In a short span of time we have succeeded in securing collaborations with many specialized agencies and government departments in this area. We have established fruitful contacts with the Horticulture Department both at the district and state level, Krishi Vigyan Kendra sponsored by ICAR and the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development under the central government at Kosi, Almora. The GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar has provided us with high quality seeds and also promised us hand holding support through their extension work as we move along.
We have also been in constant touch with relevant Departments of Kumaon University and Uttarakhand Open University. We have tied up for the coming year's crop cycles with various NGOs active in the region.
We also feel that this institutional bridge will provide a link between the local partners and other regional and central organizations by sharing of skills and by encouraging best practices in organic agricultural research and teaching.
Besides institutional partners we have organized an effective network based on cooperative-collaborative pattern among marginal and small scale partners in villages within a radius of 25-kms from our project site. Sometimes enthusiastic farmers have joined our network from even more distant villages. Shri Darwan Singh Parihar has not only generously leased a large bit of land for research and experimental production at Saat Ratbe but also begun on his own to replicate some of the best practices in his native village at Udal Gaon. Similar efforts are under progress at other locations at Kanda Bageshwar and Bilona. At these different sites we are ranging our experiments from grains to vegetables.
Organic production systems are particularly suitable to our grassroot partners as these systems depend on the sustainable use of local resources and on farmers’ traditional knowledge and social networks. The shift to organic farming also offers health benefits for consumers and contributes to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.
