BIO-RESOURCE CONSERVATION PROJECT

RGF and Gene Campaign are implementing a pilot project in 50 villages of Ramgarh block of Nainital district, Uttarakhand. The project aims at bio-resource conservation for long-term food and livelihood security and empowerment of communities. The progress made during the project duration is given below-

• Village women and youth were trained in characterization of traditional crop varieties.
  
• 1312 seed samples of local agro bio-diversity in the form of rice, maize, legumes, pulses, oilseeds, millets etc. belonging to 45 different crops were collected from 1232 farmers.
  
• Community gene/seed bank has been set up in the village Orakhan to house the agro bio-diversity collection.
• Public awareness programme on the importance of agro bio-diversity were organized in 150 villages.
  
• Information material on World Trade Organization, Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights, conservation of biological local diversity etc were prepared in local language were disseminated.
  
• 19 SHGs were formed during the project duration and are efficiently functioning.
  
• Water harvesting tanks were constructed in 5 villages.
  
• 142 vermicompost pits were constructed through SHGs.
• Five local plants with toxic properties have been identified and tried as a pesticide or insect repellent.
  

AROMATIC PLANT PROJECT

RGF, Agrisud International, France and the Uttarakhand Govt. have implemented a pilot project on “Poverty Alleviation through Cultivation of Aromatic Plant” in Sahaspur block Dehradun district. The project aims at poverty alleviation through a market economy approach by creating very small enterprises.

RGF and Agrisud conducted a field study to assess the present field situation and problems. It was realized that while the cultivation of Lemon Grass (LG) has increased there were problems in running the Distillation Unit (DU) and the process of marketing the oil.

The progress for the above mentioned period is given below-

• Guiding principles for formation and functioning of Farmers Self Help Groups (FSHGs) at village level were developed after consultation and discussion with the farmers.
• An exposure tour was organized for the Lemon Grass Growers to make them understand the functioning of the farmers’ association and how the association can help them in production and marketing of their products.
• An orientation programme was organized for the office bearers of the federation to acquaint them with the registration process of Producers Company.
• For better utilization and management of Distillation Unit, rules have been formed.
• A workshop was organized at Bhagwanpur village. The main focus of the meeting was to discuss the marketing strategy of lemon grass oil. The representatives of the various companies participated in the workshop and provided information about the demand and rates of lemon grass oil.
• Formation process of Farmers’ SHGs started in the villages. Operating rules for Farmers’ SHGs framed and important documents e.g. proceeding register, production registers, saving and inter loaning registers etc. were introduced. At present the awareness generation meetings for formation of Farmers’ SHGs is in progress in many villages.
• A study on supply chain was conducted to explore and develop the market linkages for lemon grass growers. This study has been shared with the federation to enable them to develop and strengthen the market system.
  
  
  • Industrial use of lemon grass.
  • Various buyers and their capacities.
  • Possibility of marketing the product in and outside the country.
  • Packaging according to the need.
  • Main representatives of the supply chain.
  • Demand of the buyers.

• The farmers’ federation has finally been registered under the Companies act. The name of the company is ‘Pachava Doon Agri & Aromatic Producers Company Pvt. Ltd’.