EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

S M Sehgal Foundation is a small and young NGO that is still growing. This organisation
is actually a sister concern of Sehgal Family Foundation, USA. The main objective of
starting this Foundation in India was and is to fund development activities in India.
However, after funding different organisations (NGOs) for two initial years and not
getting the desired outcome, the Foundation decided to plan and implement development
project on its own and to develop some villages as model villages. There are four major
programmes being run by the foundation in four villages of Gurgaon district. These
programs are Income enhancement, water management, family life education and rural
health.

To assess the impact of income enhancement activities being carried out by the
Foundation in the four villages and to suggest strategies to be adopted in future to achieve
the organisation’s mission.

The study covered the four villages namely Agon, Ghaghas, Rangala Rajpur and Goela
where the foundation is directly promoting income enhancement program, Firozpur
Zhirka where farmers themselves are running such activities and two villages namely
Daula and Abhaypur where a partner organisation named Arravali Vikas Sangathan is
implementing the program.

After developing understanding of the program, parameters were selected for impact
assessment of the program, information was gathered from the villages and analysed.
After mid course corrections and reviews, recommendations were made.

Group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants
and non participants of the program. Secondary information was obtained from
documents available at the Head office, Gurgaon, as well as Field office, Nagina, of
Sehgal Foundation.

Foundation is following an integrated approach where different programmes overlapping

in objectives and implementation stages. However, only 30% of the households in the
four villages have been covered under the income enhancement program. Of these 30%
people also, not all of them have benefited to the desired extent and also the reach of the
program shows wide variations across the four villages in terms of percentage of
households in a particular village getting covered. More community based organizations
need to be formed and strengthened and be trained to bear the responsibility of
implementing such development projects. In order to ensure better price for farmer’s
produce the present arrangements of market linkage need to be strengthened, new market
be explored and stress should be on crop diversification.

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 Contents

I. Goal
II. Principles
III. Target
IV. Activities
V. Research Objective
VI. Methodology
VII. Limitations of the study
VIII.Parameters for assessment
IX. Information Required
X. Sources of information
a) Primary Sources
b) Secondary Sources
XI. General Observations
XII. Observations based on parameters for assessment
XIII. a) Quantifiable impact
XIII. b) Non quantifiable impact
XIV. Recommendations
XV. Conclusion

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 INCOME ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMMES

I. Goal
Wealth creation at village level in a sustainable manner

II. Target
To raise the income of 60 % of the villagers in the selected villages by 20% by the end of
year 2005.

III. Principles
Collective approach with partners (public, private and non profit and research
organizations) & the primary stake holders (the villagers).

Environment friendly, sustainable approach.

Leverage Information, communication and technology (ICT)

IV. Activities

1. Introducing farmers to efficient practices.

Agricultural Practices & Farm Implements. (bed making, Cizeling, pest

management)

Promoting sustainable agriculture (vermicompost, drip irrigation).

2. Linking Markets

Farmer Association (Leverage Middlemen).

Market driven products.

3 Skill training and Entrepreneurship Development

Skill development of youth, promoting self employment.

Women self help groups.

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V. Research Objective

To assess the impact of Income Enhancement activities on the lives of people and to
suggest future strategies.

VI. Methodology

1. Understanding the project with the help of reporting officer and Program
leader for Income Enhancement Program.

2. Understanding the organization and the relevance of Income enhancement

program in achieving the mission of the organization.

3. Selection of parameters for impact assessment.

4. Information gathering from primary and secondary sources.
5. Analysis of the data and information gathered.
6. Mid-course corrections and review (during such an exercise it came out that I
shall also visit the organizations like ARRAVIS which are working with the
same mandate and are presently acting as an implementing agency for SMSF).

7. Observations and findings.

8. Recommendations / future strategies
9. Conclusion.

VII. Limitations of the study

1. The study was restricted to the villages of Agon, Ghaghas, Rangala Rajpur,
Firozpur Zhirka, Goela, Dauhla and Abhaypur.

2. Since no base line data regarding the socio-economic status of the families being
associated with the foundation’s activities at the beginning was available, hence
analysis and impact assessment was mostly qualitative in nature.

3. In programmes like vocational training to adolescent girls at the FLE centers,

either no follow up was done or no record maintained as to how many girls have
started using the skills to earn a living for themselves. So, I had to rely on the

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 information provided by the Field facilitators or FLE instructors and the few
participants I could meet in the villages.

4. The analysis is based on the information gathered from a sample of participants of

Sehagal Foundation’s programmes which included
• 32 members of 6 out of the 7 SHGs in the three villages of Agon, Ghaghas
and Goela,
• 13 members of 3 out of the 15 SHGs formed by the Arravali Vikas
Sangathan,
• participants and FLE instructors present at the 3 FLE centers in Ghaghas,
Agon and Abhaypur (near Sohna),
• 11 girls in the three villages of Agon, Goela and Ghaghas who had already
completed their training from the FLE centers in the respective villages,
• 2 youth (male) in Agon village who have received training from RUDSET,
• 31 youth, 5 in Agon, 8 in Rangala Rajpur, 7 in Ghaghas, 4 in Goela and 7
in Dauhla village.
• 46 farmers, 4 in Agon, 13 in Ghaghas, 11 in Rangala Rajpur, 13 in Goela
village, 5 in Firojpur Zhirka. Of these, 7 farmers from Ghaghas, 8 from
Rangala Rajpur, 10 from Goela and 2 from Firojpur Zhirka were all
members of Farmer’s association. Rest of the villagers were those who
have not been part of any of the activities of Foundation.
• 13 women across the 4 villages of Agon, Ghaghas and Goela who have
been part of any of the activities of Foundation.

VIII. Parameters for assessment

a) Targeting: Who is being targeted by the program? Is it the relatively well off or the
poorest? Men or women?

b) Selection : How the activity was selected? Was it participatory?

c) Feasibility of the activity in terms of:

- Technology and Skills: Traditional or new skills (if new skill, has there been a skill
upgradation program is the trade culturally acceptable).

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 - Raw material: Is it locally available

- Market: Local or distant, marketing arrangement, channels etc.

- Financial feasibility: In terms of returns, is the return adequate (to sustain interest),
Where is the initial capital coming from, what about working capital?

- Scale of operations: It is important to have the right scale of operations ( for

instance, if you train 5 tailors in the same village, definitely not all are going to do
well, Similarly for a distant market, the scale could be such that marketing costs are
met)

- Operating Cycle: A larger operating cycle often leads to loss of interest amongst the
community - Is the activity a supplementary one (basically to add to the family
income or is the primary one)

- Seasonality of the activity: Does seasonality have an effect on the scale of

operations and functioning of farmer associations?

- Implementation planning: does the organization have differential implementation

plan for different villages which differ in several aspects such as total no. of
households, average family size, the socioeconomic status of the villagers, the
availability of basic infrastructure facilities, etc.

d) Institutional Arrangements:
How robust is the people's institution? This is important for sustainability.

e) Sustainability
(Basically to assess whether the enterprise would be successful even after the
withdrawal of the foundation)
- In terms of people's institution, capital requirements (subsidy).

f) Scalability
Can the program be taken from 4 to 40 to 400 villages over the years and much
beyond?

g) What is the overall impact in quantitative terms i.e. income enhancement and in
qualitative terms?

h) Withdrawal strategy
Does the organization have a definite withdrawal strategy for the 4 villages for the
different programmes?
IX. Information Required

1. Data on different activities being carried out in the different villages.

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2. Past and present status of the activities.

3. No. of Village Level Institutions created, strengthened, VCs identified and trained.

4. Data on role of PIT staff and their performance

X. Sources of information

a) Primary Sources

1. Discussions with the Executive Director, Program Leaders and other staff members at
the head office of the foundation.

2. Semi structured interviews with the FVGA & PIT members.

3. Meeting representatives of allied organization like Arravis.

4. Focus group discussions with members of farmer’s association and village level
institutions.

5. Visiting the villages to have on the site assessment of continuing activities.

b) Secondary Sources

1 Study of documents available at the SMSF head office at Gurgaon as well as the field
office at Nagina.

2. Study of documents available with the SHGs and Farmers’ Associations (FVGAs)
like their books of accounts and other records.

3. Verification of certain documents like case studies prepared by the PIT members by
meeting the beneficiaries.

XI. General Observations:

a) There have been very few cases of a funding agency getting into program
implementation at the grass root level with such detailed objectives and plan of
action.

b) Experienced professionals guiding the programs as per their experience and skill and
skilled and devoted workforce a special feature of PIT.

c) In-house funding leading to more flexible approach in project implementation.

Abundance of resources a big boon to the program and moral of the staff at the
grassroots level. However, abundance of resources cutting both ways.

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d) Integrated approach, different programmes overlapping in objectives and
implementation stages.

XII. Observations based on parameters for assessment:

a) The activities are aimed at improving the wellbeing of the entire community.

b) Interventions like formation of Self Help Groups and vocational training to women at
the FLE centers depict the gender sensitive approach in the Income enhancement
program.

c) The activities have been selected by participative approach.

d) Feasibility

- Technology and skills: Introduction of new technology along with skill

upgradation program to use the new technology leading to easy acceptability of
the new technology among the villagers.

- Raw material: In case of improved agricultural practices, where raw materials

are to be brought / bought from outside, guidance has been provided to the people.

- Market: Programmes like vocational training to the adolescent girls have been
designed keeping in mind the demands in the local market (mostly the village
itself). In interventions like FVGAs, where attempt has been to tap the distant
market, arrangements for proper market linkage have been made by associating
farmers with the Mother dairy which provides them with the required channel.
However, the present market linkage is not adequate to absorb the quantity being
produced by the farmers. They are also facing problems with the grading and
rejection procedure. They have to incur huge losses if the consignment is rejected
at the Delhi based collection center of MDFVL.

- In terms of return: Returns are adequate to maintain peoples’ interest. It can be

proved by the fact that the membership of FVGA or the number of SHGs and
their savings, and the number of people taking up improved cropping practices
has increased. However, still only a small proportion of the entire population has
been covered by these interventions

- In terms of initial capital requirements: All those interventions where initial

capital requirements for the beneficiaries have been low have been well taken by
the people and have yielded good results. However, where initial capital
requirements have been more, people have been found to be reluctant in taking up
the activities. For example, vocational training through FLE centers has been
more successful as compared to the training given to people through RUDSET. In

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 the latter case, people required initial capital to the tune of Rs.50000 to 75000
after the training to start an enterprise on their own, which they could not manage.

- Scale of operations: In terms of vocational training to adolescent girls at the

FLE centers, since it was basically aimed at serving as the means for attracting the
girls towards the center to attend the Family life education program, and not really
aimed at generating employment for the girls per se, training any number of girls
has not really lead to competition among them to capture the local market.
Moreover, not all girls have started using the skills for business purposes. So, the
training has led to income enhancement for the few who have started some kind
of enterprise. For other interventions, like training through RUDSET, till now
very few people have been trained and there is no evident threat of such
competition arising in the near future.
However, in case of market linkage programs for FVGA, such problem has been
arising. After getting training and information from or with the help of Foundation
and market linkage with the help of Mother Dairy, most of the farmers have
started producing same vegetables like Tomatoes, Brinjal, etc. and it’s but obvious
that all of them cannot sell the same produce at remunerative prices because of the
demand- supply constraints.

- Operating Cycle: In case of activities like selling vegetables through FVGAs,

where returns are quick and assured, people have been more willing to participate
than activities like chiseling where the return is less immediate and less
quantifiable.

- Seasonality of the activity: Seasonality of the activities especially those related

to agriculture has an effect on the income enhancement program. In case of peak
season, when a particular harvest comes to the market, since majority of farmers
in the area produce the same crops, they may not be able to realize remunerative
prices because of excess supply. Hence, little or no income enhancement may take
place.

e) Institutional Arrangements & Sustainability

People’s institutions’ like SHGs and Farmers’ Associations ensure that more than
one person’s interests are linked together. Some of the SHGs have become
somewhat independent in terms of carrying out their daily activities while others
are not. Same is the case with Farmer’s associations. However, in case of other
interventions the foundation has directly been working as the implementing
agency and has had to face the uphill task of running after people motivating them
to take up their own cause.

f) Scalability

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 At present, the project implementation team is heavily engrossed with the
implementation of development projects and achieving physical targets. Village
level institutions could not be formed in any of the vilolages except Ghaghas; and
there too, the Village level institution has not started functioning. This has lead to
the task of community mobilization taking a back seat. In such case, if the
foundation plans to expand its area of activities, it will have to increase the size of
its PIT under the present circumstances which can not be considered a wise option
for any not for profit organization for monetary and other management
considerations.

XIII. Overall impact in quantitative terms and in qualitative terms.

a) Quantifiable impact:

1. Total number of households benefited under Income Enhancement program

village Total Improved Agri. FVGA SHG Total no. of HHs

HHs Practices covered

Agon 602 8 ---- 24 32

Ghaghas 303 4 86 28 118

Rangala 150 ----- 86 + 34 ---- 86

Rajpur

Goela 140 4 34 44 82

- Activities like chiseling and use of vermicompost are yet to show results.
- Other interventions like water management will also lead to income enhancement
but have long term and more generalized effect rather than effecting individual
households.
- Other activities like IPM were one time activities carried out by the foundation
-and so have been incorporated in the table.
- No major impact of vocational training given by RUDSET was seen and so not
incorporated in the table.

2. Improved cropping practices:

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 Bed making: Farmers’ reported increase in production of vegetables by 25 to
30%.
Chizeling: The effect of Chiseling is yet to be realized by the villagers.

(Please refer to Annexure 1 for details)

3. Vermicompost: Farmers are yet to realize the effect as it is yet to be put to use.
Use of vermicompost was demonstrated in Agon in December 2003; in Ghaghas it
was demonstrated in summer tomato and was found to be effective. In fact
farmers from nearby villages like Krhera also visited the field and learned from
the experience.

(Please refer to Annexure 2 for details)

4. Farmers’ associations and Market linkage: Farmers’ getting approximately 20%

more value for their produce as compared to when they sell it in the local market.

(Please refer to Annexure 3 for details)

5. Self Help Groups: Of the 7 SHGs that I visited (for SMSF only), more than 35%
of their members have benefited through interloaning. Of this 35%, 25% of the
members had taken loans for productive purposes and the rest 10% for their
consumption needs. More than 95% of the members have been saving regularly.
No case of default in loan repayment was seen.
Of the people who have taken loan for productive purposes, 3 women reported to
have daily earning of Rs.100 to 120. While some other women had taken loan to
support their family business.

(Please refer to Annexure 4 for details)

6. Vocational training:

a. Through RUDSET: I could meet 3 people who have received training from
RUDSET. However, no income enhancement has taken place in their case. I also
came across at least 9 youths who wish to undergo training from RUDSET.

b. Through FLE canters: I visited 5 FLE centers in all. 1 of these FLE centers is
running more like a stitching training center. Actually the vocational training
given at these centers is the main cause which pulls the girls to these centers. I
could meet at least 8 girls and women for whom income enhancement has take for
sure after the training. 2 of these 8 girls told me that they are able to earn to the
tune of Rs.1500 a monthly in peak seasons and Rs.400-500 in the lean seasons.
One of the girls has bought a sewing machine with her own income.

(Please refer to Annexure 4 for details)

b) Non quantifiable impact:

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 1. Interventions like formation of farmers’ associations have made life easier for the
villagers. Now they are able to sell their produce from their doorstep which saves
them a lot of time and energy.

2. Capacity building of the farmers, impact of grading, quality parameters etc.

With time the experience gained by the farmers in conducting the operations of
the farmer associations has made them understand the nitty-gritty of running a
business. They now understand the use of grading mechanism and have become
quality conscious. They now like to grow better quality vegetables which are
easily salable and fetch them better prices rather than vegetables traditionally
grown in the area.

3. Planning: For people associated with Farmers associations, mother dairy helps
them plan their crops such that not all vegetables are required to be plucked at the
same time and also not all the farmers are producing the same vegetables. Other
interventions related to improved agricultural practices have helped the farmers to
plan their crops on the basis of available resources. With savings from SHGs and
selling produce through farmers associations, people can plan their future
activities.

4. Faith in foundation: the foundation has been able to generate goodwill and faith
among people for itself. Now people are more forthcoming in joining hands with
the foundation for their own wellbeing.

5. Gender sensitive approach: Foundation’s programmes follow gender sensitive

approach. Infact, the programmes with women like Family Life Education and
SHGs have been the most successful ones.

XIV. Recommendations

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1. The amount of effort required for implementing any program in a village like Agon
with 602 households is a more difficult task as compared to implementation in a
village like Goela with 140 households. Hence, the approach of the foundation
in keeping village as the unit of implementation needs to be reconsidered.
A fixed number of households can be made as the unit of implementation for a given
strength of PIT staff.

2. Instead of working for the people, Foundation should stress on working with the
people. It shall focus on its model of development of identification of village
champions, their training, formation of village level institutions (VLIs) and enabling
the VLIs to take up development activities.

3. Introducing farmers to efficient practices

Farmers are forthcoming in adopting any practice which involves little investment
and good and quick returns. However, in case of practices like chiseling, where
returns are not that immediate and evident, farmers are reluctant to invest in these
activities. Hence, one time exposure of the farmers to these practices is not enough.
They should be counseled and such activities be promoted for a more sustained
period of time. Similarly, in case of practices like integrated pest management and use
of biofertilisers, people require guidance and the PIT need to make more regular
follow up on the state of activities.

4. Linking Markets
In case of market linkage program, farmers have been facing problems due to
inadequate demand from MDFVL. Hence, more markets need to be explored where
farmers can sell their produce at remunerative prices.
Excess supply of vegetables is also due to most of the farmers still producing the
same two or three vegetables like tomato, brinjal, etc. Hence, crop diversification is
must in case of vegetables. Farmers need to be provided guidance as to what
vegetables other than the few grown regularly can be grown and sold at remunerative
prices.
Farmers are also facing problem due to lack of appropriate grading facilities. )
Improvement in grading facility is required. The farmer associations need to be
associated with the nearest TST centers or new TST centers be opened depending on
the willingness of the MDFVL.
Most of the farmer associations do not work for 4 to 8 months in a year due to non
availability of vegetables in off season. Hence, apart from crop diversification, farmer
associations can also think of other activities like dairying as there are is huge cattle
population in all these villages. Making agricultural inputs available to the farmers
can be another way in which services of farmer associations can be utilized.
Infact, purchase of Bed maker by the farmer association in Ghaghas and Goela is a
right step in this direction. It can also become a source of revenue for such
community based organizations.

5. Skill training and Entrepreneurship Development

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 In order to achieve the objective of promoting self employment following approach is
suggested:
i) Training of the youth in those skills where beginning a new enterprise is less
capital intensive. Opportunities in the services sector can be explored to achieve
this end.
ii) Better access for trainees to institutional finance and hence methods like bank
linkage could be explored as done in the case of SHGs. One can also think of
promoting such people who are interested in learning the same or complementary
skills and can come together to start a business jointly.

6. Withdrawal strategy
The villages vary in population, average family size and the socioeconomic status of
the inhabitants. The program is at different stages in different villages. Not all
activities are running in all the villages. Hence, Foundation needs to assess the state
of affairs and the degree of progress made in each village with respect to individual
interventions instead of withdrawing simultaneously from all the programs in those
villages. Foundation will also have to take into account the preparedness of the
villagers and the village level institutions to take up the development activities on
their own before it decides upon withdrawing from any village.

XV. Conclusion:

After studying and analyzing the entire program, and looking at its relevance in
achieving the mission of the Foundation, one can easily say that Income
Enhancement Program has been one of the most important step in the organisation’s
strategy. The simple reason being that people are easily interested in an activity when
they see any opportunity to enhance their income. Though it becomes difficult to
quantify the level of income enhancement in the absence of baseline data for
individual participants of any program, there has been definite positive impact on the
lives of people. This can be gauzed from the increasing interest of the people in
Foundation’s activities and the increasing membership of Farmer associations and
number of SHGs. The way people have started running the activities of these
organizations, taking care of group and their individual interes quite effectively is a
clear indication of empowerment of people taking place. However, in order to achieve
the desired level of success, much more needs to be done as only 30% of the
households in the four villages have been brought under the ambit of these programs
in a sustained manner. More community based organizations need to be formed and
strengthened and be trained to bear the responsibility of implementing such
development projects. In order to ensure better price for farmer’s produce the present
arrangements of market linkage need to be strengthened, new market be explored and
stress should be on crop diversification.

ANNEXURE 1

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Introducing farmers to efficient practices.

Agricultural Practices & Farm Implements.

Farmers are being trained to take up improved cropping practices and new farm
implements. Initially foundation supports some farmers to buy new farm implements like
bed maker and Chisel. Then demonstrations are held on the method and benefits of using
these implements. Initially it becomes difficult to persuade farmers to invest in these new
farm implements but after seeing the benefits of using these implements, more farmers
come forward to buy or hire such implements for use in their fields.
Bed making:
A bed maker is simple instrument that can be attached to a tractor and used for making
raised bed for vegetables cultivation. The bed maker helps save on water and increases
productivity also. A crop grown on raised bed consumes upto 30% less water than a field
that is flood-irrigated under normal conditions, crop yield on raised bed is 25-30% more
than a crop not sown on raised bed.
Farmers recognized the use of bed making in agriculture, especially horticulture. Success
stories have been created in villages in case of production of different crops / vegetables
and especially tomatoes where production increased by approximately 30%. The case
study on two farmers named Haji Mohammed and Mohammed Khalil of Agon village is
being attached here as annexure.
Chizeling:
Chizel is used for deep plowing. A permanent crust is formed about 6 inches below the
soil owing to the excess use of chemical fertilizers. This crust is impervious. It even does
not allow the plant roots to penetrate. Chizel breaks this crust, thus making the soil
permeous and allowing the plants to grow better. A farmer needs to chisel the field once
in three years for best results.

Here follows a village-wise detail of Bed making and chizeling of land adopted by

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farmers. Bed making Chizeling
2002 2003 2004
Ghaghas ----- 9 acres 8 acres 60 acres
Agon ----- 3 acres 2 acres 53 acres
Rangala ----- 8 acres 16 acres 28 acres
Goela ----- 8 acres 2 acres ------
Besides bed making and chiseling, on the initiative of Sehgal Foundation, training
sessions have been held by several teams of experts which included scientists from
institutes like IARI, technical experts from Kisan Vikas Kendras and the representatives
of seeds and pesticides industry on better methods of pest control and better cropping
practices. Adoption of new crops has been a significant feature of this program. People
have now started growing autumn-winter tomatoes which they believed could not be
done. Besides tomatoes, other vegetables include green chillies, radish, cucurbits and late
summer brinjal.
Intercropping like Okra with Cauliflower, Fodder crop (jowar) with vegetables and
Radish with leafy vegetables has also been promoted by the foundation.

Drip irrigation
The geographical region in whch Sehgal Foundation is working suffers from acute
scarcity of water domestic and agricultural purposes and still agriculture is the main
occupation of the villagers, Hence Sehgal foundation has been trying to promote drip
irrigation in the area with the following intended benefits:
1) To save on the amount of water required (only 30-40% of water required in
case of drip irrigation as compared to flood irrigation).
2) Saving on cost of production (less weed germination and less cost of fuel or
water required to take water to the fields).
3) To improve the quality of produce.
Drip irrigation infrastructure:
Cost of setting up the infrastructure ranges from Rs. 12000 to Rs. 50000-60000 per acre.
The structure costing Rs. 12000 lasts for 2 years while the other structure lasts for about
10 years.
ANNEXURE 2

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Vermicompost
In its effort to promote sustainable agricultural practices, Sehgal foundation has been
trying to promote the use of vermicompost in place of chemical fertilizers. Villagers have
been encouraged to set up vermicompost units to produce vermicompost for their own
use.
Intended benefits
1) Increase in quantity and quality of fruits, vegetables and flowers.
2) Decrease in cost of production with less use of chemical fertilizers and less irrigation
required.
3) Less risk of crop loss due to pest attack.
4) Soil – increase in humus content, increased water holding capacity of soil, decrease in
salinity and acidification of soil (due to less use of chemical fertilizers), reduced soil
erosion.
5) Cost effective pollution abatement technology.
6) More ground water recharge and less depletion of ground water.

Target group
1) Farmers in general, vegetable growers in particular.
2) Women in general and SHG members in particular.
3) Enterprising youth interested in vermicomposting.

Materials required for vermicompost production (For a pit of size 1.5m X 1m X 1m)
Dry organic wastes (DOW) = 50 kg
Cowdung slurry (CS) = 15 kg
Rock phosphate (RP) = 2 kg
Earth worms (EW) = 500-700 (in number)
Water (W) = 5 L every 3 days.
Ratio of DOW : CS : RP : EW : W:: 5 : 1 : 0.2 : 50-75 : 0.5
Production cycle 45 days
Output 50 kg from 1 pit in 1 cycle.
Recommended dosage

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For general use in agriculture 3-4 tons per Ha.
For fruit trees 5-10 kg per tree.
For vegetables 3-4 tons per Ha.
For flowers 500-700 kg per Ha.

Comparative analysis of benefits of different fertilizers:

Name of Nutrients Require Nutrient Nutrient Average Price of
fertilizer utilized ment present available to price of nutrient
(kg/ha) (kg/ha) plants fertilizer available
(kg/ha) (Rs./kg)
Urea Nitrogen 20% 100 46 9.2 4.5 49.0
(46% N)
SSP Phosphorus 100 15 2.4 2.6 108.82
(16% P) 15%
CAN Nitrogen 20% 100 20 4.0 4.2 21.0
(20% N)
DAP Nitrogen 20% 100 N-18 N-3.6 DAP=8.5 75.94
(18% N Phosphorus P-46 P-6.9 NTP=13.5
& 46% 15%
P)
Vermi- Nitrogen 2% 4000 82.5 53.625 1.5 to 3.0 28.0
compost Phosphorus
1.75%
Potassium
1.5%
Microflora 2%
Trace elements
1%

How popular is vermicomposting with villagers:

Village No. of V.C. units

Initial present
Agon 55 50
Ghaghas 34 27
Rangala Rajpur 5
Nagina 2
Gummat 2
Nasirbas 1
Goela 8
ANNEXURE 3

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Linking Markets
Farmer Association (Leverage Middlemen)
Sehgal foundation’s priority has been to promote community based activities rather than
individual enterprises. Foundation realized that the farmers in this area produce
vegetables on large scale.
Vegetable cultivation is not only a better option for income but also a labour intensive
activity. It has been estimated that each acre of vegetable crop provides for labour
outside the family worth of Rs. 5000. this is skilled labour and normally provided by
woman @ Rs. 70 per day that is equivalent to approximately 70 days of work. In addition
to the above, this also generates employment to various people I the supply chain
(transporter, grader, retailer, etc.). in India, the multiplier ratio for food sector is 2.4. this
means that for Rs.100
Of revenue generated in food, another Rs. 240 of revenue is generated elsewhere in the
country.(source: Food and Agriculture Integrated Development Action {FAIDA}, CII,
McKinsey & Co.;1997, New Delhi).
Sehgal Foundation decided to promote vegetable cultivation as an option for income
enhancement. The villagers were motivated to form village level Farmer’s associations
with expert guidance from Mother Dairy Fruits and Vegetables Limited, New Delhi
(MDFVL) and sell their produce to directly to MDFVL.
Intended benefits:
1) Increasing producers’ share in the price paid by the end consumer.
2) Ensuring market oriented products.
3) Facilitate start-up of allied activities by utilizing the market linkage and infrastructure
developed in terms of peoples’ association with the help of this activity.
The TST (Taza, Sasta, Turant) Center at Goela
Mother Dairy has established a TST center at Goela where on the spot selection and
grading of farmers’ produce is done. It ensures good quality product for MDFVL and
saves the farmers’ of the uncertainity that if the produce is rejected after sending it to the
MDFVL plant and collection center situated at Mangolpuri, New Delhi, then hardly will
they be able to realize a remunerative price for the rejected produce. In case of on the
spot rejection, they take the rejected produce to the local market and sell them at

19
remunerative prices. The members of other farmer’s associations have raising strong
demand with the mother dairy to establish such TST centers in their own villages but due
to Logistical constraints with the MDFVL, it has not been possible.

Present Status
Village Started/ Membership Turnover
restarted Initial Present
Ghaghas April’02 24 86 April’02 to May’03 Rs.448000.
April’04 to May’04 Rs.207121
Rangala- 26 120 Jan’03 to Dec’03 Rs.770413
Rajpur
Goela October’03 11 34 October’03 to May’04
(TST center) Rs.1414322.
Firozpur- ------------- --------- 34 Jan’03 to Dec’03 Rs.610000.
Zhirka

Market driven products

MDFVL does not only provide market linkage to the Farmer associations, it also provides
them technical support and helps them plan their horticultural activities. MDFVL has its
own resource center at Azadpur wholesale market, New Delhi, which collects
information regarding the demand pattern and the price trends for different vegetables.
Accordingly the farmers are guided by the experts from mother dairy well in advance as
to what vegetables to grow, when to sow the seeds and how to grow them.

ANNEXURE 4
Skill training and Entrepreneurship Development

20
Skill development of youth
In order to generate more self employment opportunities for youth, Sehgal Foundation
arranged for providing vocational training to through RUDSET (Rural Development and
Self Employment Training Institute). A document showing the list of training in the
various kinds of activities is being attached as annexure.
Present status:
In my field visit to Agon village, I could meet 2 youth who have taken training in welding
and fabrication work. However, no self employment opportunity could be created for any
of them because of the want of initial capital required which they could hardly manage.
Infact, they had undergone the training, though they already knew the work, for the sole
reason that they will become eligible for some financial assistance from Banks but they
could not get the desired support.
I could meet at least 13 more youth in Agon and the other three villages of Ghaghas,
Rangala Rajpur and Goela who were willing to undergo the training. 3 of them had
already tried but failed to qualify in the basic eligibility test set by RUDSET.

Women self help groups

Sehgal Foundation aims to empower women in the villages. Economic support providing
control of women over their own life, SHGs have proved to be an effective means of
meeting the consumption credit needs as well as the need of credit for productive
purposes. For Sehgal Foundation, SHGs have been a very successful intervention. In all
there are 7 SHGs in 3 villages of Agon, Ghaghas and Goela. Of these 7 SHGs, 1 SHG in
Agon is a male SHG. Rest 6 are women SHGs. In all these SHGs, members have been
saving regularly. Members have taken loans for productive as well as consumption
purposes. Some of them have already repaid the loans while still others are repaying it.
After talking to these members, it was evident that they are aware of the basic purpose of
SHG formation. They convincingly say that they are willing to run their SHG even if
Foundation does come to help them. However, they want the field facilitators of Sehgal
Foundation to keep guiding them for some more time.
Present status.

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Village No. Names members Contri- Total Loans
of of SHGs bution collection total Productive
SHGs purpose
Agon 2 Krishna 12 Rs.50 Rs. 6000 Rs.1000 Rs.1000
(F) Per For
Kisan 10 month Rs.5000 none nursery
Samuh raising
(M)
Ghaghas 2 Ronak 14 Rs.100 Rs.11000 Rs.31000 Rs.20000
Jannat 12 Per Rs.28000 Rs.16000 Rs.8000
month
Rangala 0 -------- ----- -------- --------- ---------- ----------
Rajpur
Goela 3 Tulsi 20 Rs.100 Rs.30000 Rs.60000 Rs.17000
Roja 10 Per Rs.6000 Rs.10000 Rs.6000
Shabnam 10 month Rs.6000 Rs.5000 Rs.5000
Dauhla 3 ---------- ---------- -------- --------- ----- -----------
Damdama 3 ---------- ---------- -------- --------- ----- -----------
-
Lodhki 1 ---------- ---------- -------- ---------- ----- ----------
-
Harchandpur 1 ---------- ---------- -------- ---------- ----- -----------
-
Abhaypur 4 ---------- ---------- -------- ---------- ----- -----------
Kerla 1 ---------- ---------- -------- ---------- ----- -----------
(new)

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