WATER
Of all the water that exists on our planet, around 97% is salt water. Of the 3% or so of fresh water available, almost half of it remains frozen in glaciers, ice caps, or deep underground aquifers. Yes – just around 1.5% is available for our use, making every drop count. Further, with continuing population growth and industrial growth, demand continues to escalate in a supply-constrained domain.
Save Indian Farmers Initiative
Name / Headline
Helping Indian Farmers Improve Livelihood & Long-Term Sustainability – At National Scale
Problem Description & Solution Approach
With the multi-decade-long declining trend in annual rainfall, combined with rapid growth in demand, and the latest global-warming driven unpredictable extreme weather swings (where drought periods get even more intensified), more than 50m Indian farmers have been facing acute pressures to maintain their livelihood. Results have been a spate of suicides and abandonment of their ancestral homes and migration to cities in search of jobs. Both are very worrisome trends for the long-term health and vibrancy of rural India, with more than two-thirds of the population. Maharashtra state has been the posterchild of this challenge, with nearly a dozen other states (across the central belt and its adjoining periphery) not far behind in the pain.
Solution Vision: To address acute pain points farmers are facing, the solution needs to not only address the basic need fora stable water supply for crops but also go beyond by enabling them to manage their precious asset (land) for a long-haul and lead a healthy life. Hence, WGF & Save Indian Farmers (SIF) have partnered with four related already-proven solutions to provide farmers an integrated solution as well maximize the value of farmer outreach & deployment efforts along with optimized scaling at the national level:
| Wheels Global Foundation + Support Ecosystem | Lifelong bacterial decontamination for safe-drinking water from boreholes (TaralTec) | Save Indian Farmers – decade-long impact initiative |
|---|---|---|
| Regenerative agriculture – crop & soil management and value maximization (Grameena Vikas Kendram) | ||
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Solution Vision: To address acute painpoints farmers are facing, the solution needs to not only address the basic need fora stable water supply for crops but also go beyond by enabling them to manage their precious asset (land) for a longhaul and lead a healthy life. Hence, WGF & SIF have partnered with four related already-proven solutions to provide farmers an integrated solution as well maximize the value of farmer outreach & deployment efforts along with optimized scaling at the national level:
Opportunity: With a comprehensive mix of aligned solutions and a self-sustainable business model, WGF sees a transformational opportunity to shift the implementation velocity of the current few hundreds every year to 50 million+ in the next five years. When the need is so urgent for all these millions of farmers, there is no reason we cannot apply our collective resources to also build execution models that can scale to the demand magnitude.
Execution Model & Requirements: To achieve its vision, WGF & its collaborating partner ecosystem needs to:
- Leverage the power of a number of relevant technologies for building a bench of trained technical personnel in all target localities
- Lower the financial hurdles by leveraging CSR support from the manufacturers of capital-heavy machinery & equipment
- Reduce farmer share of costs by tapping into existing central & state government schemes, and influence policies to improve their size and eligibility
- Use community-centered micro-financing to ease acceptance by farmers across the income spectrum
WGF leaders providing oversight:
WGF Leaders:
Ratan Agarwal & Mahesh Vaidya
Call-to-action
WGF invites to join all change-makers and NGOs focusing on farmer livelihoods and share the urgency & vision of thinking & doing BIG to tackle tough problems.
WHEELS is happy to share the report about the findings of the Impact Assessment of BoreCharger Implementations conducted in villages across Kurnool and Nandyal districts of Andhra Pradesh. The study was initiated by Urdhvam Environmental Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in collaboration with the WHEELS Global Foundation and the Rural Studies and Development Society, aiming to evaluate the effect of BoreCharger technology on groundwater recharge.
Key Findings:
- ♦ Static Water Levels: The assessment revealed an 80% improvement in borewell water levels, with an average increase of 25% in November 2023 and 23% by August 2024.
♦ Pumping Efficiency: Borewells saw an average 68% increase in pumping time, indicating enhanced groundwater recharge. - ♦ Water Quality: The water quality improved in terms of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and hardness.
Urdhvam had been accepted into the India-Australia RISE Accelerator program as part of the Climate Smart Agritech cohort!
The RISE Accelerator program is delivered in partnership by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in both the countries.
