SDC/IC
ETC

Intercooperation is a development organization based in Switzerland and projects in many parts of the world. In India, IC is operational in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Sikkim. The three main working domains are: Natural Resource Management, Rural Economy and Local Governance & Civil society.

SDC/IC NGO Programme Kerala was initiated in 1989. The programme works with rural communities and CBOs supported through local Partner NGOs, with the objective of improving the livelihoods of resource poor households for the more efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. The overall objective of the Programme in this last Phase (January 2004 - December 2005) is to consolidate the various activities pursued by the NGOs and to document and analyse lessons learned and experience gained. A further objective is to support and facilitate the establishment of a NGO network at State level that will eventually become self sustaining.

Indo-Swiss NRM Program Orissa (IS-NRMPO) started in 1991 as a bilateral project under the name Indo-Swiss Project Orissa (ISPO). The current fifth phase has three independent components, for which the responsibility for implementation was vested with the respective partners:
- Livestock component in partnership with AHD,
- Dairy component in partnership with GGGMU, and
- NGO program, implemented by eight NGOs.

The ISPS project was set up in 1993 as an initiative of bilateral cooperation. Within the framework of sustainable resource management, ISPS aims to improve the livelihood of small and marginal farmers in rural Sikkim by fostering the income generating capacities and strengthening need based service delivery systems within the partner departments.

ETC India, based in Bangalore, is part of the ETC International Group. ETC Group executes programs and projects, implements studies and organizes training in the field of agriculture, forestry, health, small enterprises and water supply in Asia, Africa and Latin-America. ETC group is part of the ETC foundation, based in The Netherlands, which is a non profit organization and has offices in different parts of the world.

ETC India is an innovative, not for profit but client oriented, efficient and cost conscious company with high level of integrity, specialized in sustainable rural development with particular reference to:

1. Participatory processes linking public and private sector with civil society
   
2. Social Development (poverty analysis and poverty alleviation strategies, gender analysis and organization of civil society).
   
3. Community learning processes like Farmer Field School approaches.
   
4. Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA, Organic farming and integrated farming systems and crop management approaches).
   
5. Bio-mass production and Renewable Energy in rural areas.
   
6. Bio-diversity management.
   
7. Integrated Rural water management.

1. SDC/IC KERALA NGO Partners:

Rural Agency for Social & Technological Advancement was formed in 1987 by Ms. Omana and Mr. Dhanesh. RASTA is registered under Indian Societies Act. The main sector that RASTA is involved are: Agriculture, Livestock, NRM, Drinking water and social upliftment. Awareness generation, Education, Training, formation of SHG and micro-credit are the major thrust areas in these sectors

In PTD, RASTA works with 20 farmer groups of about 10 farmers each per group. The farmers have been experimenting with organic and eco-friendly way of producing better crop and managing pest and diseases. The PTD experiments have been conducted in black pepper and rice crops since 1999. RASTA has encouraged multiplication of Trichodedrma at farmers' level to reduce the cost of Trichoderma and to make it available to more number of farmers in the area.

Shreyas is the official social development organization of the Malankara Catholic Diocese of Bathery to uplift the poor and marginalized.Shreyas was started in 1979 and got registered in 1986 under the Societies Registration Act. The program area of Shreyas spread over 15 districts in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. A total of 2394 SHGs are catering to the needs of 45379 poor and marginalized families.

Shreyas implements PTD with three SHG groups of 20 farmers each. The farmers have been experimenting with organic and eco-friendly way of producing better crop and managing pest and diseases in black pepper since 2000. Shreyas has set up Trichoderma multiplication center, based on the success of Trichoderma in PTD and has been supplying to a large number of pepper farmers.

Apex Voluntary Agency for Rural Development (AVARD)

AVARD was established in 1986 and is an umbrella organization. It is registered under Societies Registration Act Travancore. It has National geographical focus. The main development focus is Children, Citizens and Industry.

AVARD joined the PTD program in 2000 and has been implementing PTD with three groups of farmers in three villages. These farmers have been conducting experiments in Banana crop to control the bunchy top disease through micro-nutrient application. Apart from this, planting method and organic management has also been tried out. Skill upgradation and capacity building workshops are conducted to improve the knowledge and capacity of the farmers in stipulated intervals.

Malanadu Development Society (MDS)

MDS implements PTD in black pepper and cardamom in Idukki district in the drought prone region since 2001. Three farmer groups of about 15 farmers each have been experimenting in pepper and two farmer groups have been experimenting in cardamom. The major emphasis of PTD experiments have been trying out organic practices for better production of pepper and cardamom and pest and disease management.

Tiruvalla Social Service Society (TiSSS)

TiSSS (Bodhana) since its inception has been working side by side with the farmers for the sustainable development of the agricultural community. The activities of the society are mainly targeting that part of the community whose primary and only income is from agriculture; who are poor and struggling to thrive in their life. The Society is spread over four districts of Kerala (Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki) with its activities. The central office being at Tiruvalla, the whole parts of the targeted area are easily covered through the four regional offices at Niranam, Ranni, Mallappally and Kattappana.The Society is presently monitoring more than 600 self-help groups (among which more than 200 are purely farming community) – this comprises of more than 6000 agricultural families, more than 4000 of which have a land holding of at least half an acre. The Society has more than 20 farm clubs, which actively coordinates the agricultural activities and training and related activities of the particular areas.

TiSSS implements PTD in black pepper and cardamom in Idukki district in the high rainfall region since 2000. Two groups of farmers of 12 farmers in each group are experimenting in pepper and two groups experimenting in cardamom. There are more than 50 farmers who are directly involved in the programme, and more than 70 farmers who are indirectly benefited.The major focus in cardamom has been on reducing the number of pesticides spray and scientific application of pesticides. In black pepper, the emphasis has been controlling the disease using bio-controls like Trichoderma and Psuedomonas. The studies conducted were to investigate the compliance of trichoderma and pseudomonads against the quick wilt, decaying of roots, pollu disease etc. observed in the target crops. The finding was that: both of the control agents are very effective against the diseases. The application of trichoderma along with cow dung and neem cake (2 or 3 times in an year) was the recommendation – against the quick wilt and root decay of pepper. The result obtained from the application of pseudomonads against the pollu disease was very convincing and moreover that the recommended application (2-3 times per year) resulted in increased growth of the crop plants and improvement of the quality (especially colour) of the produce, compared to that observed in ‘control’ conditions.

2. SDC/IC ORISSA NRMPO NGO Partners:

Information in this section coming soon .....

3. SDC/IC SIKKIM ISPS GO / NGO Partners:

Department of Horticulture, Govt. of Sikkim is the main extension agency in Sikkim. DOH has been collaborating with ISPS since 1993 in implementing a ginger research program to improve the ginger research capacity in Sikkim. In the absence of any research agency in Sikkim, the support in establishing research capacity in Sikkim was crucial. Since the mandate of DOH is extension and not research, there was difficulty in establishing research capacity as there were no other relevant agencies who could be involved locally. Research in ginger on disease management focused on bacterial wilt and soft rot control

DOH decided to implement PTD, to capitalize on the results of the research in ginger. PTD is implemented through 10 farmer groups now with each group having 12 to 20 members. The major experiments are on organic management of soft rot, bacterial wilt, dry rot, nutrient management and clean healthy seeds.