“Farmers need to strengthen the groups and form farmers forum to avail the benefit from the State Agriculture Department and NABARD”, said DDM of National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD) to the farmers of Ankur program in Rajasthan.  He was sharing about the existing Govt. resources for the farmers in every district and state during the two days learning & sharing meet of Ankur program.

The purpose of the workshop was to bring together farmers and stakeholders of Ankur program to share their learning, practices, experiences and identify opportunities for supporting and expanding the program.  The two days program at Banswara on March 16-17, 2018 focused on the sustainable agriculture practices and climate change issues.

80 participants representing Sampurna Jeevan Vikas Samiti (SJVS), Banswara, Jeevandhara Samaj Kalyan Sanstha (JSKS), Dausa, Roman Catholic Diocesan Social Service Society, Ajmer, and stakeholders from KVK and NABARD from the district attended this meet.

Caritas India State Officer of Rajasthan, Nutan Kumar shared the importance of Natural Resource Management (NRM) and climate change issues in the region and shared Caritas Spain and Caritas India steps to address the issues in the different parts of the country. He also screened the documentary of 3-years Ankur program intervention in the meet.

Farmers from all the three partners shared their organic agriculture practices, a status of improved income through various income generation activity, the participation of women in the decision-making process, accessing govt. schemes and resources in the region.

The team evaluated the program and planned interventions in the region. It was suggested that the existing program can be integrated with the Government supported schemes in alignment with its achievement which can be shared with the key stakeholders.

To sustain the program, support can be generated to replicate the existing agriculture models in different regions of the state to motivate farmers by educating, training and bringing regularity among all beneficiaries.

Cooperation and collaboration can be generated on multi-faceted approach where different players can come together to achieve the long-term goal of the program. It was observed that action orientation toward a common vision is required for all the farmers and women groups to sustain the existing structure and adaptation of current agriculture practices.

It was also discussed for an on-going dialogue between groups and key stakeholders to discuss roles, strategic actions, progress, and best practices of the Ankur program.

The exposure visit to KVK field helped farmers to witness different modern practice methods.