In an effort to tide over the severe agrarian crisis prevailing in Maharashtra, the BJP-led alliance Government has together with the Government of India has signed an agreement with the World Bank to undertake the Maharashtra Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture, costing $420 million to help small and marginal farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of the State.
The agreement for the Maharashtra Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India; Bijay Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Department on behalf of the Government of Maharashtra; and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank, India on behalf of the World Bank.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will be lending $420 million loan for the implantation of the project. The loan has a 6-year grace period and a maturity of 24 years.
According to an official note, the Maharashtra Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture will be implemented in rural areas largely dependent upon rain-fed agriculture. the project will involve taking up a series of activities at the farm and watershed level.
The project is expected to benefit over 7 million people. It would cover 5,142 villages across 15 most climate vulnerable districts of the region.
The importance of this project should be viewed in the context of the fact that severe drought in the past has crippled the agriculture performance of Maharashtra, particularly in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.
The project will help scale up climate-resilient technologies such as micro irrigation systems, expand surface water storage, and facilitate aquifer recharge, which is expected to directly contribute to a more efficient use of scarce water resources. By adopting climate-resilient seed varieties which have short maturity, are drought and heat resistant, and salt tolerant, the project will help reduce risks of climate-related crop failure, and help enhance farmer’s income.
In recent years, climate variability has affected agriculture in Maharashtra, where farming is largely dominated by small and marginal farmers. Farmers have low crop productivity and a high dependence on rainfall. Severe drought in the past has affected the State’s agriculture performance.
At the watershed level, project activities include building drainage lines and preparing catchment area treatment plans that promote a more efficient use of surface water for agriculture, complemented with a more sustainable use of groundwater, which will ultimately improve the availability and quality of water at the farm level.
In an effort to strengthen emerging value chains for climate-resilient agricultural commodities, the project will improve the capacity of Farmer Producers Organisations to operate as sustainable, market-oriented, agri-enterprises. It will help mainstream the climate resilient agriculture agenda in various local institutions that deliver agricultural services to the farming community.