Ongoing Projects
A Major Milestone in Sustainable Rice Cultivation
Gold Standard, the leading certifying authority for carbon credits, has approved our AWD project, developed in collaboration with CarbonFarm, to pilot the first-ever digital MRV under rice project.
This milestone marks a significant leap forward in tracking methane emissions, optimizing water use, and promoting sustainable farming practices. With this approval, we are driving greater transparency in the carbon market—paving the way for a more sustainable future.
Significance of the project
Rice, a staple food in India, is also one of the largest sources of global methane emissions. Traditional paddy farming consumes large amounts of water, resulting in resources becoming increasingly scarce. Our initiative leverages cutting-edge technology—including satellite monitoring, IoT sensors, and mobile applications—to tackle these critical environmental challenges.
By integrating advanced geospatial data with real-time field observations, we are achieving unprecedented accuracy in verifying sustainable agricultural practices.
Looking Forward
This Gold Standard approval represents a major step forward in agricultural sustainability. With satellite-based MRV, we can scale our impact and help farmers adopt water-efficient practices, improve yields, and reduce their environmental footprint.
This breakthrough project represents just the beginning of a transformative approach to climate-smart agriculture that benefits both farmers and our planet.
Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice (AWD)
Alternate Wetting and Drying in Paddy
Project Location: Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh
Project Duration: Implementing since 2018 and on a large scale from 2021
Description:
The project aims to implement the AWD technique at 80K hectares in Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, and Bahraich districts. The alternate wetting and drying irrigation is one of the most important water-saving techniques developed in the 1990s by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). This technique typically reduces water use by allowing partial soil drying before re-irrigation. The technique involves intermittent flooding creating an alternate saturated and unsaturated condition in the field where irrigation is interrupted. Re-flooding is initiated only when the water subsides, and the soil reaches a specific moisture level.
Key Impact of the project
1.Environmental: Eliminating the use of fuelwood and reducing GHG emissions by promoting and installing biogas plants to move towards clean and affordable energy. Using slurry as manure to provide crops with nutrient-rich soil.
2.Social: Engaging the local community and youth to counter the declining number of second-generation farmers and migration.
3.Economic: Reducing the living cost for farmers and empowering the community by generating livelihood opportunities through different project-related activities.
Community works are taken up by the organisation from the project resources to the farmers implementing AWD
Agroforestry Project
Agroforestry is defined as a sustainable management system for land that increases overall production, combines agricultural crops, forest plants and tree crops and/or animals simultaneously or sequentially and applies management practices that are compatible with the cultural patterns of a local population.
Project: Plant For Planet
Objective: To increase the green cover, farmers resilience and supplement the Government’s policy
Technique: Plantation plans are developed in consultation with thematic experts and agricultural universities.
Process: A block plantation will be done at the medium-large categories of farmers on a portion of their land.
Geography: Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (covering 30k ha)
Key impact:
1.Biodiversity enhancement.
2.Increase in green cover.
3.Improve livelihood of farmers.
Increase in employment opportunities
Community Livelihoods Revival as Part of Post-Cyclone FANI Recovery
Client/Partners: UNDP
Project Location: Odisha
Project Duration: 2019 - 2020
Objectives of the Project:
The objectives of this initiative are to support Fani affected families with sustainable livelihood assistance and to improve the capacity of resettled communities to engage in productive measures including community collective-engagement and re-integration, small business development, value addition for local resources, establishing market linkages, employment generation, enhance access to government services delivery and make the community to be socially accountable for their grievances and to make them partake in the durable solutions for conflict-affected displacement.
Bio Gas India Project
Client/Partners: Funded by WWF, Switzerland, myclimate in association with HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
Project Location: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh
Project Duration: 2014 - 2021, and from 2021 -2023, from 2023 onwards construction of additional biogas plants
Objectives of the Project:
The main objective of the project is to enhance climate resilience and quality of lives in rural households in Uttarakhand through deployment of clean energy technology in the form of the biogas digester. Construction of more than 3500 biogas units with an objective of replacing fuelwood for cooking in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh was supported by WWF and Myclimate. The other objective is to enhance household incomes with entrepreneurship and alternative livelihoods. The construction of Biogas units has been completed. The beneficiaries have been given detailed orientation training on the operation and maintenance aspects of the biogas plants. Apart from the training, the organisation also undertakes the maintenance of biogas units and create opportunities for income generation.
SKill Development of Youth in Nainital District, Uttarakhand, India
Client/Partners: Collibri Foundation, Colruyt Group, Belgium
Project Location: Uttarakhand
Project Duration: 2019-2021 and from 2021-2025
Objectives of the Project:
The overall goal of this project is to offer vulnerable young people in Uttarakhand opportunities for a successful future through training, coaching and exchange. The long-term impact sought through the training, internships and additional initiatives is that youth become leaders in their own sphere, and some become entrepreneurs.
Sustainable organic rice and fairtrad in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, India
Client/Partners: Reismuehle Brunnen (RMB), Division of Coop
Project Location: Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh
Project Duration: 2017 - 2021 and from 2022 - 2025 as Agro-ecosystem in and around Katarniaghat (Bahraich)
Objectives of the Project:
This is a continuation project of Sustainable Production of Organic Fair Trade Rice in India implemented in Uttarakhand. The overall goal of the project was to improve the livelihoods of rice farmers, to improve the environmental sustainability of rice production and to reach consumers with an attractive product.
The project, "Sustainable Production of Organic Fair Trade Rice in India," is extending its scope to include other areas in Uttar Pradesh. Building on previous successes, the project aims to increase farm incomes, enhance food security, improve environmental sustainability, and promote biodiversity conservation. Key objectives also include strengthening the adoption of sustainable practices like the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and empowering producer organizations to play a crucial role in the extension system. The new phase will focus on launching organic Basmati production with 600 to 1000 farmers in Katarniaghat, ensuring fair trade certification and premium payment for community development. Overall, the project strives to uplift farmer livelihoods while offering consumers an attractive and sustainable rice product.
Cashew Value Chain Project
Client/Partners: HEKS
Project Location: Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh
Project Duration: 2019
Objectives of the Project:
The objective of the assignment is to guide the project to ensure that the FPOs are strengthened and are able to run the business activities sustainable after the phase of financial partnership with HEKS.
SUNSAI - Scaling up Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Interventions in Indian Himalayan Region
Client/Partners: Welthungerhilfe India, IFOAM
Project Location: Uttarakhand
Project Duration: 2019-2021
Objectives of the Project:
The objective of the project is to increase the production of local crops and consumption of nutritious foods among the children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers. The project objective is focused on subsistence agriculture, homestead food production (HFP) and enriching nutrient that will be achieved through:
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Mobilizing communities to enhance nutrition-sensitive agriculture through kitchen gardening
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Strengthening production and consumption of nutritious foods like millets and
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Supporting awareness generation, policy advocacy, and knowledge dissemination.
Chintapalli Tribal Organic Coffee Project
Client/Partners: Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Tribes Cooperative Finance Corporation Limited (TRICOR), Government of Andhra Pradesh
Project Location: Chintapalli, Andhra Pradesh
Project Duration: 2018-2021
Objectives of the Project:
The objective of this project is to focus on value chain development of coffee and black pepper in Chintapalli Mandal of Paderu ITDA in Visakhapatnam district. Some of the main objectives are:
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Develop the profile of Chintapalli Mandal farmers, identify landless tribal farmers and initiate process for land record updating.
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Identify the farmers without access to formal farm credit and initiate the process for improving credit access. (Financial Deepening)
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Improve the productivity of coffee in the Chintapalli Mandal.
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Develop farmer institutions for collective processing and marketing and other activities.
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Ensure value addition to coffee at the farm level as well as at the processing and marketing level
