Climate Change Farmer Group Development for Small Holder Cotton Farmers

Climate Change Farmer Group Development for Small Holder Cotton Farmers

Project Background: Maharashtra is one of the largest Cotton growing state of India in terms of number of producers and area. For the said project we have selected Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. The livelihood in the area is primarily depend on Agriculture with 87 % area is cultivated under rainfed conditions.The Project villages are situated in Gangapur block of Aurangabad district in the state of Maharashtra in a periphery of 10-15 kms from each other and 15-20 kms from Gangapur. Gangapur N19.699° E 75.0° is located on west side of Aurangabad- Ahmednagar Highway, 38 km from Aurangabad. Gangapur Taluka is bounded by Aurangabad Taluka towards East, Nevasa Taluka towards South, Khultabad Taluka towards North, and Vaijapur Taluka towards west. Aurangabad City, Vaijapur City, Paithan City, Shrirampur City are the nearby Cities to Gangapur.

This project is a collaborative effort led by ADB and LDC to support small holder farmers to recover from the COVID-19 and build resilience among them to cope with the negative impact of Climate Change. The project will strategically promote Regenerative agriculture practices and emphasizes on building the capacity of Cotton growers/farmers on optimizing the use of agricultural inputs particularly Water, Soil nutrients/fertilizers and pesticides in order to enhance soil carbon sequestration and reduce water footprint, toxic load and Green Houses gases/N20 emissions.

Project Objectives:

The project aims to enhance resilience of agriculture to climate change and climate variability through strategic interventions and technology demonstration for efficient management of Soil & water resources and Regenerative Agriculture Practices.

The Specific objectives would be as follows: –

• Supporting farmer groups in accessing technological solutions that aim to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture.

• Promotion of Climate Resilient agriculture practices for sustainably increasing farm productivity and reducing greenhouse gas emission.

• Preservation of soil organic carbon through Integrated Nutrient Management practices and reducing toxic load of pesticides through adoption of Agroecological approach to manage pests, diseases and weed.

• Establishing linkages and learning platform for cotton growers, processors, brands and consumers to educate & support them in their regenerative journey