Roots Foundation, one of India’s leading non-governmental organisations, has launched “Project Parali” to tackle stubble burning, particularly in Haryana and has stopped the environmentally harmful practice on over 3 lakh hectares of land in the past 3 years.
Ritwik Bahuguna, Co-founder, Roots Foundation, told businessline in an e-mail interaction that the objective – another alternative to burning is women empowerment and employment, besides reducing the use of plastic.
“In the next year, we aim to repurpose over 40,000 tonnes of parali (stubble), with 80 per cent of the generated income reinvested into local communities. What makes this initiative even more powerful is its leadership driven entirely by women,” he said.
Making products
Stating that, perhaps, the foundation is the only organisation tackling this problem holistically, he said it sensitises farmers on why they should not burn stubble. It demonstrates on timely evacuation of stubble from the fields, making equipment available to do this and helping them transport and sell their stubble to end-user industries.
Roots has started training women from Haryana’s local communities in making household products through the stubble, which will eventually be sold in these communities as well as to governments.
“Project Parali” is a movement and not another initiative, said Bahuguna, adding that it was championing sustainability and community-driven progress. “We are not just building a business – we are shaping a future where both people and the planet thrive,” he said.
Established in 2012 with a vision to understand and fulfil the aspirations of the less privileged by conceptualising and implementing bottom-up interventions, Roots Foundation’s objective is to foster livelihoods and build a foundation for a more equitable and prosperous future for the country.
Largest vertical
For the foundation, agriculture is the largest vertical and within it focuses on the natural resource conservation programme (NRCP) to promote sustainable agriculture practices – use of less water (through direct seeded rice and alternate wetting and drying techniques), safe and judicious use (and spraying) of pesticides and other agro-chemicals and improved crop residue management practices, Bahuguna said.
These are being done through in-situ and ex-situ methods. Since 2018, the organisation has helped improve the livelihoods of over 10 lakh farmers either through cost reduction or higher income.
Stating that technology has failed the country’s farmers, he said agtech start-ups are focussing more on increasing their valuations than solving actual challenges. “This will need to change as we go forward,” the organisation’s co-founder said.
Quality and traceability will need more focus if agriculture has to feed into the food processing sector, whose growth is imperative for the growth of the agriculture sector, he said.
Demand-driven crop
On adopting sustainable practices, he said the decision on the crop should be demand-driven. “We have seen great results in demand-driven agriculture. Second, production costs should be reduced through better practices and the use of relevant applicable technology. A combination of both these coupled with knowledge of applying under various government schemes will ensure more profitability for the farmer,” Bahuguna said.
On where the country is in promoting sustainable farming, he said it was imperative to “grow more with less”. “With fragmented landholdings, an ageing farming community and a lack of interest in younger generations, we face an uphill task of ensuring more production while promoting sustainable practices,” he said.