Socio-economic field study on the sustainability of Jeevatu in Nepal

Sarah Crestin-Billet (junior consultant for the Food Security Center, University of Hohenheim) has recently completed a short-term field mission in Nepal to investigate “Jeevatu”. Jeevatu is an organic microbial inoculant developed and promoted by the Nepalese Farming Institute (NFI). It aims to prevent and control pests and diseases (bacterial, viral, fungal, etc.) of vegetables, cereals, flowers and fruit trees and to improve the growth of the plant, the yield and the quality of the fruits (vitamin content, peel thickness).

Jeevatu liquid manure is prepared on-farm

Produced by the Nepalese Natural Bio-products Pvt. Ltd (NNB) under the supervision of the Nepalese Farming Institute (NFI), Jeevatu is composed of beneficial microorganisms which are sourced in Nepal’s natural environment and combined together. According to the principles of Effective Microorganisms (EM) and biological control, beneficial microorganisms contained in Jeevatu are supposed to enhance the soil’s activities, facilitate the plant’s nutrients uptake and auto-immune capacity. Jeevatu can be mixed and fermented with some organic matters (compost, urine) and water or directly applied on crops and compost.

Compost treated with Jeevatu

Interviews among adopters and dis-adopters in the Terai and Middle Hill regions showed ambiguous results. Some farmers were fully satisfied and had largely diminished their production costs, improved their environment and income. But others didn’t manage to control pests, soil-borne and foliar diseases with Jeevatu. They also questioned the effectiveness of Jeevatu to improve the soil fertility, plant health, crop yield and fruit quality and preferred using self-made organic products or purchased chemicals. Barriers to its adoption comprised the unavailability of Jeevatu in remote local markets and difficulties in organic matter supply, as well as some inconvenience to use it.

Additional interviews with NFI’s staff and external experts, as well as the review of scientific publications provided additional information about the advantages and risks of using Jeevatu. A complete report on the study providing more detailed results will be available shortly.

And the winner is ...

Ms Katharina Schiller, Master student of the Food Security Center (FSC, University of Hohenheim) has won the first price in the agriwaterpedia.info Open Competition with her article on riverbed farming (click here to read the article).
Last year, she conducted research on leasehold riverbed farming for landless and landpoor households in the Terai, a technology that is promoted by one of SATNET Asia's associates Helvetas in Nepal.
Her article will help to disseminate high quality information on this sustainable technology to a wide audience. A factsheet and further detailed information on riverbed farming will also be available in the SATNET Asia online data base shortly.
agriwaterpedia.info is a wiki that focuses on agricultural water management and the challenge of achieving food security in the context of climate change in developing countries.
Many thanks to Helvetas Nepal for facilitating Ms. Schiller's research.
Ms. Schiller: Congratulations!

Progressive farmers’ perspective on research-extension linkages

In addition to cases presented by country government representatives, NGOs and the private sector, a presentation titled ‘Sustainable   Profitability in Diversified Farming with Self-research Findings’ was made by Mr. Mohinder Grewal, a progressive farmer from the state of Punjab in India, which captured perspectives of the farming community on the subject of research-extension linkages.

A number of successful examples of farmers’ self-driven research were presented, including inter-cropping of carrot with potato and improved practices/technologies for onion and garlic cultivation and harvesting. The potential of shifting from high-yielding to high-value crops to maintain soil health and productivity was also highlighted. However, it was pointed out that while progressive farmers play a vital role in agricultural research, their research findings are not well recognized by agricultural universities in most Asian countries and are not taken into account during dissemination of technologies.

As a specific case of research-extension linkage, various efforts of the Punjab Agricultural University were highlighted such as farmers’ fairs, books on packages of practices, coordination of activities by the University and the Department of Agriculture, and recognition/honour for progressive farmers. These also included leveraging ICT to promote extension through radio and television programmes for farmers, demonstration of audio and video tapes through ‘Mobile Diagnostic and Exhibition Vans’, mobile advisory services and ICT kiosks.   

Research-extension systems led by the private sector

As a complement to the perspectives presented by the NGOs on the second day of the Expert Consultation on Strengthening Linkages between Research and Extension to Promote Food and Nutrition Security, two private sector representatives also offered their insights on the issue.

Mr. Mahbub Anam, Managing Director, Lal Teer Seed Limited, Bangladesh explained his company’s extension activities including adaptation trials, result and method demonstrations, farmers’ field days and community meetings. He stressed that “seed is the single most important input in crop production which ultimately results in food and nutrition security,” so “it is our responsibility to work until farmers get the right kind of products they deserve.” To ensure quality products for farmers, the firm offers after- sales service and makes sure their feedback reaches the company’s R&D department.

He also spoke about corporate social responsibility and why it is important for both farmers and the private sector. His firm sells a product called Mini Packet targeting homestead farmers as a part of its corporate social responsibility. “We subsidized the Mini Packet and lost money by selling the product. But we didn’t lose because that is also an extension program.”

A challenge facing the private sector is adulteration. The company estimates that it is losing 30 per cent of sales income due to counterfeit products.

Mr. Stuart Morris, Extension Manager, East-West Seed, Myanmar said “the success of our company is based on focusing on local needs and the local demand-specific market,” since “farmers’ income and the profits of companies go hand in hand as well as the sustainability of the market.” For this, his firm considers extension as an essential part of business and has integrated extension into the firm’s business strategy.

Describing the situation in Myanmar, he spoke of the high cost of disseminating “public goods” information and explained that it is sometimes challenging and time-consuming to change farmers’ perception about farming practices and technologies. Myanmar also lacks local R&D capacity so that all seeds must be imported.

His firm focuses on providing extension services and the most significant extension activity is to showcase profitable cases to local farmers through demonstration farms because the major source of knowledge for farmers in Myanmar are neighbours, rather than formal extension programmes. Other extension activities include collaboration with universities and farmers, peer-to-peer technology dissemination and cost-and- return record-keeping for optimal results.

He emphasized that the private sector should use market-aligned skills and technology to keep market-driven incentives for the service provider and the client. He insisted that the private sector has to understand that farmers are also entrepreneurs who would not utilize extension activities if these did not bring them income.

Prepared by Ms. Yuri Kim, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)