Jain Farm Fresh-A Division of Jain Irrigation, If it lists, what value does it get?
Rajiv Handa
Our journey began in 1887 when our forefathers left the deserts of Rajasthan, their home state, in search of water and food and reached Wakod, at the foothills of the famous Ajanta Caves. They started farming as a means of livelihood.
In 1963 selling kerosene in pushcart, the young law graduate, Bhavarlal Jain, founded the family business in trading. The family partnership started with a meager Rs. 7,000, accumulated savings of three generations, as capital. Soon, agencies for two wheelers, auto vehicles and automobile accessories were established in quick succession and gradually under the exemplary leadership and tireless work of its founder and associates, Jain Irrigation Systems today has established itself as the pioneers in Micro-irrigation systems and food-processing in the country while also emulating those standards in manufacturing PVC sheets and pipes, Solar Energy appliances and hosts of other products
Today with over 10,000 committed employee associates worldwide, we have established our Leadership in diverse products like Micro & Sprinkler Irrigation, Agricultural Inputs, Agro-Processed Products, Plastic Pipes & Sheets.
UNNATI
A JOINT SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE INITIATIVE
By
JAIN FARM FRESH FOODS LTD. AND HINDUSTAN COCA COLA BEVERAGES PVT. LTD.
As India’s demand for mangos grows, so does the need to increase per acre yields on a long-term and sustainable basis. The HCCBPL and Jain Farm Fresh Foods Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jain Irrigation Systems Limited) have partnered to address this need through creating farmer training programs to enable adoption of the Ultra-High Density Plantation (UHDP) technique.
HCCBPL and JFFFL has launched Project Unnati, – a unique partnership with farmers to demonstrate and enable adoption of Ultra-High Density Plantation (UHDP) practice for mangoes. The Project will encourage sustainable, modern agricultural practices and help double mango yields, thereby increasing the income of farmers. UHDP is a farming practice that leads to mango orchards attaining their full potential in 3-4 years and also allows nearly 700 trees to be planted in an acre instead of the conventional method of planting 60 trees in an acre. This will improve per acre productivity and also increase the annual income of farmers and simultaneously decrease the quantity of water used per kilo of mango produced
The program will use specialized buses with in-built classrooms to provide training at farmer’s doorstep regarding UHDP techniques in mango farming which can help farmers double their mango yields and thus significantly improve their livelihood. The project has an investment outlay of more than 50 crores, shared equally between HCCBPL and JFFFL. This project is operational in 3 southern states of India – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka.
Ultra High density Plantation of Mango:
Ultra high density plantation farming technique has been developed by JISL with the help of its scientist and agronomists. This technology was first demonstrated on Jain’s own farm in Jalgaon and Udumalpet. The results were very promising and after having success at its field Jain’s decided to go plantation on farmer’s field.
UHDP process requires mango grafts of commercial varieties planted close to each other. Special techniques of pruning, fertigation, irrigation and growth promotion leads to the well-rounded growth of mango orchards with sufficient number of branches and shoots. Special care for nutrition management and pest control are also undertaken. Together, these modern techniques are expected to enhance the produce by as high as 200% compared to traditional plantation methods.
Major objectives of the initiative were:
- To raise farmers income and to alleviate poverty
- To the extent possible de-risk traditional farming by augmenting commercial viability
- To demonstrate innovative methods of cultivation which lead to higher productivity, lower operating cost & increased utilization of inputs including water and nutrients.
- To improve Agricultural, Economical, Social & Environmental sustainability by promoting Good Agricultural Practices
- Enhance Productivity by 2-3 times
- Establish mechanism to buy back fruits
- Provide training to farmers about new hi-tech agri-practices & good agricultural practices
Major components of the project are:
- Ultra High density mango plantation
- Farmers training with the help of audio-video aid inside Unnati training bus
- Implementation of Jain GAP
- Soil and water testing for the farmers
- Good Quality planting material
- Free agronomical guidance by extension team of Jain
- Training on Rejuvenation of old and senile orchards, top working and other improved practices
How project Maha Unnati is helping Farmers:
Application of Jain Gap (Good agricultural practice) on farmer’s field:
With the application of Jain Gap JFFFL is trying to help farmers to increase their productivity, lower operating cost and minimize wastage of pesticide/ insecticide. Agronomical support is being provided to the farmers with the help of agronomist appointed by JFFFL.
Total 13840 farmers will be covered under this project and UHDP mango will be planted in 25000 acres in next 10 years. To help farmers in UHDP mango production, we provide soil water analysis at our chittoor laboratory to farmers. Better planting material is provided which is also disease free.
Farmers Training by Mobile training bus:
Training is given to farmers with the help of mobile training bus which mainly educate farmers about increasing productivity with the help of rejuvenation techniques like pruning, grafting and top working.
Rejuvenation of old orchards
Project Unnati not only focuses on UHDP implementation on new fields but also try to cover old orchards with help of rejuvenation. The project would provide the technical advice through mobile trainings, field extensions & demo plot visits. All these support will be free of charge to farmers.
Mechanism of buy back of produce
With the applications of all these process and procedures Jain is trying to help farmers increase their productivity and raise their income levels. At the same time we are trying to secure farmer from price fluctuation. We will establish a mechanism of buy back of produce at a certain price so that the farmers are secured from market fluctuation of prices. We also try to achieve inclusive growth by providing higher employment and simultaneously achieve greater “food security”. This shall result from optimization of operating cost and higher use efficiency per units of input applied.
Successful Journey of Project Unnati
- Over 2200 farmer have been trained by Unnati Bus in the last 5 years in Chittor/ Kuppam district of Andhra Pradesh only
- Over 1000 new UHDP mango orchards has been established in 3 states
- Procurement of traceable and sustainable fruit directly from the farmers started in Andhra Pradesh.
- Trust & Loyalty building measures were initiated by Jain Extension team by providing free crop guidance and training on good agricultural practices (JainGAP)
We envision a future which brings back the golden years of agrarian productivity while increasing the contribution to the economic and social welfare of farmers and promoting environment inclusive practices. Unnati is one such small step/initiative to kick-start this revolution.