Introduction

This project is being implemented in Kancheepuram, Thiruvannamalai, Dindigul and Ramanathapuram districts with support from UNDP-GEF from November 2008 onwards.

OBJECTIVES

• To link biodiversity conservation with marketing.

• Conserve indigenous varieties of seeds in the tsunami prone coastal district of Nagapattinam through communities.

• Reduce POPs in vegetable cultivation by conserving indigenous vegetables and organic farming.

ACTIVITIES DONE UNDER THE PROJECT

• Visits have been made to units making value added products to assess the feasibility of attempting to make some of these products and also understand the technology. Preparation procedure of two value added products have been standardized.

• Construction of a structure for housing the preparation of value added products is in progress.

• Training programmes on preparation of value added products have been conducted for the selected beneficiaries.

• Training programmes on POP reduction and organic farming technologies were conducted for the beneficiaries. Both theory and practical sessions were conducted. Three exposure visits have been organized for the beneficiaries of Dindigul district. They were exposed to various organic farming technologies.

• Forty five villages in the Nagapattinam district were surveyed for indigenous varieties. Two NGOs conserving indigenous varieties were also visited and links established. Characteristics of the varieties were documented.

• In kuruvai 2009 four different traditional paddy varieties were conserved by the beneficiaries in five coastal villages of Nagapattinam district. Farmers have been selected for the conservation practices during samba 2009.

• Survey on traditional vegetable varieties was conducted in Dindigul district. 11 varieties of 5 types of vegetables have been identified. Farmers have been provided with indigenous vegetable seeds for cultivation and seed production. Farmers have completed the first round of cultivation and conserved the seeds for the next season.

• A total of twenty five farmers groups have been formed in Dindigul and Nagapattinam districts. Members of the farmers groups were trained on various aspects of organic farming including practical demonstrations.

• Two capacity building trainings were conducted for the farmers working with the NGOs in Dindigul.

• In Dindigul district, for POP reduction – survey on cost of cultivation for tomato, brinjal and bhendi in both organic and conventional method of farming has been conducted.

• A three day staff capacity building training programme was conducted.

Practical session on biopesticide preparation

A Puffed rice unit visited at Polur

Exposure visit to an organic farm

Value added product - Vadam