Stewardship: In Field Farmer Education

Stewardship is very critical for sustainable agriculture. The Plant Science Industry believes that ensuring the responsible and ethical management of a Crop Protection Product – from its discovery through production, field use and disposal of waste – is essential for nurturing prosperous harvests and protecting the health of crops, farmers, consumers and the environment. Embodying this outlook, CropLife India stewardship extends its educational efforts by organizing special projects, training workshops to fields throughout the Country.

Training the Trainer

To improve reach, CropLife India works with people who can help others. Our train-the-trainer workshops equipped industry and government extension trainers in communicating with farmers effectively and build their capacity to positively influence farming behavior and practices. The workshops focused on the responsible use of crop protection products and have been implemented in various states throughout India.

Educating the farming community

CropLife India also works directly with farming communities so that knowledge-sharing can benefit maximum people. Disseminating knowledge and skills regarding the safe and effective application and storage of crop protection products is central to our stewardship objectives. Farming families and communities are quite enthusiastic about learning from the training programs delivered by our member companies and associations in more than 15 states. When participants saw first-hand social, environment and economic benefits of good agricultural practices, they eagerly adopted and passed them on to others.

Integrated Pest Management

CropLife India introduces integrated pest management (IPM) principles in all its training sessions conducted for farmers. IPM encourages a variety of pest control methods, including the use of pest-resistant crops, the judicious use of pesticides and a variety of evaluation techniques following the principles of prevention, observation and intervention. From 2001, CropLife India conducted IPM – focused projects in Guntur and Punjab. In addition, all our member Companies promoted IPM as a component of their responsible-use programs. Chilli IPM farmers in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh learned the importance of scouting their fields’ economic threshold levels, the use of predators and other farming skills to improve the quality of harvests and yields, thus opening the doors to export markets and better earnings. The project cut the number of sprays from 30 rounds per season down to 15-17 rounds, leading to better efficiency and cost savings for farmers.

Responsible Use

CropLife India supported the training of farmers on the safe and judicious use of crop protection products. Training included the correct use of protective clothing, proper pesticides application methods and other issues that directly relate to safety when using pesticides. Thousands of farmers in Kurnool (AP), West Bengal, Punjab and Karnataka states also benefit from CropLife India projects. They learned the cornerstones of responsible use through a number of demonstrations, exhibitions, media coverage, and education in field schools, publicity through posters, wall paintings, and hands-on training.