"It is essential to give the community a stake in monitoring relevant data such as daily rainfall as their ability to manage this process adds significantly to the overall project for vulnerability assessment and preparedness,” says one of the field researchers of ICRISAT.

ICRISAT plans to set up knowledge centers in the remaining 13 villages shortly.

Solutions for drought
ICRISAT forecasts of the June-October season of 2009 indicated that more than half of the villages in Adakkal would find themselves in the grip of a severe drought. The predictions were made available to at least 15 percent of the population in each village. These villagers spread the information among other farmers.

Twice a week, research scholars at ICRISAT link up with interested farmers through live two-way video chats. During drought this year, the video conferencing facility, which was provided by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), helped agricultural researchers and scientists suggest short duration varieties of Paddy to farmers as rice is the most-sown crop in this region.

More importantly, farmers learn about alternative crops and vegetables that require less water – castor, pigeonpea, green leafy vegetables like spinach and amaranth, tomatoes etc.

“ICRISAT scientists gave us information in advance through color maps. Because of their advice, we could grow dryland crops like ragi and groundnut. We are grateful for the services offered by ICRISAT. They have helped us get better profits,” says Balchander Rakela, a 38-year-old farmer of Rachala village.

Drought or not, the video chats also help farmers learn about scientific ways of treating seeds before sowing. For example, Groundnut seeds can be dipped in fungicides to prevent the later growth of fungal spores on crops. There are practices that can minimize pests on standing crops also. For instance, neem seed extract can be sprayed on pigeonpea crops before flowers bloom.

A real help
Farming strategies ranging from cropping patterns to better management of soil and scarce water resource have indeed helped farmers.“ICRISAT’s timely information about when to sow the seeds is proving profitable to us,” adds Balchander Rakela.

“To get more returns, we follow ICRISAT scientists’ suggestions. They sometimes come and check our crops. If they find insects, they suggest pesticide sprays and powder including neem leaves extract,” says Yadagiri, a 40-year-old farmer of Nijalapur village.

The hub also hosts information on crop markets and school exam results – data valued by rural families. The maps can also help government officials in adopting key strategies to minimize the impact of drought. Supply side improvements can be effected. For example, bore wells for drinking water could be dug beforehand in villages likely to be worst-hit by the drought.

RBI Recognition
ICRISAT’s efforts to utilize Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for agricultural development recently received a shot in the arm from the Reserve Bank of India.

As part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), its Deputy Governor Dr Subir Gokarn visited the ICT center at Komireddypalli village of Adakkal and presented AMS members of the village a credit of Rs 2.57 crores. This amount is expected to help them develop new micro-enterprises.

Komireddypalli is one of the eight villages adopted by RBI in Andhra Pradesh and will avail of new credit facilities for its disadvantaged farmers. The state has nearly 33000 villages.

Panduga Sujatha, President of AMS says that the federation would use this credit to advance new livelihoods for dairy farmers and artisans. She said that ICRISAT’s continued advisory on crop management and drought matters is of great value.

With over 8,000 members, and a Rs. 3.5-crore corpus, AMS, (Adarsha Women’s Organization), successfully runs a highway restaurant and a super bazaar apart from lending micro loans.

AMS volunteers have been trained by ICRISAT in a novel mechanism of predicting drought severity, which in turn benefits farming families of Adakkal. The region has over 9,300 households with over 45,000 people. Besides technological skills, the association with ICRISAT has helped AMS win national recognition. In 2007, five of its activists were awarded the fellowship of the National Virtual Academy by the former President of India, Professor APJ Abdul Kalam.

"Sharing the right information with poor dryland farmers at the right time can help them overcome the effects of drought,” points out Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT.

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