During the period of 2014 to 2018, 14,034 farmers ended their lives. that is almost eight farmers per day. The reasons for the same can be attributed to the debt the farmers had incurred because of unsustainable farming practices. According to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), 6,268 farmer-suicide cases were registered in Maharashtra from January, 2011 to December, 2014. During the subsequent four years (2014 - 2018), the number of suicides almost doubled to 11,995. Unsustainable agriculture practices are not only making the farmers indebted - due to the rising costs of necessary inputs such as labor and other farm related expenditures - but is also decreasing the productivity of the farmer, also causing disastrous damage to our environment.

Chandrashekhar Bhadsavle Ji, son of Satyagrahi Shri. Haribhau, took inspiration from his father and came to India and started innovative farming at Dahivali, dist. Raigad. His father started Saguna Baug but Shri. Chandrashekhar ji raised Saguna Baug to a status where it has become a household name. His dream was that every farmer should have dignity, which gave birth to the concept of Krishi Paryatan (Argo Tourism). Bhadsavle ji was the first one in India to demonstrate how Krishi Paryatan can work to uplift the rural farmer by becoming a sustainable and thriving alternative to traditional farming. Saguna Rural Foundation’s (SRF) main mission is to develop rural India for which the team of SRF, under the immaculate guidance of Shri. Chandrashekhar ji Bhadsavle, is working along with farmers for their upliftment and betterment, with its major focus on research, education and extension of agriculture, essentially targeting their capacity building for sustainability and doubling of farmers income.

The foundation has come up with a revolutionary technique called Saguna Regenerative Technique (SRT) - which is a new method of rice cultivation (also assists in related rotation crops) without ploughing, puddling and transplanting of rice seedlings on permanent raised beds. SRT represents a revolution in conservation, zero-till method of agriculture. Farmers using SRT have proven that the method arrests top soil erosion, promotes natural production of earthworms while dramatically increasing organic carbon of the soil, directly increasing the productivity of the land, enabling the farmer to prosper and thrive because of his agro methods. Permanent raised beds used in SRT facilitate ample supply of oxygen to the root zone area while maintaining required optimum moisture conditions.

The SRT iron forma facilitates planting of crop in predetermined appropriate, precision spaced gaps, enabling precise plant population per unit area, targeting and resulting in increased crop production. Saguna Rural Foundation (SRF) is currently engaged in extensive research to automate and improve the iron forma tool. By eliminating puddling and the need to transplant rice, the rice crop doesn’t have to depend on consistent and/or timely rainfall. In today’s increasingly volatile climatic and weather patterns adversely affecting the natural environment, SRT ensures the resilience of the crop. This is achieved because SRT is climate-smart and regenerative agricultural method. In addition to being beneficial for the soil and the farmer, SRT has provided a viable and significant solution to the world’s mission of carbon sequestration. Saguna Rural Foundation (SRF) has been able to objectively demonstrate that planting cover crops on agricultural lands using SRT is easily possible. In addition to SRT, Saguna Rural Foundation (SRF) is actively engaged in research in various fields impacting rural India, the climate and the success of the farmers. The Foundation grants loans, scholarships, awards and other financial assistance to promote its mission.

The foundation also routinely conducts training and extension programs that are specifically designed to increase awareness of its innovative techniques and scale its reach within rural India. These programs routinely are focused on empowering scholars, research workers, lecturers, teachers, poor and needy farmers.

At present, the Saguna Rural Foundation (SRF) is financially supported by Rama Purushottam Foundation, Pune, and by generous friends and relatives. It has one managing director and four trustees. The Saguna Rural Foundation’s team is rapidly increasing with every passing year. At this very point of time, the SRF team consists of more than 10 agricultural graduates, few Masters in sustainability domain, being guided by more than 45 years of professional experience of Shri. Chandrashekhar Bhadsavle.

SRT has significant positive impacts on farmers, environment, soil, and water, along with multiple other benefits. It is one of the only techniques that sets up a win-win scenario for everyone. Following are few key benefits of the technique.

• SRT directly reduces the inputs considered pre-requisite in crop cultivation methods; exponentially positively influences the productivity of the soil and the crop, enabling the farmer to realise his/her actual potential by enhanced capacity building techniques, adopted under SRT, which directly result in doubling of farmers income.
• SRT directly reduces the inputs considered pre-requisite in crop cultivation methods; exponentially positively influences the productivity of the soil and the crop, enabling the farmer to realise his/her actual potential by enhanced capacity building techniques, adopted under SRT, which directly result in doubling of farmers income.
• Because SRT does not need the farmer to engage in ploughing, puddling, transplanting and hand hoeing, the farmer’s cost of production is reduced by almost 40%. The elimination of transplanting reduces an additional approximate 50% of the farmer’s labour.
• Soil quality is substantially improved because of SRT which essentially eliminates puddling, preventing the loss of valuable silt. Thus, more fertile land is retained by the farmer and can be better handed over to the next generation.
• Leaves of rice plants on SRT beds seem to be broader and grow substantially higher and upwards to gain more sunlight than their counterparts in conventional method. They are, hence, likely to produce more biomass - resulting in higher yield.
• SRT eliminates the need for hand hoeing. This reduces hard-work and loosening of uppermost layer of soil, making it resilient to erode.
• Because of the preservation of the biomass and the natural fertility of the soil being high, SRT reduces the need for fertilizers substantially.
• SRT involves the strategic and focused use of general purpose systemic weedicide to trigger and accelerate the decay of the plant remnants post - harvest. This results in remarkable earthworm growth, that feed on decaying plant parts and enrich the soil with natural fertilizers. The earthworms also result in the soil being aerated. SRT protects the soil, the microbiome, along with the environment, while simultaneously proving to be a financial success for the farmer.
• The traumatic shock caused to the rice seedlings during transplanting is eliminated in SRT. This reduces the possibility of pest & disease prevalence during the growth stages of the crop.
• SRT saves the time required for soil tilling between two crops. Also, SRT rice crop matures and is ready for harvest 8 – 10 days earlier than the rice crop grown with the use of traditional methods. This leaves valuable 10 – 15 days of crop season for the farmer enabling him to take more than one crop in the same plot in a year.
• Due to excessive water in low - lying plots, removing of harvested paddy from the plot for drying can be avoided with SRT raised beds.
• SRT yields a higher percentage recovery of grains during milling of the paddy.
• SRT eliminates the use of heavy agricultural machinery for tilling in field, which prevents compaction and formation of hard pan of lower strata of soil, enabling better percolation of water into deeper soil and permanent presence of earthworms.
• SRT farmers have realized higher returns (more than ₹ 5,00,000 per hectare per annum) with crop rotation such as Basmati Rice (PS-5) in Kharif, leafy vegetables in Rabbi, Bold Groundnut (W-66) in Summer, for example, with other possible combination of crops used for rotation.
• SRT is the optimal solution in natural calamities such as hailstorms, floods, cyclones, untimely rain-storms, etc. because the crop cycle is shortened and it involves multiple choices of short-term rotation crops such as pulses, vegetables, onions, sun-flower, groundnuts etc.
• Recovery of damaged soil due to lashing, scrubbing and natural calamities can be accelerated by SRT as is proven by observation and research.
• SRT’s elimination of all tillage and puddling, drastically reduces diesel consumption, and therefore decreases the resulting emission of carbon dioxide and other GHGs over thousands of acres of paddy cultivation. Also, SRT being aerobic method of rice cultivation, prevents methane generation. Reduction in carbon dioxide and methane have a direct positive impact on Global Warming. Because SRT does not need the farmer to engage in ploughing, puddling, transplanting and hand hoeing, the farmer’s cost of production is reduced by almost 40%. The elimination of transplanting reduces an additional approximate 50% of the farmer’s labour.
• Soil quality is substantially improved because of SRT which essentially eliminates puddling, preventing the loss of valuable silt. Thus, more fertile land is retained by the farmer and can be better handed over to the next generation.
• Leaves of rice plants on SRT beds seem to be broader and grow substantially higher and upwards to gain more sunlight than their counterparts in conventional method. They are, hence, likely to produce more biomass - resulting in higher yield.
• SRT eliminates the need for hand hoeing. This reduces hard-work and loosening of uppermost layer of soil, making it resilient to erode.
• Because of the preservation of the biomass and the natural fertility of the soil being high, SRT reduces the need for fertilizers substantially.
• SRT involves the strategic and focused use of general purpose systemic weedicide to trigger and accelerate the decay of the plant remnants post - harvest. This results in remarkable earthworm growth, that feed on decaying plant parts and enrich the soil with natural fertilizers. The earthworms also result in the soil being aerated. SRT protects the soil, the microbiome, along with the environment, while simultaneously proving to be a financial success for the farmer.
• The traumatic shock caused to the rice seedlings during transplanting is eliminated in SRT. This reduces the possibility of pest & disease prevalence during the growth stages of the crop.
• SRT saves the time required for soil tilling between two crops. Also, SRT rice crop matures and is ready for harvest 8 – 10 days earlier than the rice crop grown with the use of traditional methods. This leaves valuable 10 – 15 days of crop season for the farmer enabling him to take more than one crop in the same plot in a year.
• Due to excessive water in low - lying plots, removing of harvested paddy from the plot for drying can be avoided with SRT raised beds.
• SRT yields a higher percentage recovery of grains during milling of the paddy.
• SRT eliminates the use of heavy agricultural machinery for tilling in field, which prevents compaction and formation of hard pan of lower strata of soil, enabling better percolation of water into deeper soil and permanent presence of earthworms.
• SRT farmers have realized higher returns (more than ₹ 5,00,000 per hectare per annum) with crop rotation such as Basmati Rice (PS-5) in Kharif, leafy vegetables in Rabbi, Bold Groundnut (W-66) in Summer, for example, with other possible combination of crops used for rotation.
• SRT is the optimal solution in natural calamities such as hailstorms, floods, cyclones, untimely rain-storms, etc. because the crop cycle is shortened and it involves multiple choices of short-term rotation crops such as pulses, vegetables, onions, sun-flower, groundnuts etc.
• Recovery of damaged soil due to lashing, scrubbing and natural calamities can be accelerated by SRT as is proven by observation and research.
• SRT’s elimination of all tillage and puddling, drastically reduces diesel consumption, and therefore decreases the resulting emission of carbon dioxide and other GHGs over thousands of acres of paddy cultivation. Also, SRT being aerobic method of rice cultivation, prevents methane generation.
• Reduction in carbon dioxide and methane have a direct positive impact on Global Warming.

Chandrashekhar ji has had to persist through economic adversity in inventing and scaling SRT. When Chandrashekhar ji started the SRT project, he did not have sufficient money for implementing the program in the whole district. He started this program from his village. After some time, the program spread to various places in the Raigad and Thane district. Along the way, some individual donors helped the project to develop. Sadly, the organization is not receiving enough support for its work. He has been able to spread this noble project to 13 districts today only and is facing problems in its further expansion due to the lack of donor and donor - support. This lack can be attributed to the remarkable success of this technique and a lot of donors seeing it as “too good to be true”. The Foundation continues to campaign for donors and generate objective evidence of the techniques’ efficacy to increase donor support.

The second key challenge faced by SRF is the non-acceptance of SRT demonstrated by the farmers citing uniqueness and ‘’to good to be true’’ characteristic of the technique. Also agricultural universities have stayed aloof from this technique. At the same time the technique has not received whole hearted support from the government and it's agro related authorities. The fact remains true to this day that simplicity is always hardest to explain and to follow. They are used to farming in the traditional ways. This creates a mindset which is not ready to accept change, even though the technique is easy and simple to follow. More than training on the technicalities of the techniques, Chandrashekhar Ji has to put in a lot of effort and time to explain to new farmers that the success of this technique is actually true. People don’t believe SRT can work is because the technique doesn’t involve jargons and gadgets.

SRF needs more sevaks and machinery to propagate SRT. It needs more funds to be able to setup a “try it before you commit” model for farmers which will reduce the risk of adoption for the farmer. SRF also needs to invest in appropriate mechanization of the seed dibbling and combined - harvester equipment in order for the technique to become attractive to mid to large size farmers. This will also essentially eradicate the straw burning and related environmental problems of Punjab and north-western farmers. The SRT Sevaks and Chandrashekhar ji Bhadsavle are giving SRT training free of cost. The sewaks are working in 15 districts of Vidarbha, Konkan, Wester Maharashtra regions of the state of Maharashtra. This technique is easy and cheap. It is the need of the hour in Marathwada and Vidarbha which are the most vulnerable parts of Maharashtra. They have started giving training to foreign farmers also. The practice is thus easily replicable. It has made the farmer independent, happy and confident about their profession. It has already been replicated from 30 farmers in 2013 to more than 2000 farmers in 2018. According to many stalwarts, SRT will revolutionize agriculture in the world! This program is the need of the hour for farmers worldwide, especially India. Some renowned scientists, worldwide, are visualizing SRT as one of the best carbon sequestration models which might enable farmers and the NGO to earn incentives.