International Development Enterprises (India)

Diversifying livelihoods is crucial in offering opportunities to augment income, whether through on-farm or off-farm activities. This approach helps mitigate risks by providing supplementary support to the income generated from core agricultural activities. IDEI has expanded its scope to include allied sectors, including an apiculture/honeybee farming project. Besides promoting vegetable cultivation, IDEI is embarking on a pilot program to boost spice cultivation, which promises to significantly enhance farmers' incomes.

The high cost of storage structures makes it impractical to capture and store rainwater for agricultural use during dry months. To provide affordable storage solutions that enable farmers to optimize water utilization in agriculture, IDEI has developed water storage bags in various capacities. These bags eliminate the initial high-cost barrier, making it accessible to small-scale farmers to embrace drip irrigation. Drip irrigation allows a farmer to irrigate a larger crop area per unit of water, reducing water usage by 60-70% compared to traditional surface irrigation methods. The gradual and consistent water application maintains ideal moisture levels at the root zone, leading to improved plant quality and yield increases ranging from 30% to 50%.

IDEI's water lifting technologies are powered by human energy and incorporate a combination of lifting and pumping mechanisms. These systems offer flexible delivery options, allowing water to either flow into a channel or be pressurized and delivered through pipes. Each technology is designed to provide a specified water discharge rate and is highly reliable, requiring minimal maintenance with no recurring costs. These technologies empower farmers to conveniently lift water as needed, eliminating the need for storage. They are suitable for cultivating a wide range of crops. Their affordability makes them accessible to farmers, and the extensive supply chain network ensures quick and easy fulfilment of demand.

Access to irrigation water is a significant challenge for many smallholder farmers throughout India. Even in regions where groundwater is plentiful, such as certain parts of eastern and northern India, smallholder farmers lack the means to tap into this resource. IDEI is actively advocating for the installation of cost-effective bore-wells in such areas where the water table is high. These bore-wells are affordable, even for the most economically disadvantaged farmers, and can be easily installed. Typically, the cost of these bore-wells, including pipes and drilling, amounts to just USD 20.

To create conditions that enable a significant number of rural poor to escape poverty, IDEI has expanded its focus beyond technology, embracing the Sustainable Agricultural Approach. Through this approach, IDEI aims to address challenges from input to output stages of agricultural production.
IDEI promotes affordable irrigation devices, encourages farmers to create vegetable nurseries, conducts soil testing, and ensures good quality sapling supply to farmers through Service entrepreneurs. The capacities of these service entrepreneurs are further built in developing bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides and plant nutrient. The entrepreneurs then package these materials and sell to other farmers. Through cost benefit analysis, IDEI identifies high-value crops and arranges for the expertise to support farmers cultivate those crops. IDEI also provides connect with local traders and helps the farmer negotiate a better price.