Dear Sir…………..Greetings from ACTIVE
We are glad to note your interest on Agriculture and willing to invest in INDIA. ACTIVE is a not-for-profit, non-governmental development organization in Andhra Pradesh, India. Since its inception in 1985, we have been working in Khammam, an Agency District, in Andhra Pradesh, India. Our wide-ranging development interventions are spread across about 150 villages that are remote, forested and interior, covering about 5000 indigenous and marginalized tribal families.
“ACTIVE believes that, access to livelihood, socio-political and ecological security is a basic human right and strives to organize them, to marginalized people deprived of these securities so that they are able to access them on their own”. In order to realize our mission, we are implementing Integrated Development programmes for the upliftment of indigenous poor.
In all our interventions, we seek to bring people in the forefront, while ACTIVE plays a facilitative role, i.e., a participant in the community processes rather than the vice versa. Equity, participation, poverty, gender, sustainability and rights are the basic orientations of our work.
Our organization “ACTIVE” is working in the rural and urban areas. Now we are proposing to take up projects on health care, children education, women development, promotion of greenery through wasteland development and sustainable/ organic agriculture for the development of indigenous people. We therefore, seek to take a creative advantage of your partnership with us
ACTIVE has been motivating the indigenous people, by explaining need of Afforstation, promotion of bio-diesel plantations and ensuring the bio diversity. With our efforts, poor and marginal people are willing to raise plantations in their waste/ideal lands. To start with, ACTIVE has already promoted Jatropha in 7000 acres with the financial support of local corporate sector in 125 villages of 15 mandals in Khammam district,A.P,India. In these villages, ACTVE identified 3500 interested and small & marginal farmers for raising Jatropha plantations.
In each acre, 1000 Jatropha seedlings were planted with 4 meters x 1 meter spacing. Between rows, 4 meters spacing was given for raising inter crops like red gram, green gram, black gram, cowpea, ground nut, cotton, chilly etc., Jatropha yields starts from 2nd year onwards and good & economical yields will start from 4th year onwards. These plantations will give yields up to 40 years. Jatropha plantations have various advantages like cost of cultivation is less, no pest attack, no animal touch this crop, there is heavy demand for Jatropha crop yields, farmers need not go to market to sell their product instead traders come to farmers door steps and give advances amount to reserve the crop etc. Hence, ACTIVE is encouraging small and marginal farmers to raise Jatropha plantations in their own waste & idle lands.
The local corporate sector providing grants to ACTIVE organization for meeting expenditures like raising Jatropha seedlings , to conduct farmers trainings and organising them into village associations, the salaries of field staff at the gross root level.
ACTIVE is supposed to raise financial resources to fill the gap areas from other agencies. We are negotiating with local bank and exploring resources for crop investment but it takes long time and not confident of securing the loans from them. Therefore, we are exploring resources from other sources.
Here there are two gap areas as far as funds are concern which are 1).Crop Investment for Deep Plough, Chris Cross cultivation, Pitting charges, pruning, Fertilizers etc., which requires minimum of Rs.5000/-( US $ 110 ). 2). Core Staff salaries & Travel and Office administration etc., We need more administration support because since the Jatropha crop is a new crop to people so much of ground work needs to be done at the grassroots as well as regional level for mobilization/organizing of people and build up linkages to other agencies.
Hence, we are exploring financial resources only for above mentioned two gap areas. So far we have planned programms up to plantations but if come across good funding assurance from any source, we are ready to plan for processing of bio-fuels and market it. Therefore, we would request you kindly understand the situation and provide us an opportunity for serving small & marginalized communities for improvement of their livelihood in a sustainable manner and take part in eco restoration movement. On hearing from you we will send you the detailed project proposal for your records and necessary approval.
Thanking you and with regards.
Jayanand
Director
activejk@yahoo.com
Jatropha Plantations
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