Since 2003, the Method of Organizing Rural Development and Ecological Rejuvenation (MOTHER) has actively driven the transition toward sustainable agricultural practices. The initiative prioritizes soil restoration, resource conservation, and ecological agronomy to rebuild long-term farm viability.

Core Sustainable Farming Practices Promoted

• Soil Fertility & Health Restoration: Application of Farmyard Manure (FYM) and bio-fertilizers, green manuring, legume-integrated crop rotations, and multi-cropping/intercropping systems.

• Conservation Agronomy: Contour ploughing, seeding across slopes, in-situ and brought-in mulching, vegetative barriers, and agro-forestry integration with fruit trees.

• Soil & Water Conservation: Systemic implementation of rainwater harvesting structures, watershed management, and soil-moisture retention techniques.

Key Project: Context-Specific Agroecological Advisories

Creating an Ecosystem for Capacitating Digitally Empowered Rural Youth to Scale Up Reach to Farmers

• Institutional Support: Supported by Welthungerhilfe under the GIZ-Innovation Concept Fund.

• Primary Objective: Develop, validate, and scale context-specific agroecological practices by deploying a digitally empowered, youth-led rural extension network.

• Operational Footprint: Implemented across 9–10 districts in collaboration with:

  • University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), GKVK, Bangalore

  • Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)

  • Extension Education Units (EEUs)

  • Local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Implementation Strategy & Key Activities

1. Application Optimization: Refinement and deployment of dedicated mobile applications delivering localized, crop-specific agroecological advisory services.

2. Capacity Building: Upskilling rural youth to act as digital agri-entrepreneurs who onboard farmers, facilitate adoption of sustainable practices, and streamline input procurement and preparation.

3. Sustainable Business Model: Establishment of an economically viable, scalable ecosystem creating shared value for farmers, youth facilitators, input suppliers, technology developers, and promotional agencies.

Project Milestones & Outcomes

• Project Duration: July 2022 to March 2023, with a 2-month extension to ensure thorough implementation.

• Geographic Scope: Operationalized across 9–10 target districts in Karnataka.

• Youth Capacity Building: Successfully trained 562 rural youth (against a target of 600) across 12 districts through intensive 3-day modules focused on CCM (Climate Change Mitigation/Crop Management) and CHM (Crop Health Management).

• Farmer Outreach: Mobilized trained youth facilitators to connect with and support 9,000 target farmers in adopting agroecological practices.

• Technical Integration & Onboarding: Directly linked trained youth with the Tene technical team for ongoing field-level support, seamless application installation, and advisory tracking.