Human-Centered Agriculture
Rama-Murthy’s groundnut farm in Tirupati, India
Livelihoods of Groundnut Farmers in India
It’s a scorching hot day in Srikalahasthi, India. Wearing my open sandals, I walk single file along the crest of the rows of dirt mounds. The soil mounds demarcate the outer border edges of the newly planted groundnut crop. Tiny fresh light green groundnut leaves are just beginning to peek through the crusted reddish-brown soil.
It's February, the early weeks of the Rabi season. Anticipated rains after planting did not come. Rainfed groundnut crops will surely suffer, but the tribal village farmers remain hopeful.
In the far distance five young women in brightly colored silk sarees glide skillfully through the rows. Their figures are bent over, in tedious movement in the nearby groundnut field plot. Their hands are graceful and swift, spreading gypsum powder from open woven baskets, hand-picking the weeds from the ground-cover and checking the underside of nacient leaves for early signs of insect infestation. Mature short bushes of red gram pulses have already been planted between the rows. These pulses will prove their investment as crop insurance against potential groundnut crop failure, should the drought intensity continue in the coming weeks.
The women in the field endure tirelessly all morning before the intense heat begins to radiate from the hardened dirt. Their faces yearn for the afternoon breeze. Soon they will take refuge, resting in the temporary midday shade of the palm grove to sip the fresh water from coconuts, cracking open the coconut crowns, then sit to quench their dry thirst. Resourcefully, they will trim off a short papaya branch from a nearby tree using the straight round leaf stalk as a durable straw to share nature’s sweetly refreshing cool water.
One hectare at a time, the village farmers will reliably and patiently help one another with each other’s field cultivation toils, from dawn until dusk. In the deep darkness of the night, their brave men will protect the fields from wild pigs, keeping careful watch while seated in the elevated straw and wood lookout blinds. Intensely, the field men will gaze for hours in the night holding a large, round metal sound gong, a sharp arrow and a hand carved sword, to scare away the devastating field animals.
Together, the village families decorate the Garnesha shrine, with garlands of bright yellow and orange marigolds. Every visit to the shrine, they pray for a bountiful harvest.
The Legacy of Naidu
I approach the tribal Basavannagunta Village. Children, elders and family members greet me with solemn eyes. I have come to pay respects to Sai Ram Naidu, the most respected groundnut farmer of the region, revered by the greater community for his knowledge and virtues.
One at a time, I approach each of the family members, reaching out my hand to theirs and then holding my hands together in an exchange of prayer. One by one, I am connected to their stoically drawn faces and deep, saddened eyes. In our touch, we speak only the language of shared loss and excruciating sadness.
Sai Ram’s mother is calm and grateful for our visit. Sai Ram’s father speaks incessantly in dialect about the virtues of his lost son as he holds a framed portrait photo of his handsome son, clutched tightly in his grip held close to his heart. Sai Ram’s widow slowly emerges out to the porch from a dark room from within the stucco-adobe walls of the family house. She is stymied by reality of her husband’s passing and sits with strained eyes from beneath the shadow of her silk head cloth.
Sai Ram’s Grave at the evening burial ceremony, Basavannagunta Village, Andhra Pradesh, India
Speechless, lifeless, depressed, it is too painful for her to make eye contact. It was only last week that Sai Ram was planting his groundnut seeds with his farm workers and village neighbors. A loose wire hung from an electrical pole in the open freshly plowed field. The wire was within arms reach. And still, after so many phone calls to the authorities over many months, the loose wire had still not been fixed since the last monsoon storm. Sai Ram had already tested the wire the prior day, and found that its electrical current was not running. For safety of his workers, Sai Ram had set out at dawn to remove the loose wire from harms way. It was only a second later after Sai Ram lifted his arm to move the wire, the he was electrocuted to an instant death.
Abundant Groundnuts – Farm Subsistence
Four hot and humid months has passed in Andhra Pradesh. The farmers come forward from their harvest fields to greet me as I arrive to the crest of the open flat valley in the dusty and muddy 4-wheel jeep. Their faces curious, patient and smiling. They had been expecting me at some point. But they have no idea how to anticipate their encounter with someone from the Western world. For them, it is a first. I look different. My dress is khaki and simple. My skin fair with light hair. We exchange smiles, and a warm “Namasthi” greeting with a nod of head and hands together in prayer, as is the custom. I let them know that I appreciate their work. I touch their shoulders with compassion and gratitude. I follow them to their groundnut fields to learn more.
I bend down to pull the large bunches of harvest-ready groundnuts from the dry hard soil with all my strength. I follow the women workers in their orange and yellow patterned sarees as they walk the fields to dodge the snakes and chase the wild pigs away with sticks. I stand at the precipitous edge of the bore well and peer down fifty meters to the bottom. I learn how to test the dryness of the groundnut with my teeth for texture and taste. I then view the sites where they have built the elevated metal animal “blinds” placed in the fields to scare away the animal predators. It is here in the blinds where they sleep the night long, with spears and rocks, in defense of their precious crop yields.
Mr. L. Surya Reddy explains that India is the second largest producer of groundnuts or “peanuts” cultivated in the world. The five mid-south states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra states are responsible for India’s abundant production. Telangana’s 7.2 million farmers cultivate 200,000 hectares of groundnuts each year. And Andhra Pradesh cultivates almost as much.
I learn that groundnuts are also climate resistant, affording three harvests per year in some regions. Some farmers are able to reap year-round harvests from the Rabi dry season, the summer temperate season and also the fall to winter Kharif monsoon season.
This still Rabi season, the farmers expect a poor yield. Harvest is almost done and only ten 100 kilo gunny sacks from Rama Murthy’s 2-hectare farm have been filled and put aside to take to market, a distant tractor drive, about 2 days journey.
Unexpected monsoon rains have come just days before. The first harvest tarp-dried groundnuts are in tied gunny sacks, but they are heavily soaked from overnight moisture. The sacks will be unloaded each day and dried again for a few more days in the open sun on the tarps. Harvested groundnut pods and kernels are already showing some molds and unusual dampness. Murthy grabs a small handful of kernels from a nearby sack and takes a small bite in the side of one kernel with his front teeth. Kernels are still not dry enough. There will be three more days of tarp drying.
Groundnuts in woven moisture-absorbing gunny sacks are prone to common mycotoxin molds. Storage conditions for most farmers cannot keep moisture and humidity from affecting their crops. Molds will grow, if the produce is not thoroughly dried and kept dry through storage.
Heaps of small, blackened, mold-prone groundnut pods still lay on the field entwined with the messy residue of leaves and exposed roots. Three open sacks contain the smallest sized, hand-selected damaged pods. The kernels expose only a minimal amount of dark molds and are set aside for animal feed. One more sack is half-filled with pods earmarked for seed stock.
Seed systems for groundnut mimic the same challenges of many of the other agriculture systems in India. The crop seasons are unreliable, inefficient, and ad-hoc. Inauthentic varieties of seeds are inter-mixed causing under-producing crop yields in most years. Due to inconsistent groundnut seeds varieties, poor crop management practices, small-sized pods and kernels, and post harvest crop moisture during storage, the market yields paid to these small-holder and marginal groundnut farmers would be only a fraction of their total cost of production.
Women dry the groundnuts on the sun tarps by churning them with their feet
I gaze intently at the women farmers drying the groundnuts, churning them systematically with their bare feet across the full length of the open tarps. A few women are carefully hand picking and sorting the molded kernels from the harvest piles. They invite their four small children to assist throughout the morning to help with the tedious hand-sorting chores.
Mr. L. Surya Reddy speaks in Telugu dialect with stern words of grave concern. He takes Mr. Rama Murthy aside to explain something critical. And, from his 30 years of family farming, Murthy is unaware. His crop was not dried fast enough this season. Darkened groundnuts have serious aflatoxin contamination caused by humidity and molds.
“Reddyji” convinces Murthy with a fast interactive dialogue and nodding head. to share his knowledge. Murthy must immediately toss away or burn even more of his harvest. Groundnuts with aflatoxins cannot be ‘cooked away’ in spiced dahl, nor can they be heated with other foods to be food safe. They are seriously dangerous for his family to touch or consume. The black pods in the sacks have these toxins and they are a risk for human health, causing cancers, diseases, mental stunting and fatal death.
Livelihoods of Tribals, Small-holders and Marginal Groundnut Farmers
The groundnut farmers have purchased all of their seasonal crop inputs and supplies in advance of the early weeks of Kharif sowing. In recent months, they have supported the continued expenses for cultivation, harvesting and farm labor often relying on family members, children, neighbors and friends to assist. Year in, and year out, these groundnut farmers are forced by market traders and government subsidies to sell their produce at very low prices.
Farmers in Tirupati lost 50% of their groundnut crop in the Kharif season
Mr. Reddy explains to me that the farmers’ livelihoods are falling fast, well below subsistence levels. Sons and daughters are leaving their parents’ farms. They do not foresee a farming future.
Gazing across the open expanse of open fields, I know that I must dig further and fast to investigate India’s groundnut dilemma. This protein-rich oil legume kernel creates a high nutrient, edible seed kernel with 2 ½ times more protein than meat. Its price per kilo is negotiated through hard bargaining by controlling traders in the open marketplace. In the open market, Murthy may fetch 3,600 rupees for one large 100 kilo sack in the– or the equivalent of $50 US dollars per sack. His production will be a total of 10 sacks this season.
Murthy’s income will need to cover his agriculture bank loans, seed purchases, farm inputs, food and welfare for the family, petrol for the truck and tractor, feed for the livestock animals and all labor workers – leaving only a few rupees for subsistence-level survival.
Potential for Production Richness
Yet, the groundnut (peanut) has extraordinary advantages for India. A diet rich in groundnut products can reduce cholesterol, lower risk of heart disease and provide protection against cancers, with healthy anti-oxidant benefits. Groundnuts are abundant in essential vitamins, and minerals including niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, choline, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese and selenium. Higher quality, “high oleic” groundnuts contain an even greater percentage of oleic acid which is a mono-unsaturated fatty acid known as a “good fat”, reducing the amount of LDL (bad cholesterol) whilst boosting the levels of HDL (good cholesterol).
Modern science has demonstrated that groundnuts are one of the most complete nutritional resources available.
Groundnuts could offer higher quality local food production. They can be used to make cold-pressed peanut oils, snack products, nutritional food bars, peanut butter, and peanut brittle. Export markets are eager to source groundnuts from India for food ingredients, but India’s quality and supply is unreliable, not food safe and varieties are unregulated.
Still, there is a dire need in India to domestically propagate and distribute nutritious produce. Over 1/3 of the Indian population remains under-nourished, including rising numbers of children, women and the elderly.
From Farmers to “I-hub”
In Hyderabad, located on an expansive campus research site, ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute of the Semi-Arid Tropics) works on developing new varieties of climate resilient crops. The ICRISAT I-Hub welcomes entrepreneurs and visiting guests. Upon entering the space, there is an open, sharing atmosphere of diligent intensity and comradery among go-workers. I am introduced to Sreekanth, a representative from one of the ICRISAT incubator companies. Sreekanth patiently explains the business model of the Kalgudi platform. He takes time to show me a presentation and then a demo of the Kalgudi System.
Vashudaika Software launched the vision of Kalgudi about ten years ago. The model is conceived to align the agriculture and food ecosystem for greater efficiency – encouraging the power of direct connectivity among all players.
Unlike most big data technology models I had studied, the Kalgudi platform is authentically conceived as an adaptive system designed for the benefit of small holder farmers and emerging self-help groups. The platform also serves the big trade businesses, large traders and exporters. Kalgudi incorporates the needs of all participants with principles of strategy, operations and inclusion.
Awestruck, Sreekanth’s demo showing the inner workings, conception and widespread successful reach to 3.2 million farmers and women’s groups, captures my full attention to learn more….
[Note this article is unfinished… I will continue to describe the model of the platform and how it is used by farmers as a breakthrough, disruptive technology that is passionate for the farmers, enabling women, building market efficiencies and has the potential to positively change the livelihoods for farmers in India… to be continued…]