BasmaSus

This project assessed the impact of organic Basmati rice management practices on the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of smallholder farms in northern India.

The proposed research is set in the context of an ongoing agricultural development project, aimed at improving the livelihoods of smallholders through the promotion of organic and fair-trade Basmati rice production in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Within this project, organic farming is considered to entail a broad spectrum of eligible agronomic management options, of which the suitability for Basmati rice production in the project area needs to be assessed. A field trial at a local university and participatory research with marginal and smallholder farmers has been established to test the agronomic performance of a suite of promising management options. In-depth research is, however, required for a more quantitative evaluation of the management strategies, including environmental, economic and social aspects. We plan the following work packages (WP):

WP 1) Quantify field-scale greenhouse gas emissions and major nutrient input and loss pathways for eight organic management strategies at the research trial.

WP 2) Quantify and compare farm-level resource flows (cash, labor, nutrients) upon adoption of different organic management strategies by using a bio-economic farm model with input data collected through farmer surveys and obtained from the field trial.

WP 3) Develop stakeholder-driven sustainability indicators and assess synergies and tradeoffs between the management strategies with respect to agronomic, environmental, and socio-economic sustainability dimensions at the farm level.

Outcomes of the project will directly benefit the farmers, the industry partners, and the extension specialists, while novel scientific methodologies in agricultural sustainability research are being tested and advanced.