‘Bhungroo offers tailormade solution aiding crop survival, food security’
Naireeta Services Private Limited’s (NSPL) is a social enterprise that was established in 2011 in Ahmedabad.
NSPL innovative two-fold solution can increase India’s annual agri-income by $1.5 billion and globally $208 billion, empower poor women engaged in agriculture. In the next five years, NSPL will equip 1,000 women to become agriculture and irrigation knowledge support expert to small farmers. Their support to poor farmers on crop survival, the package of practices, irrigation and installation of 10,000 Bhungroo units will enable 50,000 farming families to triple their income. Biplab Paul, Innovator & Director, NSPL, shares his views on irrigation management with Agrospectrum. Edited excerpts;
What is Bhungroo technology and how will it be an effective solution for irrigation management?
Bhungroo, a Gujarati colloquial, means straw or hollow pipe. It is a technical tool that enables farmers to get rid of unwanted excess waterlogging on the land, store the extra water and then reuse that water in summer when the water supply is inadequate. Bhungroo is a unique, innovative and efficient rainwater conservation technology by use of pipes of 10-15 centimetres in diameter. This globally recognised disaster mitigating and irrigation guarantee technology filters injects and stores excess farm water or storm water underground for usage in lean periods. It ensures adequate water for irrigation and other sectors with zero water footprint i.e. by storing and then using rainwater. Using a surface space of only one square meter, Bhungroo can take care of nearly one to four million litres of water each year within its subsurface zone.
It actually takes in excess water and retains that in conformable subsoil strata. 17 designs of Bhungroo are now available for serving communities within various agro climatic zones. Along with guaranteeing food security during rainy periods and crop survival in lean periods, Bhungroo also allows a community to supplement their household water needs. It is creating a new paradigm cropping pattern agriculture. It is not only increasing the crop productivity but also increasing the crop season which is multiple times of the productivity opportunity.
Bhungroo delivers its services in waterlogged areas, drought affected areas as well as in areas affected by erratic rainfall. It also works in salt affected soils as well as seasonally eroded soil. Bhungroo can work in those areas where annual rainfall is between 400 and 2100 mm. It is a tailor-made solution which changes based upon 27 variables. To function appropriately Bhungroo needs at least a 4 inch height of water at its suction level. To obtain maximum benefit from Bhungroo, subsoil formation should possess permeable hungry layers within a depth of 130 meters. In flood situations multiple Bhungroos with associated serial injection models can work wonders. Currently, 3000+ Bhungroos are operational and new ones are being constructed within the open source model of Gandhian
philosophy of Sarvodaya meaning 'Universal Uplift' or 'Progress of All'.
Could you tell us about the projects Bhungroo has completed at the national and international level? What are your current projects?
We never consider our work as a project.
Our technology is a combination of geophysical technology, geological technology, geohydrological technology, agriculture science and mechanical engineering. We are not working on projects, rather we are creating knowledge for the farmers even though they are not formerly schooled. They should understand the scientific principles of our technology and learn to manage their water by themselves. Every person in the village should be self-sufficient to manage his farm.
Works completed by Bhungroo include
Andhra Pradesh: Implementation of ‘Bhungroo’ within Mahila Krishi Sinchayee Programme of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programme of Government of Andhra Pradesh under climate change mitigation and income guarantee programme for ultra-poor farmers. Currently farmers from 7 districts of Andhra and 6 districts of Telengana states are executing Bhungroo.
Jharkhand: Capacity building of Jharkhand State Cricket Association (one of the state level apex body for sports) towards storm water augmentation programme to tide over water scarcity within cricket stadium.
odisha: Capacity building of local organisation to implement ‘Bhungroo’ within agriculture skill development programme.
Madhya Pradesh: Skill exchange with educational institutes towards internalization of ‘Bhungroo’ technology for drought proofing in summer and adaptation to disaster risk reduction.
What is the role of Bhungroo in empowerment of women farmers?
Let’s first understand the basic problem of irrigation for small holding farmers which later on connects to the role women farmers’ play in agriculture. In India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari there are a larger number of smallholder farmers compared to rich and large holder farmers in every state. The basic problem of the small holder farmers in rural areas is that they do not have sufficient income for their survival for which they have shifted to urban areas for increasing their income. In villages, in monsoon season the large holder farmers let the flow the excess rainwater in the adjacent lands of smallholder farmers to level up their land water since he cannot grow monsoon crop if the land is water logged. The water flows from elevated level increase the water logging in the adjacent lands which are on the lower level. Small holder farmers have to adjust with water lodging which comes from other adjacent farms. As a result he can’t grow monsoon crops and loses income. He has to borrow money from adjacent landholders. Only 15 per cent small holding irrigation done through the canal and remaining 85 per cent landholders do not have any canal irrigation supply, so they have to depend upon bore wells. Small holder farmers cannot afford to dig a bore well so he has to buy water for irrigation from the rich farmers adjacent to his farms for winter crops. Since small holder farmers do not have sufficient money to repay the loan amount he has to do labour work in the farms of rich farmers. Irrigation issues make the smallholder farmers more poor and helpless.
Drought is a serious issue in the western Indian state of Gujarat, particularly for underprivileged female farmers whose livelihood depends on the monsoon. Limited rainfall in the state leads to waterlogging in peak cropping season. For the rest of the year, farmers experience severe water scarcity. In many smallholder farmers’ families, the husband shifts to the nearest city area for employment and gives the whole responsibility of farms, livestock and family to his wife where the role of women farmers comes into the picture. Poor farmers are now converting crisis into opportunities. Bhungroo is a water management system that injects and stores excess rainfall underground and lifts it out for use in dry spells. Naireeta Services, a social enterprise, trains and empowers women to run and monitor Bhungroo. By curtailing desertification, the initiative helps women build resilience to climate change.
Recently, the Government had announced Rs 5,000 crore to the Micro Irrigation Fund in the Union budget. How will it boost the growth of agriculture irrigation in India?
Yes, the funds will help up to some extent. Our farmers have better knowledge of farm
irrigation than many of the knowledge experts. We don’t deal with issues with practical solutions which our farmers do. Only funding will not help the irrigation problem completely. Government is spending on micro-irrigation because only 15 per cent irrigation is reaching through canal irrigation and all the canal water is used for the drinking water for urban areas. In such a situation, the Government cannot provide water to farmers for 100 per cent. So it is investing in micro–irrigation which decreases the demand of water for irrigation. Government has to reframe the total policy of the extension. Government should give more importance to the survival of the cropping than to the intensity of the cropping. Our extension model should have a dramatic shift. It needs to be gender sensitive as the majority of women farmers are higher in the farming than men in many parts of India. Women farmers do not have financial and technological support especially in remote parts of rural areas. While making amendments in the policy related to agriculture irrigation, the government should consider the grass root level facts of micro irrigation and canal irrigation.
Will AI technology become a game changer in agriculture irrigation in future?
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in agriculture irrigation is useful for rich and large holder farmers. Small holder farmers cannot afford to use this technology at their farms. AI technology and Machine Learning (ML) makers are not targeting small scale farmers. Indian agriculture is much diversified in the same village where a smallholder farmer cannot even afford to buy a tractor, rich farmers can easily invest in AI technology. There is a new class of farmers coming from a corporate background with big farms which needs guidance for agriculture practices. They can afford to use technologies such as AI, ML which will help them in agriculture decision making. Since this class of famers is new born famers, they need guidance on how much and when to irrigate. Talking on a general level, for small scale farmers’ technology should be cost effective and practical and adoptive for every farmer irrespective of his financial condition.
What are the company's growth plans?
We have few growth paths for upcoming years. We have created a youth climate leader programme, women climate leader programme and women centric model of Bhungroo, Knowledge module for budding male and female farmers. We are going ahead to make people our knowledge partners and share it with their peers. If any farmer is in need of guidance, his peers can support him through knowledge sharing thus saving the life of that farmer.
We are planning to create women climate leaders in every village of India which can be done by peer to peer service. We have already prepared teaching methods and other essential inputs to implement the women climate leader programme. We are getting good response and support from Harvard Business School, London, IIT universities in this programme. We have created 17 designs of Bhungroo which will be suitable for all climate zones in India. Our objective is to make Bhungroo designs adoptable to local situations.