GREEN initiated the formation of Janadhanya, an association of farming community members who are empowered to work collectively to conserve agrobiodiversity, provide market linkage for farmer produce and promote organic farming, among many other objectives. They carry the movement for sustainable agriculture forward at a grassroots level. Registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1960, Janadhanya was established in 2006 with a handful of members keen to take the movement forward while consolidating community involvement. Today, it comprises of nearly 650 members, 285 of which are women. Currently, the association is active in the Kanakpura area on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Who makes up Janadhanya?

‘Jana’ in Janadhanya means people and the people of the community make up this farming association. An average five to seven villages comprise what is called a cluster. Representatives of these clusters, who are either nominated or voted in, make up the Board of Directors (BOD) of Janadhanya. Currently, the BOD comprises of 13 members, 5 of whom are women. In order to involve all sections of a community, GREEN also facilitated the formation of Village Development Committees (VDCs). These VDCs, especially unique in that they aim to remove all barriers of caste, religion and gender, meet once a month in order to discuss issues related to organic farming. In many ways, VDCs, Self Help Groups and individual farming households form the smallest functioning unit of Janadhanya society. The number of representatives from each cluster is determined based on the number of SHGs and VDCs present within it.

Chosen representatives of the society meet regularly to monitor, evaluate and carry out the various objectives of the association in conjunction with their communities. They are responsible for the dissemination of information to clusters as well as decision making in the association.

Objectives of Janadhanya

Promotion of organic and sustainable farming is one of Janadhanya’s most important objectives. To this effect many training programs are conducted which educate farmers on the various methods and benefits of organic farming. Practices such as the SRI method for dry land paddy cultivation are encouraged.

Empowering women through various training programs and bridging the gender gap by raising awareness of their role in agriculture is also a key objective. Alternate income generating programs which strengthen the economic security of farmers are initiated through Janadhanya. Read more on income generation schemes.

Market linkage for seed and produce from the local community is provided by Janadhanya. The society is also responsible for monitoring the functioning of community seed banks. These seed banks are at the core of each community’s efforts at biodiversity conservation and, therefore, a crucial aspect of the association’s work. Read more on seed banks. Seed procurement from individual farmers is also an important objective. Janadhanya ensures seeds meet the association’s procurement conditions, which have been put in place so that seed purity is maintained.

Janadhanya in the future

Establishing seed banks in others areas in an effort to conserve indigenous seed varieties is one of the biggest aims of this farmer’s association. Not only do these seed banks give the community easy and free access to seeds, but also form sites for the conservation of biodiversity. This type of ex situ conservation taps into farmers’ potential as custodians of biodiversity while aiding the evolutionary process of crop adaptation through careful seed selection.

Programs on organic farming that aim to educate farmers on sustainable practices are also in the pipeline for the future. Through these, the association hopes to increase the number of farmers taking up organic farming as a way of life. Improving market linkage is another important area of Janadhanya’s future plans. This will provide farmers with an easy means to sell their produce, thereby strengthening their economic security. Through all these initiatives and many others, Janadhanya aims to build strong, mutually beneficial network of relationships within farming communities that will benefit future generations to come.