Generating Incentives for

Sustainable Natural Resource Management

1. Synthesis

Continuing collaborative research programme between IIM-A and SRISTI, Ahmedabad to enhance global as well as local space for conserving biological diversity and associated knowledge systems by increasing creativity and innovations at grassroots level has been a very rewarding experience. The overall objectives of the research project (phase I & II) were:

(a) to add value to the local, technological and institutional knowledge through documentation, characterization and validation for providing sustainable livelihoods, (b) to generate various models to provide incentives to grassroots innovators and (c) to promote awareness among the younger generation about the local creativity and culture of experimentation, ethics and excellence.

The key achievements of phase I & II are:

 

1.1 Database: From an initial repository of 1500 innovations in 1993, the Honey Bee database has now expanded to more than 8000 innovations and outstanding examples of traditional knowledge. In addition, a database of 80 institutional innovations from more than 22 countries for managing natural resource has also been developed.

 

1.2 Networking: Local language versions of Honey Bee, greater recognition of the Honey Bee Model by the policy makers at the state, national and international level and continued support of the scientists, policy makers and others to the cause of grassroots innovations are some of the results of networking strategies followed so far.

 

1.3 Technologies: Development of gender sensitive technologies for women such as a modified water pulley designed by an innovative artisan Shri Amrutbhai Agrawat has been diffused by GIAN and SRISTI. Likewise, a large number of technologies have been identified for diffusion through commercial and non-commercial channels (see Annexure 1)

 

1.4 Value Addition: On-farm, on-station and laboratory experiments for validation as well as for development of herbal pesticides, growth regulators, veterinary and human drugs have led to the evolution of several new products. A herbal kit of various animal diseases has been developed by pooling insights of 35 innovators which will generate monetary and non-monetary benefit to the innovators. Three formulations of veterinary drugs were developed and transferred to a private company for scaling up with a royalty sharing agreement.

 

1.5 Institutional Impact: The establishment of Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) – a venture promotion fund for scaling up grassroots innovations, budget announcement and creation of board of National Innovation Foundation (NIF) to be set up in Ahmedabad and first National Workshop on Innovation based Enterprises to set up Incubator at IIMA are some of the key institutional impacts.

 

1.6 Rewarding and Compensation: The development of several contingent incentive models for individuals as well as groups through monetary and non-monetary means has been a major contribution to the discussion on incentives for biodiversity conservation. Some practical models such as trust funds, awards, venture promotion grants, etc. have resulted from this.

 

1.7 Policy: Honey Bee network was invited to present its multimedia database to the Prime Minister’s task force on IT (Information Technology) to demonstrate the power of information technology in creating Knowledge Network. Likewise HB network has made meaningful contribution to the National Biodiversity Bill, National Technical Committee Report on Drought presented to Prime Minister making major suggestions on incorporation of indigenous knowledge in watershed projects (which has already been implemented) and national committee set up to prepare Forest Action Plan for next 20 years. Currently IIM-A is engaged in on-site documentation of three cases around the world on role of IPR in benefit sharing sponsored by WIPO.

 

1.8 Ethical Policies and Practices: The development of Pew Ethical Guidelines for Accessing and Exploration of Biodiversity was a major milestone. The research at IIMA made a major impact on the shape of these guidelines and subsequent discussion on the subject.

 

The emergence of Honey Bee Network in 1989 signified a major departure in our thinking about the way we should deal with the people’s creativity, knowledge system and conservation ethic. The growth of the Honey Bee Network required a more enduring institutional support. A discussion on the policy and perspective committee of IIM-A also felt at that time that an independent institutional structure was more suited to sustain Honey Bee newsletter and associated activities. SRISTI and its research programme was the result of that realisation. In a way, the challenges of not only scouting but also spawning, sustaining and stimulating grassroots innovations for biodiversity conservation required a comprehensive research programme. The key challenges or problems which we addressed in the IDRC supported research programme / project (Phase I & II) were:

2.1 Erosion of Knowledge and Biological resources: The process of modernization, rising expectation of a particular life style, weakening of intergenerational dialogue and indifference towards indigenous knowledge system in formal education system as well as by policy makers has adversely affected the process of transfer of knowledge from one generation to another. Once the knowledge about sustainable use and conservation of various natural resources becomes defunct in the communities, the erosion of natural resources also becomes inevitable. The erosion of knowledge was sought to be checked through documentation, dissemination, value addition and rewarding the creativity, innovations and biodiversity based knowledge system.

 

2.2 The Process of Participatory Technology Development: The failure of externally developed input intensive technologies, especially in the high risk environments despite the green revolution, raised a serious concern for developing sustainable technologies. In other words, it was a challenge for technology designers to generate a system of making semi-stitched cloth instead of offering ready-made garment from outside so that people can modify it according to their specific needs. We took up the challenge of developing methodologies for mobilizing intellectual participation of grassroots innovators in the process of technology development as well as dissemination. IIM-A has pursued the research on the subject and evolved policy initiatives.

 

 

2.3 Lack of Attention Towards Technological Needs and Knowledge of Rural Women: The pulley used for drawing water from the open well did not undergo any change in spite of significant fall in the water table in dryland regions. Similarly, scientists have not worked on developing technologies required for filling the nursery bag or collecting gum by women from the trunk of the thorny tree species. This programme has tried to develop energy-efficient technologies for rural women with the help of local innovative artisans as well as scientists.

 

2.4 Inadequate Institutional Support for Informal Sciences: People’s knowledge systems were not given due attention in the mainstream educational and public policy system. It was considered beneath one’s dignity to learn from informal sciences. This resulted in the younger generation shying away from acquiring knowledge and skills from informal knowledge experts. We took up the mission of bridging the gulf between grassroots innovators and scientists from formal sector for extending the frontiers of formal sciences. Most of the development programmes ignored the technological as well as institutional innovations made by local people on their own to solve problems. On the contrary, many times government interventions dampen the spirit of an innovator which eventually effects the process of innovation. For instance, the road transport authority fined Bhanjibhai Mathukia - an innovative artisan for making low cost, energy efficient 10 HP three wheel tractors. He was forced to sign an agreement on legal stamp paper that he would not make such tractors in future.

 

2.5 Unethical Use of Indigenous Knowledge System: The knowledge from the grassroots innovators has been used unethically by the private sector as well as scientists and academicians from public sector for a long time. The providers of knowledge from informal system remain anonymous due to lack of appropriate system for acknowledgment and protection of IPRs of the grassroots innovators.

We decided to protect the intellectual property rights \ (IPRs) of grassroots innovators and ensure a fair share in the return from possible commercialization of the products and services based on grassroots innovations. It is also
proposed to test various models of incentives for encouraging grassroots innovators. IIM-A pursues the policy discussion on need for change in IPR system for small innovators.

 

2.6 Inadequate Policy Attention Towards Local Innovations and Ecological Knowledge Systems: 

Herbal products based on farmers’ practices also have to undergo all the certification and safety test procedure prescribed for chemical pesticides for getting registration at the same cost as large corporations. A large part of agriculture in marginal environments is organic in nature. And yet, no policy or institutional support exists for the purpose. The research on indigenous innovations is almost conspicuous by absence in agricultural research institutions. The educational curriculum at different levels ignores the examples about local inventions and outstanding cases of traditional knowledge systems.

 

2.7 Lack of Peer Groups for Innovators: There was no platform for horizontal networking among innovators to share their knowledge and experiences. We attempted to build platform for innovators to share their knowledge cutting across regional, cultural and language boundaries. IIM-A provided a very appreciative platform for interactions and workshops among the innovators. Director and Dean, IIM-A took a personal interest in encouraging the innovators.

 

2.8 Lack of Efforts for Value Addition: No systematic efforts were made to add value to indigenous knowledge systems for improving their efficiency and generating new options for livelihood. The formal research system has no dedicated funds for strengthening local agro-biodiversity, or adding value to biodiversity based knowledge systems or testing or certifying herbal and artisanal products at low cost. The public administration is not bothered about building upon a resource base in which poor people become rich, through their knowledge.

3. Conceptual Implications of Research Findings :

 

3.1 Characteristics of Indigenous Knowledge Systems: SRISTI, IIM-A and Honey Bee Network have been involved in the documentation and dissemination of indigenous knowledge, innovations and practices for more than 10 years. The following lessons have emerged from the experiences of Phase I & II :

 

 

3.1.1 Not all the Informal Knowledge in Use by a Community is Traditional in Nature : The search for innovations developed by the people without outside help can be traced both in the traditional as well as contemporary sources of creativity. Traditional knowledge is based on the accumulation of hundreds of years of human observation and practice and the working out of the inter-relationships and cause and effect relations of different processes. Such knowledge seems to be more holistic since it spans multidimensional aspects of natural processes and is accumulated through the process of human intervention. On the other hand many of the contemporary innovations may have occurred recently. The institutional context of both may have similarities and differences as well. For instance, in Bharuch district, a few years ago, the farmers growing cotton and pulses had to face a severe attack of pests. At that time, they were using pesticides. But they found that the pests had developed immunity. In the same district, a plant locally known as naffatiya (Ipomoea fistulosa) grows abundantly. A few innovative farmers of this region made a decoction of the leaves of this plant and applied to their crops diluting with water in the ratio of 1:15. They found this remedy to be far more effective than any pesticides they had used so far. Thus, people’s knowledge is like a flowing river and our job is to maintain the flow. The exclusive focus on traditional or folk knowledge at times obscures the continuing tradition of contemporary inventions. We need to focus on both.

 

3.1.2 Not all Knowledge is Collective in Nature: There are individuals who have great expertise in various aspects of local knowledge not known or partly known to the community. There could be many reasons for this (i) the innovator may not like to reveal the process of his/her experiment (ii) the innovator may not think much of it, or (iii) even if people know about it they may be hesitant to accept it because of their access to alternative technology which they find more user-friendly. Thus, individual knowledge should receive as much attention as collective knowledge.

 

3.1.3 Heuristics of Innovations : Pastakia (1996) studied the heuristics of some of the selected grassroots innovations from the Honey Bee database under the guidance of Prof. Gupta for his doctoral thesis. He found that some of the heuristics (guiding principles for searching solutions) of innovation used by the local people are very different from the ones that are used in the formal sciences in many cases. It is mainly because of the differences in their world views and socio-ecological context. The understanding of heuristics of grassroots innovation would be crucial for generating alternative model of technology development and dissemination. (see Annexure: 2)

 

 

3.1.4 Intertwining of Technology and Institutions: Technology and supporting institutions complement each other for ensuring long-term sustainability. Technological constraints can be precursors of institutional innovation and vice versa. In fact, it so happens that an institutional constraint provides a spur for technological solutions, which in turn leads to an institutional innovation. It has been earlier suggested that technology is like "words" while institutions are like "grammar" (Gupta et. al 1997, Gupta et.al. 1999, Gupta, Shingi and Pastakia: Annexure -3).

 

 

3.1.5 Episodic Institutions: Self-designed institutions for management of natural resources at the grassroots exhibit considerable variation The sources of variability may include the nature of stress to which the institution owed its genesis, nature of the resource (whether fugitive or stationary), the ownership of the resource (private, common, public or club ), the scarcity of the resource, size of the group and heterogeneity among stakeholders, the cultural context of the members, and finally the purpose of management (for conserving resource or survival of the members). The nature of rules/norms varies across sectors, regions and cultures. Given the uncertainty and complexity in the ecological systems as natural resources are in a constant state of variation, there may be an inadvertent shift in the management of resource which in turn also alters the mode of behaviour in a system. Therefore despite well-defined rights, boundaries cannot be absolute or definite always, they undergo recurring changes due to the following reasons: a) Nature of resource b) scarcity of resource c) environmental degradation. Short period of high stress with low frequency and high unpredictability may lead to the emergence of episodic institutions e.g. development of quarantine rules for facing FMD (foot and mouth disease) attack. While high or moderate stress that is continuous in nature could lead to the formation of more durable or concurrent institutions.

 

3.2 Typology of innovations: The typologies of grassroots innovations have been discussed in several research papers (see Annexure 4 ). As shown in Figure 1, an innovation may be characterized by change or new development in any one of the six cell of the matrix. The same logic also applies to the grant of patent. For the grant of IPR, at least one of the six cells should be new. For instance, an innovation may make use of old material, extracted by an old known process and may have a new use. This newness is what makes the whole process or product an innovation.

 

3.3 Participatory Approaches to Learning: We neither approve of nor use any of the Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) or so called "Participatory Rural Appraisal" (PRA) methods. These methods create a bent of mind that legitimizes short cut approach to learning. We believe that learning should be mutual, patient and in categories that people use for defining their world view. SRISTI & IIM-A have developed various methods for mobilizing students, scientists and development workers and functionaries for learning from grassroots people. The details of the methods are discussed in several publications (see Annexure 3). The credit for documenting large numbers of technological as well as grassroots innovations by Honey Bee Network goes to the methods evolved particularly during Phase I of the project but also earlier.

 

 

3.4 Bridging Formal and Informal Science: The formal/modern sector needs to learn the underlying premises, methods and other aspects of traditional knowledge and recognize it as a valid form of knowledge. Indigenous creativity of people infused with nature- friendly values triggers innovations which are likely to be sustainable. Value addition in such innovations through blending of modern science provides a way of unleashing the entrepreneurial talent of the grassroots level innovators. Modern science can help the farmers to add value and improve efficiency by directing attention to the proper causal route. Sometime farmers do the right thing for wrong reasons, for instance in some villages of district Mahendragarh in Haryana, farmers grew coriander around gram field. They believed that coriander repelled the pests of gram. A research experiment at ICRISAT triggered by our observation revealed an entirely different process. It was found that the coriander did not repel the pests, but attracted the predators of the pest through high content of nectar in its flowers. Hence, the practice farmers were following was true but their causal explanation was wrong.

 

There is enormous strength in the local knowledge system that can help extend the frontiers of natural as well as social sciences. For instance, farmers in Andhra Pradesh dip their hands in a pot of milk every now and then while transplanting tobacco seedlings. Such a practice is believed to prevent the occurrence or diffusion of tobacco mosaic virus. In Gujarat, farmers pour milk on the hooves of cattle, which are affected by foot and mouth disease. Based on the outstanding research at CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology) on breast cancer, it was hypothesized that lower content of RNAase enzyme in the milk of Parsi women suffering from cancer could be the possible reason for the high propensity of breast cancer. In other words, the higher content of the RNAase enzymes in the milk of healthy women might have prevented the infection of virus that triggers breast cancer. The TMV and FMD are also type II RNA viruses as is the case of virus responsible for cancer. Therefore, it could be possible that practice of using milk by farmers in this case might break new conceptual ground. Similarly, the study done by Pastakia as part of his doctoral thesis at IIM-A had demonstrated several heuristics that did not exist in the literature before.

 

 

3.5 Greater Scope for Externally Induced Innovations for Rural Women :

 

The participation of farmers, especially women, in technology development is vital for making a major dent in the problem of rural poverty. Gender analysis is an important tool for ensuring that user participation includes women, so that their special needs and problems are taken into account in technology development. Past experiences show while that women have an enormous inherent capacity to build up adaptive strategies to cope with various stresses, they seldom try to transcend their constraints and problems particularly in many of the traditional bound rural societies. There are many technologies used by women that have not undergone much modification over the centuries.

 

The scope for induced innovations in the case of hardships faced by women seems to be more than in the case of similar problems faced by men. At SRISTI , several technologies have been developed with the help of innovative artisans and entrepreneurs for rural women, for instance two models of pulley which required less energy and also have a provision for women to take rest while drawing water, or a simple device to fill nursery bags for raising seedlings viz. kittanal etc. Gender focus, it may however be added, is not just the focus on women. Instead it requires identifying opportunities or challenges where being man or woman makes difference. Once such links are identified, appropriate interventions can be designed, provided the relevant stakeholder have been heard and given voice and power to influence the decision making. For instance, while designing a sprayer, a scientist from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad raised the issue of shoulder based sprayer Vs backpack to ensure that both man and women can conveniently use it.

 

3.6 Scientific Validation and Value Addition for Wider Dissemination:

 

Generally it is assumed that farmers innovations get diffused through word of mouth. But we have learnt that many innovators did not get the chance to share their innovations just because they were not approached by anybody or their neighbours did not take interest in them. Therefore, interventions by external agencies become necessary to help in spreading such local innovations and technology through formal and informal channels. In the absence of external agencies farmer to farmer communication does not seem to be a viable approach of dissemination for all kind of innovations. In some cases it works but in many cases it does not. SRISTI hopes to spread the knowledge among peers through a network of innovators, scientists, policy makers to pursue participatory research for developing sustainable technologies. The process of technology evoluation and domain of its application may circumscribe the incentives for sharing one’s innovation or expertise. Local innovators may have to share their knowledge, given historical tendency to have a contempt for local deviation of positive kind. The culture of conformity also got deeply embedded in social psyche. Cultural processes cemented the hesitance of innovators to reach out to the potential users of their innovation. It is in this a context that external recognition, reward, or just support makes all the difference. The argument that in the past much of the local knowledge diffused through local social and cultural network is true. However, media exposure, increasing income and diverse opportunities have changed many of these processes irreversibly. Our argument is not that local knowledge network for information dissemination do not work. But we have observed that many of the contemporary innovations have not been known very well even in their own communities.

 

3.7 Protecting IPRs of Grassroots Innovators:

 

SRISTI has proposed to set up INSTAR (International Network for Sustainable Technology Applications and Registrations) - registry system for innovations to help secure IPR protection for small innovators who cannot afford costly IPR system as it exists at present. Any innovator can register his/her innovation in any Indian language. The innovators will be entitled to receive a share of returns that may accrue from commercial application of their knowledge, innovation or practice with or without value addition. We also need to overcome the isolation of such spirited scientists and entrepreneurs in public and private sector who work on people’s knowledge systems with dedication but are often isolated and ignored by their peers.

 

3.8 Models for Providing Incentives:

 

 

The biodiversity and associated knowledge systems may thrive through various kinds of innovative initiatives of individuals or groups. The failure of policy makers in consulting local communities, including local experts, before implementing large scale projects conceived for the development of rural poor, has often led to adverse impacts on the livelihood strategies of the local communities. To deal with such a situation there is an urgent need to develop global and national strategies for conservation of biodiversity as well as indigenous knowledge systems. To achieve this we need to explore the context of incentives that will help in sustaining different kinds of knowledge systems at the global level. Further we also need to study the criteria required to operationalise different kinds of incentives in different locations and institutional settings. We have proposed four of models for compensating and rewarding innovators viz., a) Material-individual: b) Material-community; c) Non-material individual; d) Non-material community.

 

3.9 Resolution of Ethical Dilemma by Honey Bee Network :

 

We faced several ethical dilemmas from day one. In the very first issue we carried a letter from a network member who asked us whether valorization of local knowledge would not make the same knowledge go out of the reach of the original producers. He gave the example of tea. The best tea leaves were never consumed by the people who grow or process this tea in Assam. The second dilemma dealt with exhaustion of IPRs of a specific innovation or knowledge bit. We decided to be careful in making a trade off in favour of publication when a given practice or innovation would benefit a large number of farmers. In addition, we decided not to publish some of the most unique practices which were instead taken for value addition. The third dilemma was about our accountability towards the producers of the knowledge. This led to development of the guidelines as a part of PEW Conservation Scholar collective initiative. (see Annexure-5).

 

3.10 Segmented Behaviour of Grassroots Innovators :

 

Innovators segment their life space and do not follow the same ground rule or criteria of valid behavior in each segment. For instance, it was noticed in a meeting on sustainable pest management innovations that when they fell sick themselves, they would first try for some local medicine but if that didn’t work out, they would go and consult an allopathic doctor. Similarly if their animals fall sick, they will not hesitate in going to a veterinary doctor, but when their crops get affected by pests or diseases, they would like to adhere to non-chemical treatment of plant. Such a segmented approach could either be ideological or just a pragmatic approach born out of past experience or their exposure.

 

4. Fulfilment of objectives

4.I Documentation and Dissemination of Grassroots Innovations :

 

Specific objective :

 

To document and disseminate technological as well as institutional innovations developed by local farmers, artisans, pastoralists, poultry keepers, leather tanners, potters, fishermen and women, and other people involved in various rural crafts and cottage enterprises based on biodiverse resources. Special attention will be given to women’s ecological, technological and institutional knowledge systems to highlight gender aspects of creativity and advocate specific policy changes (Phase-II MOU).

 

Methodology & Approaches :

 

The methodology for documentation and dissemination was similar to the one evolved in Phase-I. There has been constant improvement especially during phase II for documentation of women’s indigenous knowledge system. The documentation and dissemination both are simultaneous processes to some extent. Hence dissemination of documented innovations became integral part of the most of the methods used for documentation of grassroots innovations. We have been able to mobilize large number of students from rural colleges (Gram Vidyapeeths based on Gandhian philosophy of education), agricultural schools, rural youths, grassroots functionaries of rural development of the state government, teachers and development workers for documentation of grassroots innovations. Various methods and approaches used for documentation and dissemination are explained briefly here.

 

4.1.1 Survey of Odd Balls in the Villages through Students.

 

 

About 100-120 student volunteers from 15 vidyapeeths are selected every year to work with us for about two months during the summer vacation. They are given simple orientation training in small groups for scouting and documenting innovations. They are encouraged to appreciate the grassroots innovations created by their family members and neighbours in the village to begin with. The students are asked to narrate some of their own experiences, which were interesting, intriguing or inspiring. By underlining the ones that we find counter intuitive or less obvious, we convey what we are looking for. The message about what we are looking for gets across through their own insights. The students then survey different villages. They also collect addresses of a few farmers who either know about the innovator concerned and/or have fields adjoining the fields of the innovative farmer. We write letters to these contacts later to have a first round of confirmation. Later, another student/field investigator revisits each site to avoid any error in the process.

 

4.1.2 Organising Competition for Scouting Innovations:

 

Competitions have been organised in various parts of India among students of Gram Vidyapeeths, agricultural colleges and grassroots functionaries of the state government. Survey forms have been developed to send brief information about the innovations scouted by the participants. Application forms, procedure and other details are explained through meetings in schools and colleges. Teachers coordinate such contests in their schools and ensure that students work in the spirit of cooperation and opportunity for learning. A workshop was organised for launching the contest for functionaries of the state government department. The entries sent in by the participants were evaluated by a committee of three persons and the winners were awarded prizes and certificates in the network meeting. Some of the outstanding innovators identified through competition are also honoured at such meetings. Many students and functionaries can participate in this activity. Though there are repetitions in many cases, our experience is that many innovations are discovered from unexpected quarters within a very short span of time.

 

4.1.3 Honey Bee, and Local Language Versions:

 

SRISTI strongly believes in sharing knowledge among the providers of innovations in their own language. To fulfil this ethical responsibility Honey Bee newsletter and its local language versions are published to share information with providers and other stakeholders. Local language versions essentially provide the platform for sharing value added information among farmers and other innovators while the English version helps in sharing information across the language and regional boundaries. Especially readers of the local versions share their experience with published practices as well as offer other alternatives that they have either developed or used. Thus, the flow of information is outward as well as inward. Readers of various versions send their comments, which helps in refining and adding value to the published information.

 

4.1.4 Scanning of Old Literature:

 

There are many visionaries and experts at the regional level who did not get their due credit and recognition just because they did not publish in English. As a result many times it so happens that we end up giving credit for ‘reinventing the wheel’. One of the purposes of scanning the old, vernacular literature is to bring these unaccredited knowledge systems to light. We have collected old books from civil society, old institutions and stalls, NGOs and vendors of old books. We are trying to reprint some of these books. Particular mention may be made of a book by Gangaben, who became a widow at an early age and published a compendium of 2080 formulae for self employment based on local knowledge way back in 1898 in Gujarati language.

 

4.1.5 Agricultural and Cultural Fairs:

 

Agricultural fairs are vibrant traditional institutions in rural India where people assemble in large numbers either for religious or cultural celebrations. SRISTI participates in such fairs by putting up stalls. Many innovators volunteer to represent SRISTI at the stall. In addition a computer for accessing Honey Bee database in local language, posters, leaflets and other publications in local languages are kept at the stall. Many farmers visit the stalls and get information about the innovations developed by other farmers. While accessing these information, they also share their own innovations with SRISTI members.

 

4.1.6 Shodh Sankal - a local network of grassroots innovators:

 

 

To generate lateral learning environment among the grassroots innovators SRISTI has initiated the concept of Shodh Sankal - chain of experimenting farmers. The idea is to bring together experimenting farmers and discuss the results of trials that farmers have taken up identifying problems which need to be solved and enhance the esteem for local knowledge system.

 

4.1.7 Shodh Yatra (journey of exploration):

 

 

Based on the experiences of several years, we launched the concept of Shodh Yatra in 1998 (Phase-II). The journey of exploration is organised on foot from one village to another for 10-12 days covering maximum of about 250 kms during extreme summer as well as winter. Innovative farmers, artisans, students and scientists join Shodh Yatra and walk with the objective of participatory learning and dissemination of information as well as experimental and inventive ethics among communities. Local experts whether in traditional knowledge or contemporary innovations are honoured on their door step in these villages. Honey Bee database is shared with farmers in the local language through computer and other publications. A mobile exhibition on medicinal plants, posters, artifacts, working as well as actual models of innovations etc are used for making the presentation. Biodiversity contests are organised among children while recipe contests are organised among women in some of the villages.

 

The methods described above are complementary to each other and are some times followed together. The practices scouted or documented irrespective of the methods are verified by writing letters to the innovators and followed by a personal visit from the team. Innovators are encouraged to correct the practices and interpretation made of the information provided by them. Verified practices are stored in the computerized database with the names and addresses of the innovators as well as communicators. If the same practice is reported from other sources without variation, the names of the other providers are also added in the same record.

 

4.2 Output:

 

4.2.1 Documentation of Grassroots Innovations:

 

SRISTI has collected more than 10,000 practices developed by farmers, livestock keepers and pastoralists, artisans, leather tanners, healers and fishing communities. More than three-fourth of these have been collected from the villages of Gujarat through students, grassroots functionaries and teachers. The rest are collected from other parts of India through our regional collaborators. Some of the practices are also contributed by volunteers of Honey Bee Network from other countries like Philippines, Vietnam, Colombia, Tanzania, Mongolia, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Alaska and many other South American and African countries. Practices collected from regional collaborators are verified and translated by them and sent to us for storing them in to the common database. We have organised several competitions for scouting of innovations among grassroots functionaries which have contributed more than 500 practices. 

The Government of Andhra Pradesh is also planning to organise a similar competition. More than 1200 practices were collected through five annual competitions organised among vidyapeeth students and rural youths. We have also collected about 700 field reports of young scientist trainees who undergo one year training at NAARM (National Academy of Agricultural Research Management). Farmers practices are extracted from these field reports and efforts are being made to verify them by locating original innovators or users in that regions. We have also collected several old books and scanned indigenous practices from them. We also made an intensive effort for documentation of women’s ecological knowledge system. Girls students of Mahila Gram Vidyapeeth wrote about 140 theses on various aspects of women’s indigenous knowledge systems.

 

Practices collected from various sources reflect a variety of knowledge systems. These include agronomy, plant protection, crop production, soil and water conservation, farm implements, veterinary and animal husbandry, poultry keeping, vegetative dye, forest and other natural resource management, leather tanning etc (The details are given in Annexure: 6). Though there are a large number of practices about the indigenous human medicine, we have not concentrated much on it because there are several other institutions working on it. We have collected large number of ecological indicators. Eco-indicators are an important form of associative knowledge and could act as early warning signals of desirable or undesirable natural events and processes. In one of the recent round of biodiversity contest, 60 ecological indicators of various kinds pertaining to rain, fertility of soil, crop sowing etc. were scouted. Many of these indicators would have to be validated through systematic observation, cross-cultural testing and scientific appraisal. Many of these indicators embody wisdom encoded in the form of easy-to-interpret signals.

 

4.2.2 Database on Grassroots Innovations:

 

About 5000 practices documented from Gujarat are verified through letter as well as personal visits. Information about the rest of the practices is given in the catalogued field notes of students and is being verified. The verified practices are translated in English and stored in the following three databases mentioned below:

 

i ) Database on Technological Innovations:

 

There are 5000 practices documented in the computerized database along with the name and addresses of the innovator and communicator. Details of geographical and subject wise distribution are given in the annexure. These practices are being translated in Gujarati and Tamil languages.

 

ii) Database on Indigenous Institutions

 

It has 80 cases of indigenous institutional innovations for common property resource management compiled from the secondary sources from different parts of the world. It also includes several detailed cases of contemporary CPR institutions scouted by Honey Bee Network members.

 

iii) Database on Medicinal Plants

 

Detailed information about the use, cultivation, habitat, and geographical distribution of various plants is stored in the multi media database along with the illustrations of the plants. This database has information about 256 plants found locally and used by farmers in various human and agricultural practices. Scientific information on these plants from NAPRALERT and other sources is also stored in the database.

 

iv) Multimedia Database

 

To overcome the limitation of textual databases and other publications in communicating with illiterate farmers, SRISTI has been trying to develop a multi media database using graphics, photographs and other audio visuals of the original innovators. A prototype of this database was developed in June, 1997 having thirty profiles of innovators. This prototype has been shared very widely in various local, national and international fora. Efforts are being made to convert all the entries of the above textual databases in the multimedia database. The database is being expanded in the next phase to 50-100 profiles of the innovators depending upon the resources.

The Multimedia database on grassroots innovators was presented to the Prime Minister’s Task force on Information Technology, besides having been shown to farmers, tribals and others during the Shodh Yatra. The idea was well appreciated by the Task force. NISSAT (The National Information System for Science and Technology) has agreed to partially support the development of an electronic multi-language textual database of innovations. This would enable farmer innovators from neighboring regions to have access to a much more rapid means of communication among themselves as well with scientists, entrepreneurs, green consumers etc.). We are also planning to set up a system with the help of INFODev division of World Bank to promote farmer to farmer networking through electronic means.

 

 

 

4.2.3 Honey Bee Newsletter :

 

Honey Bee network is essentially voluntary in nature and aims at connecting creative people engaged in generating local solutions to the problems of natural resource management around the world in the respective native languages. Honey Bee Newsletter - a dialogue on creativity of farmers, artisans, pastoralists and other grassroots innovators was launched in 1990 to network innovators, scientists and policy makers. Scientists from Gujarat Agricultural University contributed farmers’ innovations in the first two issues of the Honey Bee newsletter. There was only one issue per year in 1990 and 1991. Later from 1992 onwards it became quarterly. The newsletter has been reviewed in many international as well as national publications. It has now readers from more than 75 countries. A large number of readers keep on writing to us regularly about grassroots initiatives and innovations that they come across.

The number of paid members has not increased a great deal though number of individual life members has indeed increased. Most of the people in the complimentary list are the collaborators, advisory committee members and supporters of our cause. The exchange category includes those people/institutions from whom we receive publications and communications in exchange of Honey Bee. For last 2-3 years we have reduced the number of complimentary copies gradually. Though we are quite hopeful that the subscription number will increase in the future, but a lot more effort is needed to expand membership. The low level of subscription could be due to weak coordination. We need to develop certain new mechanism to reach maximum number of like-minded people and also strengthen the link with old network members. Earlier we have sent complimentary copies to several institutions including agricultural research universities and ICAR institutions but not many have yet been converted to Honey Bee’s cause. According to some people \ institutions, the rates are fairly high and they request for concessions. Except in a few cases, we do not provide concessions. But by mobilizing advertisements from private and public sector perhaps we could overcome the viability constrains and reduce the price and increase circulation.

 

 

4.2.4 Local Versions of Honey Bee Newsletter:

 

With the help of our regional collaborators, five local language versions are brought out to facilitate the cross-cultural exchange of knowledge and mutual learning among communities. These are : Tamil (Num Vali Velanmai), Telugu (Tenetiga), Kannada (Hittalagida), Gujarati (Loksarvani), Hindi (Sujhbujh). Requests have been received by SRISTI to start similar network in Africa and other parts of the world. Recently the Spanish version of Honey Bee has been published. Efforts are on to bring out more local versions in that region.

  So far all our regional networks have been supported and sustained through volunteers inspired by HB Network. The network, gets queries from farmers and young students about problems they are facing, or comments on the solutions published in the Newsletter. Though the network relies primarily on textual communication, face to face interaction also takes place during workshops, seminars, meetings etc. The editor of each version has full editorial freedom and is expected to include at least 30-50 practices from local region and rest from other regions abstracted from English version.

 

4.2.5 Shodh Yatra (a journey of exploration):

 

SRISTI has organised three Shodh Yatras in Saurashtra and North Gujarat in 1998 with the objective of participatory learning and dissemination of experimental and inventive ethics among communities. The first journey of about two hundred and fifty km was undertaken on foot on 15th May and the second one of one hundred and thirty five km on 31st December, 1998. The third journey took place at Bharuch on 15th May, 1999. The idea is to walk through the villages in summer and winter to learn from local experts, honour them, share the experiences of innovators travelling with us and organise competitions among children about biodiversity knowledge and among women about recipes or other local crafts.

 

Farmers showed tremendous interest in the computerized multi-media and the Gujarati textual database of innovation, which in fact added a new dimension to augment curiosity about innovations. The gesture of honouring the knowledgeable people in their own village overwhelmed the villagers. SRISTI is also trying
to uncover the potential of women innovators during Shodh Yatra. Although there has not been any major breakthrough yet, but SRISTI is very hopeful about this strategy for documenting women’s knowledge.

 

 

4.2.6 Cultural and Agricultural Fairs:

 

SRISTI has participated in 24 agricultural and cultural fairs and the response has been overwhelming. Thousands of farmers visited the stall and got information. Some of them subscribed to local version of Honey Bee and purchased various other publications. (see Annexure -7 )

 

4.2.7 Shodh Sankal:

 

SRISTI has helped farmers to organise themselves through Shodh Sankal in five districts of Saurashtra to begin with. These farmers have organised six regional meeting at various places since May 1996. More than 100 innovative farmers attended these meeting at their own cost and exchanged information. Some of the meetings were attended by scientists from the Gujarat Agricultural University. Innovators were honoured and encouraged to display their innovations in these meetings.

 

4.2.8 TV Films and Serials:

 

Two video films on farmers innovations have been produced in collaboration with DECU (Development Education Communication Unit), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Ahmedabad. The first one produced in 1991 dealt with farm implements innovated by artisans in Saurashtra and was telecast on Doordarshan in September, 1997. Mr Edward Millner, formal filmmaker for the BBC, made a film for IPGRI on global experiments and initiatives for conservation of agro-biodiversity that included stories based on biodiversity contests organised by Honey Bee Network. Several other small TV films were made by private producers on specific innovations and were telecast by Doordarshan as well as private channels. A proposal for broadcasting a film series on "India Innovates" - a 26 episode series is being considered by the Govt. of India to telecast on the national network. The film will highlight the achievements of grassroots innovators and try to transform Indian mind to make it more inventive and innovative.

 

4.2.9 Workshops:

 

We have been conducting workshops with innovators, scientists, administrators, policy makers regularly in different parts of Gujarat, and some other states. We have succeeded largely in getting effective feedback from people during such workshops. Till date, we have conducted more than 30 workshops with innovators, artisans, teachers, women innovators (see Annexure - 8). Recently a workshop of ecological indicators was held on April 15, 1999 at village Bajothiya, Taluka Palanpur which documented 25 eco-indicators pertaining to rain and crop yield forecast (see Annexure - 9 )

 

4.3.0 Publications:

 

SRISTI provides support for publications of newsletters, monograph, books etc., in English and several other languages based on indigenous knowledge, natural products and natural resource management. It has also supported SRISTI Innovations - a non profit company for publication (see Annexure- 10 for details of various publications.)

 

4.4 Converting Innovations into Product

 

Specific objectives :

 

* To undertake and support on-farm, on-station and laboratory research for developing sustainable technologies, natural products and participatory plant breeding

* To develop and experiment approaches for scaling up and commercializing sustainable technologies and value added products developed by small scale grassroots eco-preneurs

* To work towards the establishment of simple and cost effective systems for certification of organic products from drylands, and for safeguarding the rights of consumers against the negative externalities of various technologies and products.

 

Methodology and Approaches:

 

SRISTI has taken up the following initiative for value addition research to improve the efficacy of the grassroots innovations and to develop new eco-friendly products and services. Since SRISTI did not own any laboratory, experimental farm or agricultural land, it pursued this goal with the help of Honey Bee Network members and institutions.

 

4.4.1 Screening of the Farmers’ Practices:

 

Practices collected from different sources and documented in various database developed by SRISTI are analysed from several points of view such as their uniqueness in terms of the, material used, efficiency, relative competitiveness vis-a-vis other options available in the formal as well as informal science. Extensive literature review and scanning of on-line electronic databases like NAPRALERT and TAPP is done for the practices based on the use of local plants. Value addition research is prioritized on those plants which are not reported in the literature to have been used for the same purpose as mentioned in the database by farmers. Several other factors are also kept in mind such as the severity of the problem for which innovation has been developed, likely impact on women, landless labourers and the possibility of generating employment, environmental as well as social impact. The practices are also sent to scientists in various agricultural universities and other research organizations for their comments.

 

4.4.2 On-farm and On-station Experiments:

 

On-farm experiments were taken up on the fields of some of the innovative farmers to validate and demonstrate the efficiency of various practices. Scientists from agricultural universities helped us to develop a simple experimental design which can be executed on farmers’ field. A visit to agricultural universities and research farms was organised for farmers interested in taking up systematic experiments at their field. The farmers were mobilized through Lok-Sarvani and Shodh-Sankal for conducting the on-farm experiments. Some of the basic equipment like thermometer, rain gauge and other instruments used for taking observation were given to the farmers. Scientists helped in deciding the important parameters and critical time for taking observation by farmers. Workshops and periodic meetings were organised at the fields, vidyapeeths and agricultural research station at regular intervals to monitor and encourage the exchange of experiences. Scientists also made several visits to some of the experiments. On-station experiments were taken by some of the scientists at their research stations. The main objective of these experiments was to improve the efficacy of the practice and to evaluate the performance of new products based on grassroots innovations in the fields. Students pursuing their MSc and Ph.D. research are also encouraged to take up their thesis research on scientific aspects of the Indigenous Knowledge System.

 

4.4.3 Laboratory Experiments:

 

 

Practices of strategic importance for value addition were taken up for further research in the laboratory. This mainly included herbal pesticides, growth regulators, veterinary medicines, herbal dyes etc. Experiments were conducted to find out active ingredients of the plants used, efficient method for extraction of those active ingredients, developing new eco-friendly formulations and products, testing bio safety of the new products, packaging and storage etc. Many times these experiments were supported with on-station and on-farm experiments to test the efficacy of the new products in actual environment.

 

SRISTI decided not to build its own laboratory for first five years till some promising results were achieved from the value addition research. SRISTI has worked in collaboration with various state-of-the-art laboratories from private as well as public sector. Four task forces on various subjects like veterinary medicines, plant protection, germplasm conservation and pesticidal residues and soil microbial diversity analysis for organic certification were set up in close collaboration with Gujarat Agricultural University (refer Annexure 11). Two PhD students were funded in Pharmacy College to take up long term experiments on developing formulations, identify active ingredients and test bio safety aspects of various herbal medicines. Likewise, two PhD students were supported in Microbiology department of Gujarat University for research on soil microbial diversity.

 

4.4.4 Survey of Microbial Diversity and Pesticidal Residues:

 

Many farmers in marginal environments are compulsively organic because they cannot afford expensive external inputs or their agro-ecological conditions are not suitable for chemical intensive farming. There is great possibility of increasing the income of these small farmers by certifying their farm products as "organic". Honey Bee Network tried to develop cost-effective decentralized method of organic certification. It took up pioneering research on microbial diversity and pesticidal residues. Soil samples were taken from organic farms, chemical farms and uncultivated land from different agro-ecological zones of Gujarat. The data regarding crop history of last five years, use of various chemicals, and other details were collected from the farmers whose soil samples were taken. Microbial population of soils is a potential indicator of fertility status and physico-chemical and biological properties of soil. These samples are analysed for microbial population and pesticidal residues. It was hypothesized that there is a correlation between chemical pesticides residuals and microbial population profile, diversity and its distribution. These parameters can perhaps be used for developing indicators for organic certification. A working group of scientists was set up for taking up this research in various laboratories.

 

4.4.5 Green Market Research:

 

A national survey of green market is being organised for the last four years with the help of students of IIM-A and other management schools in India. A detailed questionnaire is developed and sent to all the participating institutions. Every year the results are analysed and feed back of the clients and researchers is taken into consideration while designing the survey to be conducted the following year. Similarly a survey of suppliers and distributors of organic food items has also been pursued to study the problems in supply chain. Findings of the market research are shared with potential entrepreneurs to encourage them. Stalls have been set up by students in Marketing Fair organised at IIM-A to test various concepts, develop consumer profile and identify viable strategies for expanding niche markets for organic food.

 

4.4.6 Venture Promotion Funds for Innovators for Scaling up Local Innovation:

 

 

A venture promotion fund was set up by SRISTI through Pew Conservation Scholar Award to support experimentation, scaling up and commercialization of products and services based on grassroots innovations. Farmers were given financial help for covering the risk involved in research based on their own ideas. The financial needs of the innovators for pursuing research on their own were assessed on a case to case basis by SRISTI in consultation with innovators and other experts. Selected proposals were provided support on their doorstep within a given time frame. GIAN was set up later in collaboration with Gujarat Government to provide support, mobilize resource and help in commercialization of innovation.

 

4.5 Outputs and Impact:

 

Outstanding results were achieved in phase I & II from the value addition research pursued in various private as well as public research laboratories, experimental farms and farmers’ field. Unique multi-disciplinary scientific networks were set up based on the strengths of participating institutions like State Agricultural Universities, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - a network of state-of-the-art national research laboratories, Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs), Bangalore, M S University, Baroda, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Jai Research Foundation, Vapi, National Institute of Occupational Health etc. Several meetings were held to discuss common research programmes which otherwise would have been impossible to pursue by any institute singly.

 

4.5.1 On-farm and On-station experiments:

 

Long term, multi location, on-farm experiments on thirteen herbal pesticides, four growth regulators, one agronomic practice and farm implements at sixteen fields of innovative farmers were conducted. Five workshops were organised for designing and monitoring of the experiments. Scientists from Gujarat Agricultural University were involved very actively in the selection of practices, designing, monitoring and analyzing the data collected by farmers. Regular field visits by scientists and other farmers were organised at the experimental sites as well as research institutions. Similarly sixteen experiments were conducted at ten experimental farms of Gram Vidyapeeths. Dept of Entomology, Gujarat Agricultural university conducted nine experiments on their experimental farm and laboratories on eleven botanical pesticides and five non-herbal pesticides.

 

Results of the experiments were communicated to farmers through Lok Sarvani and two special reports in Gujarati. Shodh Sankal - a regional network of innovative farmers and scientists is gradually taking up the responsibility of organizing on-farm experiments. Workshops were organised for discussing the experiments based on their technology and research needs. Seeds of Thakarshi variety of groundnut developed by Thakarshibhai Savaliya -an innovative farmer from Saurashtra were distributed to farmers of 40 villages through Shodh Sankal for multi location trials and demonstration. The great demand for the seeds of this variety the following year was an indicator of the success of Thakarshi variety. It inspired National Research Centre for Groundnut, Junagadh to take up multi location trials at national level under All India Coordinated Research Programme of ICAR. This is the first time in last fifty years in India that a farmer bred variety has been taken up for all India coordinated trials.

 

4.5.2 Value Addition Research on Herbal Insecticides :

 

 

A preliminary list of plant sources was prepared after screening the innovations from the Honey Bee database. Short listing of the plant sources was done after reviewing the literature on these plants. The review was done with the help of databases such as NAPRALERT and only some of those plants (eleven to begin with) which were unreported for this purpose were selected.

 

Crude extracts of thirteen plants were tested under laboratory conditions on two insect pests viz. cotton leaf worm (Spodoptera litura) and diamond back moth (Pluttella xylostella). The effect of these extracts on various activities of insects like ovicidal action, feeding behaviour, insecticidal and growth retardant properties etc were studied. Some of the plants were found effective as antifeedant as well as growth retardant for the insects. Some of the effective plants were taken up for phytochemical screening to identify the active compounds. Further, all the plants were found to be non-mutagenic under mutagenicity test (Ames test).

 

Preliminary screening of plant extracts for antiseptic properties against gram negative organisms, like Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus firum and Xanthomonas malvacearum, was carried out by determining the inhibition coefficient (bacteriostatic property) and the inferior lethal coefficient (bactericidal property). Most of the plant extracts were found to possess bacteriostatic or bactericidal properties.

 

4.5.3 Value Addition Research on Veterinary Medicine:

 

i) Products already Transferred to Private Sector :

 

Three veterinary herbal formulations have been developed by SRISTI through available expertise and transferred to a leading private company involved in manufacturing and marketing of the veterinary drugs. The company has already launched its commercial products based on the formulations transferred to them. A Memorandum of understanding has been signed for royalty sharing (see Annexure -12)

 

ii) Products at an Advanced Stage:

 

Four plants were selected for study on the basis of their usage in indigenous veterinary practices. One of these plants was found to have the following unique phytochemical, biochemical and pharmacological properties:

 

· Phytochemical screening: Presence of free (+) catechin was confirmed by TLC, HPLC and HPTLC techniques. Further confirmation was done by comparing UV and IR data of isolated catechin standard. The extract contains tannins to the extent of 10-12 percent; the nature of these tannins is of condensed type. A number of steroidal compounds were also found. One of the major components of this category will be identified with the help of IR, NMR, Mass spectroscopy analysis techniques.

 

· Biochemical: Free radical scavenging properties of crude extracts were tested because of the presence of polyphenolic compounds. Purified catechin (derived from tannin) was found to be a very effective antioxidant (confirmed in vitro).

 

· Pharmacological activities: Purified tannin extract was tested for detailed antiulcerogenic studies using various pharmacological models. The extract was found to have very high antiulceroginic activity in mice and rats. Antipyretic activity of this crude extract was confirmed on rabbits. Hypoglycemic activity of crude extract is also tested on rabbits and rats. Two other plants were tested for fertility promotion activity at Zoology Department, Gujarat University. Collaborated with Cadila Pharmaceutical Ltd to evaluate some of the formulations of Karim bhai - a herbalist from North Gujarat. Ranbaxy has screened one compound for antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activity.

 

iii) Herbal Veterinary Kit:

 

A herbal veterinary kit containing herbal medicines for some of the common diseases and disorders is prepared for small farmers. It contains four formulations developed by SRISTI against Diarrhoea, flatulence, wound and placenta retention based on the practices of 35 farmers and local healers. The practices are exclusively selected from the Honey Bee database. Preliminary clinical trials of the formulations have taken place at Mehsana Dairy Chilling Centre, in Vihar village, district Mehsana. The results obtained for wound healing and Diarrhoea are very encouraging and positive. No adverse side-effects on the animals have been observed. BAIF, a voluntary organization working with small dairy farmers in different parts of the country has found the wound healing formulation as one of the most effective remedies - better than any allopathic drug in the market (see Annexure -13). Formulation for three other animal diseases viz. intestinal worms, mastitis and anoestrus are under preparation. The project also provided support to a young entrepreneur from Gujarat to develop and market indigenous animal feed. The preliminary research trials showed that this animal feed stimulated the lactation and improved the growth rate of cattle.

 

4.5.4 Research on Human Medicine

 

An antidiabetic herbal formulation developed by Shri Karimbhai is undergoing pharmacological testing by PERD (Pharmaceutical Education Research and Development) Ahmedabad - a voluntary sector laboratory. An initial pilot experiment has already been conducted which has revealed the glucose reducing capacity of the formulation in diabetic test animals. Further experiments are in progress to assess the long-term efficacy of the same formulation.

 

4.5.5 Value Addition of Farm Implements:

 

 

i) Aaruni Tilting Bullock Cart: The Aaruni tilting cart is a breakthrough in the design of bullock carts developed by Amrutbhai Agrawat through the support of Honey Bee Network and venture promotion fund of SRISTI. Farmers normally spread manure in the furrows or different parts of the field with the help of baskets after carrying it to the field on a cart and heaping the entire manure in one place. This process takes a lot of time, effort and labour. The innovative tilting cart helps in introducing manure directly into the furrow. A patent has already been filed.

 

ii) Three Wheel Tractor: Inspired by the design of Chhakada - a locally made three wheel carriage, Bhanjibhai and his friends developed a small tractor of 10 HP by using Marshal diesel engine of 10 HP, gear box and axle of jeep and three wheels. This tractor has high efficiency and maneuverability and is capable of performing all the agricultural operations including interculturing. It has gears applicable to pulley systems also which helps in saving energy while operating threshers and other farm machinery. It has the capacity of transporting 1500 kg weight on rural roads. Bhanjibhai has also developed attachment like seed driller, cultivator, plough, trolley for this tractor. It is very easy to repair and farmers can do it on their own.

 

iii) Development and Improvisation of Technologies used by Rural Women:

 

· Innovative pulley : Two models of pulley have been developed requiring much less energy and having a new provision of taking rest while drawing water, compared to conventional pulley. This was an innovation, which was triggered through our suggestion. We had organised workshop of artisan innovators to whom we pose this problem. Amrutbhai solved this problem in June 1997. Later he made several improvements in new models.

 

· Kittanal : 

 

 

Khimjibhai designed Kittanal - a simple design to carry out the operation of filling nursery bags more efficiently. Kittanal is a piece of small hollow PVC pipe with one end cut at 45 degree angle to the axis. The tapered end is inserted into the polythene bag. The bag is filled by scooping the other end in the soil in one go. He has developed several other innovative implements to reduce drudgery and improve efficiency, such as a small Kushal sprayer, a wheat broadcaster Joli Orano, Stoves Cooking Yantra, Tapni Unamanu etc.

 

4.5.6 Organic Certification:

 

The work on soil microbial diversity of Gujarat was initiated by SRISTI in 1995. A total of 720 samples were collected from eight agro-climatic regions of Gujarat. Samples were screened at different collaborative institutions like IISc, Bangalore; M S University, Baroda; JRF, Vapi; GAU, Anand and Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. At a later stage a study was conducted using soil samples collected from four districts of Gujarat viz., Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Banaskantha and around 38 samples were studied. Following leads were developed through research on soil microbial diversity and pesticidal residues.

 

 

i) Soil Microbial Diversity

 

Study of soil microorganisms was done using plate counts of the three major groups of microorganisms as well as specific physiological groups of microorganisms. The total viable count, fungal count, mesophilic actinomycetes, thermotolerant actinomycetes, Symbiotic nitrogen fixers (e.g. Rhizobium), Non-symbiotic free living nitrogen fixers (e.g. Azospirillum and Azotobacter) were assesed.

 

The negative correlation between viable count and thermotolerant actinomycetes was found in dryland regions. It may be due to absence of fertilizer and irrigation. The negative correlation is nullified in irrigated soil due to presence of water. It is a usual trend that dry condition increases the ratio of actinomycetes to bacteria. In virgin soil, the negative correlation between fungal count and Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Azospirillum may be attributed to the soil pH as Azotobacter and Azospirillum proliferate in neutral to alkaline soils whereas fungus prevails in acidic soils. Also certain cultures of Azotobacter produce antibiotics which inhibit fungi. Azotobacter can inhibit spp. of Fusarium, Helminthosporium, Aspergillus, Alternaria, Curvularia pellescens, Colletotrichum gloeosporides, Rhizoctonia solanii, Sclerotium rolfsii, Macrophomina phaseolina, Pyricularia oryzae, Diplodia macrospora, Botrytis spp. and Cephalosporium maydis. The above negative correlation is nullified in presence of chemical fertilizer or pesticides.

 

The study is under progress and these findings can be confirmed with the repeated sampling from the same place and also some new changes are expected due to seasonal variation. Soil samples are being collected in the sanctuary areas from some degraded patches and well conserved patches. Earlier studies were done in agricultural lands only. We are now extending to the forest regions also to find out whether the soil microbial study in forest lands can help in understanding the eco-restoration potential.

 

ii) Pesticidal Residues:

 

Pesticidal analysis was carried out in collaboration with Jai Research Foundation. Thirteen pesticides were reported to be in use by the farmers from whom soil samples were collected. Out of these only eight were analysed. The rest could not be analysed because of non-availability of standards. Chemical intensive farms are found to have 71.4% of analysed pesticides. The rest of the samples may have other than analysed pesticides or may have secondary compounds. The corresponding figure for farms which claimed not to use any chemical inputs was as high as 53%. Out of the eight pesticides analysed, Phosphomidon and Dichlorovos were not found in the samples although they were reported to be in use by the farmers. Information on the intensity and frequency of usage was not collected from the farmers. It is likely that these pesticides may persist as secondary compounds. The measurement of residue indicates higher concentration of synthetic pyrethroids in the soils.

 

The proportion of samples containing pesticidal residue according to the eight agro-ecological zones shows a pattern, which conforms to the expectations on the basis of the intensity of chemical farming practiced. For instance, the proportions in Saurashtra, Bhal and coastal areas are low as compared to the rest of the state.

 

iii) Green Market Research:

 

SRISTI proposes to create awareness among the growers and consumers about the availability of organically grown food. Creating a market for such products means economic betterment of people engaged in this activity. To estimate the demand and establish linkages between producers and consumers, a survey of "green markets" was conducted with the help of management students and members of Honey Bee network. The survey showed that a sizeable segment of the consumers were ready to pay a premium of 10-15 percent over the market price. There were primarily four kinds of consumers that could be discerned from this survey (see Annexure-14)

 

A systematic study of supply channels, distributions channels, certification systems, incentives for customers and suppliers, organizational models for ensuring qualitative supply, distribution and fair distribution of returns etc., is taken up through students as part of their summer projects. Some of the students also conducted survey of consumer preference and distribution channels in European market. A survey of organic farmers was conducted for estimating supply chain analysis. Stalls were put up in marketing fairs and free sample were provided to get consumer feed back on taste, quality and other criteria influencing the choice of organic foods. SRISTI has developed a model for the certification of organic standards (see Annexure-15).

 

4.5.7 Venture Promotion Funds:

 

Since 1993, an experimental venture