Study to assess impact on Green House Gases Emissions from ITC s Natural Resource Management (NRM) Initiatives

Transcription

1 Study to assess impact on Green House Gases Emissions from ITC s Natural Resource Management (NRM) Initiatives Last date for submission of proposals 05 th August 2017 Background of the study: ITC s Social Investments Programme has developed and is implementing Integrated Natural Resource Management (NRM) projects in response to a host of challenges confronting Indian agriculture. These challenges relate mainly to climate change, depletion of groundwater, topsoil loss and degradation of soil health, growing land fragmentation, etc. Started in , the NRM programme is currently spread in 45 districts of 16 states of the country and the programmes are implemented in partnership with various reputed NGOs and technical experts. Under NRM the interventions are as follows: a) Conservation and restoration of critical natural resources - water, soil and biodiversity b) Promotion of Climate Smart Agriculture through Sustainable Agricultural practices c) Creating institutional support systems for community members ITC conducts periodic assessments to assess the impacts of the NRM projects. As part of the assessment process, ITC plans to develop a standard mechanism and tool to measure the impact of its major initiatives on reduction of Carbon and other Green House Gases (GHG) emissions. The proposed study is aimed at such an assessment in select locations leading to the development of scientifically valid methodology to enable ITC to document and calculate such impacts on an ongoing basis at all NRM projects being implemented by the Company. Scope of the study: 1. Field understanding of the initiatives (listed in Annexure - 1) in the sampling locations and calculate GHG savings from each of the practices as compared to other prevalent practices (control), as applicable. 2. Accounting to be done as per ISO series

2 3. GHG emission from each source to be calculated separately including, inter alia, fertiliser/pesticides usage, fuel usage in mechanized equipment, enteric emissions from cattle etc. (as applicable). 4. For each initiative and for each location, savings are to be estimated on a per unit basis to enable extrapolation to all relevant projects in order to arrive at the total impact for the work done in Develop site neutral methodologies to estimate reduction in GHGs per unit for each initiative and train ITC in using the same. The methodology that is developed should be thoroughly documented to enable validation by others. ITC will follow the methodologies to calculate GHG emissions in future and will give the agency name as the source for the methodology. 6. Suggest improvements if any for making the initiatives more impactful in reduction of GHG emissions both in terms of practice and documentation. 7. Submit draft report covering all three scopes, finalise the same with ITC and submit final report. Requirements from the agency: 1. The agency to have proven expertise in carrying out similar studies on assessing GHG savings in NRM projects. 2. The agency to identify sample districts for study of various interventions based on an agreed sampling methodology. 3. The sampling methodology to take care of neutralizing all external factors so as to ensure that the results are the most accurate representation of the field situation. Proportionate selection of control cases to be planned as per statistical methodology. 4. Once selected the agency is required to visit the area to understand programme in detail. Based on the understanding agency to plan sampling methodology, questionnaires for field interviews and logistics (translator etc.). 5. Time to time sharing of emerging data and trends based on field data needs to be done with ITC. Subsequent to discussions with ITC, these findings and analysis will be fine-tuned and taken into consideration for the study report. 6. Submission of draft report and final reports with all raw data backups and analysed data tables in excel spreadsheets.

3 Payment Conditions - The payment of fees will be made on job completed basis of the agreed sum, subject to achievement of progress milestone to be mutually agreed. Agency may submit their proposal on terms and conditions for payment. Rejection Clause - ITC reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals, to negotiate contract terms with various proposers, and to waive requirements at its sole discretion. ITC also reserves the right to reject the offer without assigning any reason if found that the party has submitted false information or found to promote vendors. Contact Details - For submission of RFP or any further queries all correspondence may be directed to Mr. Anish Sengupta, anish.sengupta@itc.in Annexure 1 Matrix on NRM activities with expected outcome from the study No. Intervention Purpose of the intervention Season Progress on Water Harvesting Creation of additional rain water storage potential that impacts groundwater table 3,405,230 Cum of storage potential created through 2,101 Water Harvesting Structures 2 Watershed Treatment Earthwork done as part of watershed treatment which impacts surface moisture regime Surface moisture improvement leads to regeneration of rootstock and improvement of overall growth of biomass/trees in the vicinity which act as carbon stocks 2,649,926 CMT earthwork done with 36,304 Ha. impact created 3 Pastureland restoration Restoration work done in degraded village commons and pastures wherein soil and moisture conservation work is done along with social protection which leads to in-situ Pastureland restoration works done in 5,806 ha. area in watershed catchments

4 No. Intervention Purpose of the intervention Season Progress on regeneration of native flora 4 Broad Bed Furrow (BBF) method of sowing in soya bean Traditional practice: Line sowing BBF method practiced to improve in-situ water conservation in field Practice implemented in field Mid-June to July and crop stays till Sep. month BBF practiced in 5,250 ha. 5 Zero tillage method of sowing in wheat Traditional practice: Broadcasting and seed drill planting Zero tillage method practices to ensure minimum no. of field preparation tillage, minimum disturbance to soil and improvement in soil moisture retention Practice implemented in field Nov. to Dec and crop stays till next April month Zero tillage practiced in 36,089 ha. 6 Tank silt application in fields Tank silt applied on farm fields to reduce usage of chemical fertilisers, improve soil moisture holding capacity and improve organic carbon content in soil 1,509,383 MT of Slit applied in 6,164 Ha. 7 Drip and Sprinkler promotion Traditional practice Surface irrigation Drip and Sprinkler sets installed to promote efficient irrigation systems as part of water saving As per requirement 859 sprinklers installed and 142 drip irrigation units installed 8 Compost production Compost production and application in farm field done for improvement of soil organic carbon, soil moisture retention and reduction of chemical fertilizer use 3,931 compost units constructed

5 Note: The above initiatives are operational in 16 Indian states and 53 districts and state wise break-up provided in Annexure-2

6 Annexure 2 State wise Achievement Figures of interventions listed in Annexure 1 Sl. No. Intervention UoM AP KAR TEL TN MAH MP RAJ PUN GUJ UTT UP ODISHA BIH CHHAT WB ASSAM TOTAL 1 Water Harvesting No. of Structures ,101 2 Watershed Treatment CMT of earthwork done 5,08,699 7,10,377 56,185 2,15,323 4,14,903 3,97,251 3,32,440-9,493 4, ,49,926 Ha. of treatment area 8,480 7,240 2,108 1,266 5,359 4,402 7, ,304 3 Pastureland restoration Ha. of pastureland development (cum till 16-17) ,058 2, , Broad Bed Furrow (BBF) method of sowing in soya bean Zero tillage method of sowing in wheat Tank silt application in fields Ha. of BBF area 2,863 2,387 5,250 Ha. of Zero tillage area 22,884 13,205 36,089 MT of silt applied 3,06,227 11,40,894 61, ,09,383 Ha. of area covered 797 4, ,165 7 Drip and Sprinkler promotion; Traditional practice Surface irrigation Nos. of Sprinklers/Drip ,001 8 Compost production Nos. of Compost Units 151 1, ,931 FIGURES ARE OF ONLY EXCEPT INDICATED OTHERWISE

7 Annexure 3 - Format for submission of Proposal Plan 1. Agency Details a) Name of agency, address, Web site address, telephone number and fax b) Number of the principal office that will manage this project c) Brief background of the agency and history. Include years in the sector/business and number of employees and details of projects handled d) A copy of the agency s most recent Annual Report or Financial Statement, and/or any other documentation that demonstrates financial solvency. e) Any additional information that agency considers to be relevant 2. Plan for Conducting Study a. Detailed technical proposal taking into consideration all the scope of the study points and proposed financials (per location) for the study b. Proposed time-plan in detail (including preparatory phase visit) 3. Referees (2/3 recent clients with whom similar research projects were completed in past 1/2 years) Name: Designation: Organisation: Phone No.: Mail-id: Name of the research project: 4. Identify the primary Executive point of contact for the work stated in this RFP

8 Annexure 4: Payment Terms and Conditions 1. In Travel, Boarding and Lodging Expenses, costs will be reimbursed based on submission of actual bills. The upper limit for reimbursement to be restricted to the budgeted limit mentioned in the agreed financial estimate. 2. Payment Conditions for Consultancy fees will be as follows: i. 30% upon execution submission and finalisation of inception report ii. 40% upon submission of field survey data, analysed data tables and draft report with Annexures iii. 30% upon submission of final printed version (in 2 copies) of the study report with Annexures 3. Taxes extra will be paid as applicable.