Why in news:

• Mining company Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) has joined hands with Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT) and BAIF Livelihoods (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation), to expand its flagship CSR programme Samadhan, and impact more than 30,000 farmers across the state of Rajasthan.
• The collaboration will enhance and ensure efficient trickling down of agriculture and livestock innovation till farm level,
•  This will make Samadhan an aspirational programme for other states and regions and a model to emulate.
• This will further help HZL promote smart agriculture in Rajasthan by making their CSR programme a low carbon initiative.

Importance of the initiative:

• Indian farmers remain the backbone of our nation’s economy as the Indian economy is still an agricultural-based country.
• Statistics reveal that Indian agriculture is a sector accounting for 18% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs nearly 60% of workers.
• However, when it comes to scientific innovation at the farm level, they are behind their counterparts in other countries.
• In the current competitive world, it is important for our local farmers to stay updated on best scientific practices to maximize the livelihood opportunities available to them.

Key Points:

• The underlying objective of Samadhan project is the formation of farmers Interest Groups, based on their land holding and farm practices.
• This would help them stay abreast with latest technology and facilitate better awareness on market access and product pricing.
• Hindustan Zinc Limited has already been implementing the Samadhan programme to enhance the income-generating capacity of the agrarian community -based in 5 districts – Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Udaipur, and Rajsamand.
• Samadhan is also moving into a community-based institution ‘Farmer Producer Organizations’ to strengthen the farming community and bring in sustainability through the program.
• Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT) will also support the programme with on-farm technical guidance and provide institutional training to bring out progressive farmers from our community.
• This collaboration with MPUAT as an academic partner will help in creating a space to bring in synergy which in turn will result in an impactful transformation of the agriculture sector in the target regions.

Progress so far:

• The programme has now been operational for more than 4 years with the support of implementing partner BAIF Livelihoods (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation).
• During this period the programme has benefitted 13,835 farmers with area-specific innovative agriculture practices and 14,517 farmers with improved cattle breeding and animal advisory services.
• The CSR project has also been able to develop over 263 acres of land with fruit-bearing plants, improving the ecological balance and economical security of the community.
• With its Integrated Livestock Development Centre, Samadhan has been able to create 5338 female progenies (offspring) which yield 1.5 times more milk production.

A boon during hard times

• Farmers and their families were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic that led to series of lockdowns and disruption in economic and logistic activities;
• During the outbreak of COVID-19, HZL banked on Samadhan programme to improve awareness around the pandemic, hygiene issues and safety measures.
• Simultaneously, the programme offered Kisaan Helpline which helped the farmers to get on-call assistance and guidance in terms of farming and supplying their produce or livestock health.
• Additionally, HZL, through Samadhan, also introduced Grain Bank Initiative – which distributed 10 kgs of food grains per family across 5 districts of Rajasthan.