Information Sharing

Sharing of experience takes place during structured events like weekly NGO field visits, and training reviews conducted by AME, monthly / quarterly review meetings between AME and NGOs, Participatory Technology Development (PTD) reviews with farmers and NGOs, regional PTD farmers meets across the three states, and Groundnut and Cotton Working Groups and field days.

Innovative Capacity

Evidence has begun emerging about the transfer of learning taking place among farmers. Perceptions and experiences gained by farmers through PTD and Farmers Field School (FFS), as in the case of bio pesticides and inter cropping systems have found a wider acceptance and application. As a result, they now more firmly resist the pressures from pesticide dealers and money lenders to go back to their old practices of expensive input use. They are moving towards improving the bio diversity on and off the farms, being aware that natural biological balances are helpful in farming.

Diffusion of new Technologies and Processes

AME identifies three kinds of adopters of technologies – primary adopters or participants, secondary adopters reached through extension and tertiary adopters reached through natural diffusion. The outreach is estimated on the basis of impact study conducted, and information shared by partners.

The impact study conducted in Raichur provides some useful insights into the spread of technologies validated through PTD processes. There are differences in the extent of spread of technologies in groundnut, cotton and paddy, possibly related to the over-all profitability, risk involved and the socio-economic situations.

Groundnut as a cash crop, is grown by resource poor farmers. The spread of LEISA technologies in groundnut is about 1:3. In the case of cotton, where there is a strong perceived need for cost reduction, the spread is up to 1:7 inside PTD villages, and 1:3 outside. In case of paddy, since the expected results from alternative technologies are very good, with farmers mostly in the small farmer category, the spread is almost 1:10. It is noted that, socio-economic conditions in the village play an important role to this spread process.