Jindal Stainless Foundation signs MoU with NABARD to increase farmers' incomes

The MoU is expected to positively impact 4 lakh farmers in two phases, spread over 5 years. As part of the MoU, JSF will partially fund and support the operations of NABARD and other implementing partners towards this end. The Foundation will also build necessary market and financial linkages for farmers in target states.

Presiding over the MoU signing ceremony, Ms Deepika Jindal, chairperson, Jindal Stainless Foundation, said: “The collaboration with NABARD is an extension of our MoU signed with the Odisha government last year. So far, in Odisha, we have already reached out to over 20,000 farmers through this intervention. We are essentially providing farmers with end-to-end solutions from soil testing and crop management to market linkages and promoting climate resilient technologies through partnerships.”

Brig Rajiv Williams, corporate head CSR, Jindal Stainless and Avinash C. Srivastava, chief general manager of the farm sector development department, NABARD, signed the MOU in the presence Deepika Jindal, chairperson, Jindal Stainless Foundation, Naresh Gupta, managing director, NABCONS, Aneesh Jain, director and founder, Gram Unnati, and Meera from UN International Fund for Agriculture Development.

The MoU will impact farmers in Haryana, Odisha, and other states of mutual interest.

Spearheading this initiative, JSF will strengthen farmer institutions such as Farmer Producer Organizations, Farmers’ Clubs and Self-Help-Groups promoted by NABARD to develop better market, input, and financial linkages. In turn, NABARD, through its various schemes, will extend complementary support to initiatives run by the JSF.

NABARD will also designate relevant individuals/teams at regional levels to assist in the implementation of the terms of MoU.

This association will therefore help create large-scale systems that will enable farmers to access high quality inputs such as better seeds and other agriculture-related technologies at reasonable and subsidized rates. The intervention shall assist farmers in crop selection, adoption of best practices and technical know-how, input linkages, accessing government schemes, and finally, market linkages.

Over the past few years, JSF has been at the forefront of change in Hisar and Jajpur with community centric projects on education, women empowerment and gender equality, employment generation and skill training, and disease detection and prevention drives to promote community healthcare.