Introduction
1) Who is the Customer?
IDEI targets the smallholder farmers not because they constitute close to 70 percent of the farmers in India or because they hold the tremendous power to build food security, respond to the urgent needs of growing food demand but because they are steeped in poverty and are unable to fight it out. We believe they have a right to live a life of dignity they deserve.
IDEI develops technologies for the other 90 percent; the smallholder farmers; those who own less than 2.0 hectare of land which may be further fragmented or in other cases own land with very small operational land holdings. They constitute about 78 percent of the country’s farmers (at Agricultural Census 1990-91).
The Green Revolution of late sixties which led India to become a food sufficient nation, as we know today was skewed to the extent to which it reached out to farmers. In an effort to achieve self sufficiency rather quickly, the effort was targeted only towards the big farmers i.e. farmers with large land and those with a withal to procure big machineries and other sophisticated technologies. Combination of best practices and high yielding seeds, fertilizers etc with big farms led India to achieve what it set out for; however the prosperity was enjoyed only by few farmers across two-three states only. Given the fact that at any point about 70 percent of Indian population has been rural and with a majority of people dependent on agriculture, no effort was made to look into the needs of the small & marginal farmers. Therefore an urgent need to respond to their needs!
IDEI is targeting only the smallholder farmers by developing technologies that rather self select the smallholders.
2) Who makes the decision for obtaining the technology?
IDEI focuses on technology that should primarily serve small holder farmers however choosing the technologies for them which would benefit the farmer is not an easy task. We go through different surveys and R& D and practically focus on individual farmers rather than group or community. The costing of the technology is an important aspect where in it enables the farmers household to afford the technology and enjoy its benefit. We firmly believe in creating small technology with big impact. Our two technologies which are a huge success amongst the small land holder farmers are “Treadle Pump” and “Drip Irrigation”. Since it is simple and affordable it is widely accepted by the farmers and benefiting them in uplifting their life and morale.
3) How subsidized is the technology?
Unlike any other NGO we do not believe in charity or giving our technologies providing support to the small holder farmers for free. We firmly believe that if we treat these poor small holder farmers as recipient of charity it will lower their self esteem and at the same time the aid provided for free would not be valued so to keep it simple and dignified we have kept the prices low as it can fit into the pockets of small holder farmers. We target them as our potential customers.
However, IDEI by subsidising the R&D of technologies with the grants it raises and by not piling this cost on to the technology borne by the farmer customer, IDEI indirectly does subsidize the product.
4) How affordable is the technology?
IDEI designs technology that is one fifth the cost of its competitor. Since we target landless and small holder farmers, success of failure of any technology we develop is determined by this factor. As profiled above, these farmers are already steeped in poverty and make their ends meet by rainfed irrigation and working as casual labourer the rest of the year. The technology marketed by IDEI has the inherent capacity that it is most conducive for use by the poor. IDEI micro irrigation technologies having high benefit to cost ratio and a rate of return of 100%, are an ideal investment for small farmers as they are risk free and can suitably employ their surplus domestic labour. Similarly these technologies are designed for smaller plot sizes and therefore do not attract the rich farmers as they can afford expensive technologies to meet the irrigation demand of their large plots.
5) How is the technology delivered?
We have a supply chain that consists of Manufacturer, Distributor, Dealer and the end user is farmer. In order to deliver the technology to the small holder farmers we have a very practical approach that is based on demand and supply. If we look at it with a wider perspective it is benefiting the society two ways, not only the farmers but also village based manufacturers and dealers by providing them with business opportunities We encourage people who are already working in similar work at a small level to become the Manufacturer, Distributor and Dealer and they are certified by IDEI for the quality assurance. The supply chain is inter linked as the manufacturer provides the technology to the distributor, distributor passes it on to dealer and from dealer shop it is available to the farmers . The supply chain gets nominal margin which is controlled by IDEI. IDEI conducts Promotional activities to create awareness amongst the farmers and works as a facilitator. we organise farmer meetings, Hatt demonstration, Video Van Shows etc to create awareness.
6) What roles does the market play?
Market plays a significant role in making the technologies available to the farmer customers. IDEI does not involve itself in direct selling. Rather, we ensure sale of our pumps through the private marketing channel comprising village-based distributors, dealers and village based mechanics VBM. In other words, we play the role of a catalyst by networking with channel partners and ensuring quality production of pumps and their smooth delivery to the farmer customer. Since inception in 1991, we have ensured the purchase of over 800,000 treadle pumps and over 300, 000 drip irrigation systems by smallholder farm families.
We identify potential quality manufacturers and motivate them to fabricate the treadle pumps on a regular basis (product design and quality assurance provided by IDEI), which are then passed on to distributors and dealers for sale in remote rural areas. For drip systems we identify manufacturers who will supply components of our indigenously designed systems, adhering to the quality norms / Surface Treadle Pumps laid down by our R&D.As part of our channel capacity building exercise, we also advise the partners of the distribution chain as well as the user farmers on the use of good quality seeds, fertilizers and adopting better cropping practices with IDEI products The whole idea of encouraging the market based approach is to make the technology more sustainable and independent so that the outreach to the small holder farmers is maximised.
7) Is the technology solving farming related problems?
Water is the primary constraint for smallholder farmers. They are unable to access water to irrigate their land round the year and as a result become dependent on the rain thus engaging only in rain fed agriculture. In order to empower them we have designed our technology as it liberates them from rain fed agriculture. Our technologies have been scaled down to one tenth hectare plots. It frees the farmer from the limitations of rain fed farming and raises his capacity to grow crops throughout the year and earn 400 percent returns every year, year after year (until the technologies last- 8 years for TP & 3 for drip irrigation systems) After overcoming the constraint of water, the farmers started looking for next level of change- connecting with markets, access to better seeds etc, so in response IDEI has started interventions in this area as well. These involve products and again IDEI has ensured that low cost products are made available just so they can be afforded by the target group.
8) Does the use of technology lead to income generation?
It has been evident from the external surveys that the adoption of the technology has increased the annual income of these small holder farmers by $400 per year (year after year) .The TERI (The Energy And Resource Institute) evaluation report confirms “increased net annual income of 400$ for these small holder farmer" (see report). The study was based on the fact findings of the attributes that has contributed to achieve the annual net additional income of 400$. IDEI has facilitated and encouraged these farmers to learn the new techniques of better cropping with maximum earning.
IDEI educates these farmers about the selection of right crop which could bring extra money to their pockets and lead them to prosperity. The study by “TERI” clearly shows that “On an average annual income per house hold after adoption of TP from 10, 000 to Rs. 34,500” that has enabled them to improve their physical capital such as purchase of land, livestock, repair of housed , purchase of TV, sending their children to school etc. IDEI have remarkably uplifted the socio-economic condition of the farmers who have adopted the technology. At IDEI we firmly believe that income dimension is vital because it enables the farmers to enjoy the other dimensions such as food security, social security and access to better health facilities among other things.
9) Is the technology environmentally sustainable?
Calculating the financial return on investment (ROI) is quite straightforward and common, The ROI is the number of times an investment is earned back by the investor and somehow fails to incorporate other returns like the social, environmental or cultural values (or social impact) however the other methods of performance measurement used to assess social results, is SROI that expresses social value in monetary terms.
The external evaluations have validated the fact that our technology is saving environment and contributing to stop soil erosion, carbon emission reduction and water and energy conservation. To be more exact with the use of treadle pumps diesel worth 564 Million Litres has been saved and carbon emissions has reduced by 2 Million tCO2 eq. This amounts to USD 451 Million and 14 Million respectively whereas the use of drip irrigation systems has saved water worth 4.5 billion cubic meters and electricity worth 603 million on kWh and this amount is equal to USD 4 billion and 9.04 million.
As per the external evaluation “TERI” (see report) the carbon dioxide mitigation potential of the project was assessed by calculating the quantity of diesel replaced by the operation of the TP for one hour multiplied by the average number of hours of TP usage per annum. This product is multiplied by the default emission factor of diesel at 3.2 kg per litre. It was found that one TP replaces 169 ml of diesel per hour, thus annually mitigating about 477 kg of carbon dioxide (for 1034 hours operation).
The environmental impact of excessive use to chemical fertilizers and pesticides has deteriorated the soil health and in order to combat that we have introduced Sustainable Agriculture Practices where we encourage and create the awareness to use Bio- Dynamic Pesticides which would strengthen the soil health. Also with the use of diesel pumps the water is flooded in the entire filed and the waste water washes away the top soil whereas Treadle Pump irrigates the field without harming the quality of the soil.
10) Is the technology gender friendly?
The pump can easily be operated by women and has brought an improvement of the situation of increasing household food security and nutritional variety, and decreasing the labour required to fetch water. More women have come out of their homes to operate the productivity enhancing technology and have taken pride in increasing their house hold food security through new skills exposure and opportunities.
A number of assessment and socio-economic impact studies carried out in different regions of program implementation in India have captured the changing roles of women and altered gender relations with the use of technology (see report). Women have reported improved sense of ownership, confidence, and an increased ability to provide for the families nutritional needs besides the new acquired knowledge and new skills like proper crop spacing, fertilizer application, disease and control. The tribal women have shifted their roles from being wage labourers to independent farmers with keen and vigorous farming interests and increased time flexibilities.