IIT Kanpur Encouraged Rural Youth & Villagers through various Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Activities

According to the population census 2011, India had a total youth population of 325.2 million, which is 35% of the total population. Out of this, about 70% were rural youth and the remaining 30% were urban youth. In India, since the majority of the youth comes from rural areas, they are considered as the nation builders of tomorrow. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan recognized the momentum of the caliber this part of the population possesses and planned various UBA activities at villages adopted by IIT Kanpur to encourage and empower the future of tomorrow.

1.Enabling Citizen Science Program

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan at IIT Kanpur has initiated a Citizen Science program in a Government High School at Baikunthpur village, one of the five villages it has adopted. The Citizen Science program was conducted in collaboration with Kritsnam Technologies, an IoT based start-up working on water resource management with a team of 14 students from IIT Kanpur, led by Dr. Swikriti Saran Singh.

Objectives

• To design experiments using low cost locally available material for high school students to measure water and soil quality parameters.
• To encourage curiosity in the minds of high school level and giving them basic knowledge to become future Water and Soil Technicians.
• To collect micro-level data on a regular basis, and train them to analyse it.
• To open up possibilities of collaborations between the scientific community, rural youth and start-up companies working on sustainability issues
• To sensitise rural communities and the general public about environmental problems and create awareness about sustainable practices.

The whole program was divided into two parts - experiments related to water quality and soil testing.    Regarding water quality, the concepts of rainwater levels, pH and TDS were explained followed by live demonstrations using DIY equipment to measure these quantities. Regarding the soil, videos and             presentations were used to elaborate on various types of soil and their properties. A live demonstration was conducted on the water holding capacity of different types of soil using proper equipment. The classes were followed by quiz sessions where practical questions related to the topics were asked. Thus the thrust has been that every student understands the topics discussed.

Students attending a talk by Padam Shree Dr. Subhash Palekar at the IIT Kanpur auditorium on Natural Farming

Citizen Science is an absolutely new program and untested one for this region. Its success depends on the participation of students. The effort is to get them excited about science and render them skills to learn about water and soil. In the initial phase, experiments are set up at the school and students are asked to bring water and soil samples from their homes/fields/neighbourhood. Students conduct the experiments and make measurements. In the next phase, more topics are planned out, such as using a foldscope to look at bacterial load. Once sufficient data is collected, data analysis and presentation will be taught. The school children will organize community meetings to discuss the soil, water, and related issues.See the course structure and full report here Way Forward The school is issued a set of early usable instruments and methods for collecting data on rainfall, temperature, groundwater levels, surface water levels, water quality, and soil moisture. The UBA team visits the High School every Saturday and spends 2 hours with the children doing low-cost science experiments along with them.

2.Gramin Sports Program

Rural youth, aged between 10 to 24 years, comprises nearly 20% of India’s population. In the villages adopted by UBA-IITK, it is this segment of the population that has remained aloof from the developmental activities being undertaken. UBA has undertaken Grameen Sports Program in the adopted villages with an objective of identifying budding sporting talents, developing sports infrastructure, creating a sports culture by igniting the passion amongst youth, and sensitizing the community and preparing youth to go for sports and related careers. Grameen Marathon As part of the Grameen Sports program, UBA conducted Grameen Marathon on 13 October 2018 in the Kalyanpur Bithoor, in partnership with the Techkriti (IIT Kanpur). Nearly 60 volunteers of IIT Kanpur went to the village in the leadership of Ms. Anjani Dube, Coach (Athletics), to organize the event in which more than 500 young girls and boys, who had no sporting accessories and practice but still thronged at the registration desk by 5.30 AM. The event was sponsored by Suri Shoes, Kanpur and prizes were sponsored by Tata Strider and were conducted for two age groups ‘Under 16’ and ‘Under 20’. The enthusiasm amongst the villagers was unprecedented and the people of all classes came in large numbers, uniting communities. Winners (5 nos) from each category, girls and boys separately, were rewarded with prizes like Tata Strider cycles, cricket kits, badminton sets, and participants were given T-Shirts.

Children showing enthusiasm and participating in Grameen Marathon

Marathon filled the villages with enthusiasm for sports. As a consequence of high enthusiasm and great response shown by the rural youth during the Gramin Sports program, UBA-IITK has now started regular sports activities for rural youth. A group of 40 young boys and girls have been shortlisted, and they come to the IITK field to practice every day. Till the time, sports facilities come up in the village, these potential sportspersons will not be deprived of practice. The group of youngsters was taken to Green Park stadium to take part in District OpenAthletics Championship. The idea was to give them exposure and enthuse them to practice regularly. It came as a happy surprise to the UBA team that Neha and Anjali won Silver and Bronze Medals. Training under coaches of IITK (left), Neha and Anjali after winning the 800 mt track event at District Athletic Championship (right) Way Forward The effort of UBA IITK will be to further the growth of boys and girls with sporting talents. Once the children are picked up at a younger age, sponsorships could be sought for their education. We will be fostering the employability of young people, and get them to the training centre where they could get exposure and training.

Regular field practice at IITK grounds.

3.Natural Farming Program

The green revolution that led to a dramatic increase in crop production, has led to overuse of soil and excessive dosage of chemical fertilizers. While the agriculture yield in India has reached a plateau, the soil has deteriorated making the current practice environmentally unsustainable and economically non-viable. To address this problem, several initiatives were taken by the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) IIT Kanpur team with the objective to make the adopted cluster of villages fully organic. Objectives

• Make use of organic resources available in the farms, and convert them into organic manure.
• Help enhance farmers’ income by reducing input costs, and connecting farmers to consumers.
• Demonstrate setting up food forests with high biodiversity and low maintenance.

The Natural Farming Programme has been developed by seeking expertise from resource persons, and partnering with organizations: (1) Mr. Sandeep Saxena (Founder and CEO, Aranyaani and IIT Kanpur alumni), who has set up food forests on more than 4000 acres of land in Madhya Pradesh, guided us in setting up a food forest in 7 acres of land in Kanpur cantonment area. He is also helping farmers directly connect to consumers. (2) Mr. Hari Shankar (Founder and CEO, Agnys Waste Management and IIT Kanpur alumnus) has been promoting organic farming in the adopted villages and bringing their produce to the campus for consumption by campus residents. (3) Training partners:

1. Padma Shri Dr. Subhash Palekar on cow-based natural farming methods
2. Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR) on cultivation and processing of pulses
3. Jain Irrigation on cost-saving methods in irrigation.

Soil testing

For understanding the soil condition, soil tests were done on 62 farms of the Saksi Purwa village, with the help of the Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative (IFFCO). The results were shared with the farmers along with advisories. It was an eye-opener for farmers that nearly one-third of the samples had organic carbon below 0.3 percent. The could see that modern agricultural practices have led to the loss of fertility as to maintain the same yield, more and more chemical fertilizer needs to be applied every year.

Pilot of on-farm composting and trials on organic farming

On-farm composting was introduced using drum composting to convert farm and animal waste into a useful farm resource. The pilots of organic farming were conducted with 14 farmers of Saksupurwa in April-December 2018 and the results were quite encouraging. After one cropping season, the farmers reported enhanced yield, lower attack of pests and softening of soil. Some also reported an increase in the number of earthworms in the soil. For organic farmers, there is a reduction in the cost of cultivation as they save on expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Since early 2018, IITK has started garbage segregation drive at source, and UBA IITK has played a partnership role with the sanitation team of the institute. Volunteers of UBA went door-to-door creating awareness and distributing dustbins for biodegradable waste.

                                                                                Training and technological Interventions

With the help of agriculture scientists, new crop varieties are getting introduced in the village. Indian Institute of Pulses Research introduced gram, peas, and moong bean, and shared information about the good practices. Farmers have realized good profits and are saving seeds for the next crop. The area under pulse cultivation is increasing rapidly. Demonstration of Drip Farming           

Jain Irrigation, on request of UBA IITK, set up a demonstration farm to showcase laserjet and drip irrigation technologies on nearly 0.4 hectares of land in Baldeopurwa village. A farmer meet was organized to showcase the technology (May 2019).

Marketing Interventions

Intervention in the agriculture sector does not gain momentum until the produce of farmers does not fetch the market, and gives him a good price realization. Keeping this in mind, several initiatives have been undertaken. To start with the local indigenous variety of Bael and Guava have been selected for marketing through Amazon in partnership with Aranyani. Farmers who got Rs 12 for a bael fruit fetched Rs 40 per piece. Agnys, a start-up at IIT Kanpur, has been provided a testbed to develop market linkages between farmers and consumers. A farmer haat was set up for two days at IIT Kanpur that brought produce from over 25 farmers of UBA and nearby villages.

Marketing interventions by UBA at rural areasWay Forward

While efficient agricultural practices and new approaches such as organic farming and natural farming have been around for a while now, a lot of work remains to be done in skilling the agricultural workforce to gain more acceptance for experimentation to enable the next agricultural revolution. At UBA IIT Kanpur, we are trying to create the right support system for the same and are eagerly awaiting the results of our endeavours. (For more information on Natural Farming Program, click here