In India, nearly half a billion small and marginal farmers account for over 80% of the total farmer population and subsist on labour intensive farm activities over fragmented land parcels with resource inequities, climate irregularities and poor technology access. In the absence of an enabling ecosystem and market connect in their specific contexts, small and marginal farmers experience severe vulnerabilities that result in high levels of drudgery, low crop productivity and quality, poor livestock management and little opportunity for diversification or value addition.

Sustain Plus collaborates with grassroots actors, who are systematically working on collectivising small and marginal farmers along agriculture and allied value chains, to build climate smart and clean energy driven ‘production hubs’.

A typical production hub may be defined as a contiguous cluster of villages, where a range of stakeholders collaborate to enable high production and productivity levels, aggregation and market access. By collectivising the efforts of small and marginal farmers and by building complementary local systems to enhance agriculture livelihoods at the pre-production, production and post-harvest stage, it is possible to meaningfully enhance production volumes and farmer incomes.

As the largest provider of livelihoods in rural iIndia, the farm sector holds significant potential for socio-economic transformation, and energy is a key catalyst in unlocking this potential. Building on the long term experience and learnings of our partners, Sustain Plus synergises with their efforts in improving agronomic practices through the integration of appropriate DRE solutions to enhance climate resilience, productivity, efficiency and sustainability outcomes, as well as significantly reduce human drudgery and operational costs.