NEWSLETTER: JANUARY 2018

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1 NEWSLETTER: JANUARY 2018 PRDIS - Chilies (Khammam) The PRDIS project has trained 2500 farmers in Khammam, inclusive of 600 Intensive IPM farmers, who were trained rigorously on IPM practices, botanicals and MRL management. STAC - Turmeric (Phulbani, Orissa) The STAC project has trained 4000 tribal farmers, focusing on botanical application and preparation, data management, demo plots and group trainings. The two IPM audit by Dr. Venu was conducted in October and December respectively and farmers were classified as per their compliance with the SSI-I principles. The third-party verification has also been completed and shared with the members. Intermittent harvesting is in progress and farmers are being visited by the SSI-I members. Chili sample have been taken by SSI-I members and the procurement discussion is expected to start soon subject to test results SSI-I members have been requested to also start visiting project areas and share their procurement plans to facilitate the uptake. Harvesting in progress 1 Third party verification Turmeric field under SSI-I 1

2 This project also focused on women group trainings to help women farmers learn about better agricultural practices. Currently, the post-harvest processing activities are underway. The project unit is also in discussion with SSI-I members for turmeric procurement and have sent samples to different members. SSI-I members having interest in turmeric are encouraged to connect with project. AFPRO - Cumin (Dhangdra, Gujrat) CottonConnect Cumin (Dhangdra, Gujrat) This project is training 1200 cumin farmers (mostly women) in the Dhanghadra region of Surendranagar district in Gujarat. It is being implemented with the help of SEWA, which is the World s largest working women association. The project was started in November 2017 with ToT sessions by Balasubramanian (Consultant IDH). A corrective action plan has been provided and being implemented at the project. The AFPRO cumin project is training 5000 cumin farmers in the Dhanghadra region of Surendranagar district in Gujarat. The project started in November 2017 with ToT sessions by Mr. Balasubramanian (Consultant IDH). A field level IPM assessment was also conducted by Dr. Venu. A corrective action plan has been provided and is currently being implemented. Farmer training on pesticides ACF - Cumin (Nagaur, Rajasthan) Insect traps The cumin project is training 2500 farmers from 18 villages, inclusive of 700 IPM farmers from 5 villages. Field Facilitators in the project have been monitoring the field and doing area audits, geo tagging, and other activities related to CropIn data. Cumin crop has reached its 50 to 55% of growth and the farmers have completed their second round of irrigation. Farmers have used the required amount of fertilizers and micro-nutrients in their Cumin crop. The weather has been favorable for the crop so far and the crop has now reached its flowering stage. Farmer s feedback: Earlier we used to purchase seed from market. But in the training session of SSI in our village I got know that 2

3 it s good to prepare and use seed at home instead of purchasing from market for reducing high cost. You also suggested us that if we will use our own seed instead of purchased seed from market then it will give much better result in terms of production and quality as well. It will restrict the diseases in our Cumin crop and at the same time it will also reduce the cost of pesticides. So that we can get more profit from our Cumin crop - Mr. Suresh S/o Mr. Hari Ram from Jhujhanda village Azad Agro - Coriander (Kota, Rajasthan) An IPM audit was conducted by Dr. Venu in this project and positive response has been received. The coriander crop is in very good condition with favorable weather conditions and also due to the interventions from the SSI-I program. Farmer cluster meeting Mr. Dinesh Malik from Azad Agro awarded for his work in agricultural sustainability by MoA and the Prime Minister Field visit Coriander field under the program 3

4 SSI-I OUTREACH Continued commitment of spice companies to sustainable innovation Sustainability was recognized as an opportunity for innovation in the Sustainable Spice Initiative (SSI) panel at the International Spice Conference on February 4-7, 2018 in Jaipur, India. The session and panel were led by Alfons van Gulick, SSI chairman and managing director of NedSpice. He emphasized that sustainability is not just an empty business buzzword, instead, sustainability aids companies in achieving superior financial performance, making it an important success factor for companies in the 21 st century. The long-term strategic focus and inclusive responsibilities focusing on ethical practices, employees, environment, and customers, ensure that companies with sustainability policies achieve higher profits. SSI India (SSI-I) works under the umbrella of the global initiative. It engages in projects in India to achieve domestic and international change in partnership with leading exporters and industry organizations. The local initiative is led by Pramit Chanda, IDH India country director, who believes sustainable spices should be targeted Glocally, by integrating local and global efforts. Collaboration should be created with a strategic selection and tactical alliance with adequate capacity, timing and speed. To create successful collaborations, we also need shining knights to lead the way. SSI offers members increased competitiveness and facilitating the uptake of sustainability policies can also positively affect innovation. Van Gulick asserts: Sustainability approaches can t be easily copied. You can distinguish real innovators from window dressers, because a trick can t simply be repeated without investments of time and money. Next steps for SSI revolve around the 2025 covenant. The covenant solidifies the aim of achieving 100% sustainable spice production and ties this in with stimulating growth in top 3 spice categories by SSI is a sector-wide consortium founded in 2012 that brings together an international group of companies active within the spices and herbs sector, and NGOs. IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative established the platform. This includes organizations such as 4

5 McCormick, Unilever, Nedspice, Intersnack, Kerry, Olam, Kutas, Intersnack, Euroma, Verstegen, ITC India, Jayanti, Harris Freeman, Griffith Foods, Sabater and many more valuable partners. Together with civil society organizations, such as the Royal Tropical Institute, Icco-Cooperation, Rainforest Alliance, SNV and others, these companies made a commitment to source their products sustainably and to make a positive impact on their value chains. About SSI-I The Sustainable Spices Initiative India (SSI-I) is a not-for-profit multi stakeholder platform that provides a comprehensive and ambitious framework to overcome the challenges of sustainable sourcing in the spice industry. while improving the livelihoods of producers, and giving consumers both locally and globally increased access to sustainable, food-safe spices. 5