2021 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements 

Agriculture / Food Security

Problem #6: Need for low-cost and low-maintenance seed drill technology for small and marginal farmers, suitable for small landholdings (of less than 0.5 ha) and uneven lands.

Country/Region of execution:  India
Collaborating Organization: Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Founded in 1943, Catholic Relief Services has been working in India since 1946, through a network of partner organizations in the areas of health, agricultural livelihoods, emergency relief and recovery, and women and child protection. The country team has vast multi-sectoral expertise and is backed by robust technical and administrative support structures at the regional and headquarters levels to ensure high-quality and cost-effective programming, reporting, monitoring and evaluation. In India, CRS and its partners have extensive experience in promoting technologies and practices that benefit small and marginal farmers and leverage established relationships with government extension agents to reach farmers in remote areas.  CRS also works with local input/service providers to ensure rural farmers can access essential on- and off-farm technologies that increase productivity, and ultimately benefit household income. Our partners include agricultural research institutions, national and international non-governmental organizations, community groups, and governments.
Problem Statement Description:  In India, 66 million families are self-employed in agriculture. 86.2% of them are small and marginal landholders who contribute significantly to agricultural production and food security. Despite this, most technology improvements are geared towards large farmers. Neglect of the unique needs of small farmers given their land size, income, and investment capacity, has resulted in low productivity and increased food insecurity. While proven technologies like seed drills can increase crop yield and income, decrease production cost, reduce cumbersome agricultural processes, existing mechanized seed drills are unfit for small farmers due to usability, cost, and high maintenance. Implements made for small farmers are manual and labor intensive. Despite willingness to adopt seed drills, small farmers are constrained by unavailability of low-cost easily maintainable models. CRS’ work in Bihar (Integrated Rice-Based Rainfed Agricultural Systems) established that technologies like Direct Seeded Rice reduced the cost of cultivation by 50% and validated the challenges faced by small farmers. CRS established a cadre of small entrepreneurs who provide seed drill services, but they are unable to cater to farmers with less than 0.5ha. This problem is relevant to Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17 which respectively focus on achieving ‘zero hunger’ with increased agricultural productivity and sustainable food production and ‘global partnership for sustainable development’. With support from Purdue and in partnership with farmers, local manufacturers, universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendra* and the private sector CRS seeks to co-create a user-friendly, affordable, localized and scalable technology adapted to the needs of small farmers.  *Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) is an agricultural extension center in India. Usually associated with a local agricultural university, these centers serve as the link between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and farmers and also as a resource center for extending government initiatives to local areas. KVKs have been established in all states.