting them to the domestic needs of India’s very small farm size, and the resource-poor farmers. S M Sehgal Foundation (SMSF) based in Gurugram is doing this successfully.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the two premier agricultural institutions of India, and the Dept. of Biocenology (DBT) must engage in some introspection, reflect on their accomplishments, and ask what innovative technologies have actually come out from any of these institutions over the past fifty years that have been adopted in India, and/or outside India? And what are the future targets in agriculture by these Indian institutes (deliverables and outcomes)?”

Meanwhile, focus on a proven winning strategy in India—streamline an aggressive implementation of the 4 S’s to double the income of India’s farmers within five years.

Also Read the second part of the article.

Enhancing Food Security through Good Seeds, Soil, Water Efficiency, and Empowerment (Tryst with Destiny Part 2)

(Dr. Suri Sehgal, has PhD, leading international crop scientist; chair of the Board of Trustees of S M Sehgal Foundation and Sehgal Foundation, USA; founder and chair of Hytech Seed, India; founder of the William L. Brown Center for Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, and emeritus trustee of the Garden.)

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Water is the most critical resource for development. The effects of this resource can be felt not only in agriculture, but in areas such as industrial and economic development and, most critically, on the environment. India’s burgeoning population is facing a water crisis, fueled by unregulated and unplanned exploitation and a “use and discard” policy.

Water as a resource in agriculture is also reaching a tipping point with the constant challenge to feed and hydrate the ever-increasing population. Climate change consequences related to water resources include increases in temperature, shifts in precipitation patterns and snow cover, and a likely increase in the frequency of flooding and droughts, thus affecting agriculture. One estimate is that agricultural production needs to be scaled up to double by 2050. With as much as 80% of freshwater being consumed for agriculture, we must ensure that water resources are efficiently used to achieve social, environmental, and economic benefits.

Importance of efficient water management and efficiency in farming

While the area under cultivation in the world has grown by around 12–15% over the last fifty years, India has shown stagnation, or even a decline, due to changes in land use, weather patterns, and dwindling farm incomes. Changing weather patterns and erratic rainfall have also accounted for the area under irrigation to go up substantially, with most coming from groundwater extraction. The next contributor is freshwater from aquifers, streams, and lakes. It is estimated that about 2–3 liters of water per capita is sufficient for human consumption, and a whopping 3,000 liters is required to produce the daily food requirements of one person. In India, more than 60% of water consumed for irrigation is taken up by sugarcane and paddy, and this inequity places a lot of pressure on the water cycle. For all these reasons, there is an urgent need to look at sustainable water management in irrigation.

Issues affecting the water cycle

Climate and land management are responsible to a great extent in the cyclical circulation of water through evaporation, transpiration, and precipitation. The water cycle is a net effect zero, and thus finite.

Also Read – Water Augmentation – A Critical Step To Solve The Water Crisis

Sustainable water management in agriculture: Some perspectives

India remains highly vulnerable to this water crisis in the coming years. Affordable and efficient methods in water management will be key to production of food and economic security for sustained livelihoods in both irrigated and rain-fed scenarios.

So what are the solutions in an Indian setting? Can we look at achieving food security without compromising on sustainable development goals?

The answer to the conundrum is to research, innovate, and disseminate knowledge to our farmers to optimize the interaction between variables like nutrients, water, and other agricultural inputs. Sustaining agricultural production with increasing population and with existing or reduced water resources is the mantra.

Some methods and initiatives that can help in water sustainability for agriculture:

1. Adoption of Best Irrigation Practices. With a dwindling supply for irrigation, proper technological and resource and application management are needed for the efficient use of water. Sustainable water management in agriculture can be achieved by:

2. Improve Agricultural Practices. Improper soil management, indiscriminate fertilizer application, and overuse of agrochemicals are connected with sustainable water management and contribute to deteriorating groundwater. Some efforts in these areas will go a long way in achieving sustainable water management for agriculture:

3. Water conservation practices: In-situ and Off-site. With a majority of Indian farming still dependent on the “rain gods,” it becomes important to conserve and harness this important (though erratic) resource. Agricultural use of water can be conserved on farms through landform management, direct seeding of water intensive crops, encouragement for fallow management, etc. Off Site conservation of water for agriculture can be through water harvesting, recharge of aquifers, and storage. Water harvesting and small water storage interventions have a major role to play in the improvement of water availability, especially in areas that depend on rainfed crops.

4. Policy Intervention and Integration. The complex and diverse nature of water resource management in Indian agriculture means that there should be flexibility in water policy according to situations and regions. More flexibility is required with water property rights and a robust framework is needed for sharing of water amongst states with supporting infrastructure. Similarly, a clear policy framework is needed for levying charges on the use of water resources and electricity, particularly groundwater. When water stress is an issue, it becomes all the more important for the farming community to understand why water cannot necessarily be a free resource in the long run. However, this is a contentious and politicized issue.

Also Read – Wastewater Management in Rural India

Stories from the ground: a beginning of a new dawn

NUH. Making groundwater potable and fit for agriculture

In some parts of rural India, due to paucity of canal and municipal water, groundwater is one of the major sources of supply. This is expensive, sometimes contaminated and, above all, has led to a rapid depletion of the water table, thereby exacerbating the water shortage problem. Collecting, storing, and accessing clean drinking water has become a priority and continues to be a challenge. With a limited water supply, irrigation and human consumption often compete, and the sustainability factor in water management takes center stage.

Due to the lack of perennial surface water, 78% of the Nuh district has saline groundwater. Even the fresh groundwater is saline, which increases with the depth. A few ponds that exist are used for domestic purposes and cattle; however, being seasonal, they dry up as the demand peaks. This has adverse effects on the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the inhabitants. People have to purchase water or walk miles to fetch water to meet their daily needs. Lack of potable water leads to a lack of hygiene and sanitation, which lead to fatal diseases, especially in females. Due to water scarcity, informal water markets thrive and, in spite of the high cost they pay, the water quality is not guaranteed.

Due to the lack of irrigation resources, the region is highly dependent on rainfed agriculture. Given the harsh climatic conditions, a majority of the families depend solely on agriculture to earn a living. Because of salinity, trees in this district are not very dense. Accompanied by the rocky terrain, this increases the temperature in the summers.

To tackle the problem of groundwater salinity, S M Sehgal Foundation has developed and constructed innovative rainwater harvesting models for the creation of freshwater pockets within a saline aquifer. In this model, the structure (a recharge well) stores and recharges rainwater below the groundwater table, as a freshwater pocket within a saline aquifer (groundwater zone). The technology is environment-friendly, as the system requires no use of chemicals or energy.

High-pressure recharge wells were installed by S M Sehgal Foundation and the Millennium Alliance together in four schools in the water-scarce villages of the Nagina block. Besides the installation, the villagers were made aware of the project and the usage of the well so that they could adapt to it. Roof rainwater harvesting with a modified design for recharge wells was used to tackle the salinity problem.

The burden on children, who used to carry water bottles every day, was thus reduced, and they gained free access to safe clean drinking water that helped them be hydrated during school hours. Students and the local residents accepted the fact that the water was safe for consumption and it also tasted as sweet as the packaged mineral water available in the market. The direct outcome has been seen with better sanitation and hygiene, regular cooking of midday meals, and reduced dropout rates in girls. There has also been an improvement in availability of clean water for irrigation purposes.

What are high-pressure recharge wells?

High-pressure recharge wells and rainwater harvesting systems provide freshwater in a saline aquifer. These are above-ground open cylindrical tanks made of cement. Through the PVC pipes, rainwater on the rooftop is channeled into the recharge wells. Since the tank is built above the ground, pressure is created, enabling the harvested water to push aside the saline water, thereby creating freshwater pockets within the saline aquifer.

Also Read – Importance of Watershed Management In Smallholder Farming

NARNAUL Recharge Ponds

Another example of how rainwater harvesting is having a positive effect on lives in rural India is the case of Narnaul in Mahendragarh district of Haryana. The state of Haryana is well known for its farming and developed agriculture. The inhabitants of this region are highly dependent on its farm produce. The groundwater level in Narnaul, Mahendragarh, was rapidly-depleting, threatening the livelihood of the residents. The region’s distance and disconnect from the town also played a major role in its adverse condition. That is when S M Sehgal Foundation joined hands with HDFC Bank to construct johads (redundant ponds) in the Sarelli and Panchnota villages. This project aimed at bringing about a positive change by increasing the water table in the region with Parivartan Pariyojana.

The locals said they had to wait long hours for the tankers. The cattle went thirsty, thereby causing a reduction in milk output. After the johad was constructed, two to three hours of heavy rainfall was sufficient to have the pond overflowing, and lasted the villagers an entire year. More water in the pond resulted in the ground seepage, recharging the water table and leading to the increased level of groundwater. The depth and the diameter were increased to collect as much water as possible to last for a longer duration after the evaporation process. Even the wells in the adjacent villages appeared fuller and fed more people than earlier. The spinoff effect was undeniable.

However, after the construction of the pond Johad, locals feel more aware and confident regarding water management and its advantages.

Conclusion

With the agricultural community facing the challenge to increase food production substantially, a sustained availability of crucial resources such as water is important. With irrigation needs increasing in the times to come, freshwater as a resource will be under pressure and may be diverted to industrial and domestic use. With almost 30–40% of water used in irrigation going unused, a concerted effort is required in policy, water allocation, and management. The government must gear up on this critical and crucial matter, and a synergistic effort is required on all fronts. After all, we do not want any policy or ground-level inaction to be the genesis of water wars in the future.

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