BASF’s Vegetable Seeds Business wins CSR Impact Award in India

BASF’s Vegetable Seeds Business in India in collaboration with CINI (collective for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives) have been selected as the winner in the Category Livelihoods (Small) of the 8th CSR Impact Awards India, hosted by CSRBOX and Dalmia Bharat Foundation. 

Vegetable Seeds and CINI initiated a project with around 2000 small landholders on climate resilient farming in the remote pockets of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. The project is part of the sustainability commitment towards climate smart farming of BASF Agricultural Solutions in 2022 and part of the sustainability program of Vegetable Seeds. Our vision is to work with farmers to help them become more resilient in the face of volatile weather conditions due to climate change. Through climate smart farming, we seek to enable farmers withstand the effects of drought, heat stress and other adverse events to maintain high, high-quality, and stable yields.

The goal of the award-winning project in India is to integrate the tribal smallholders in the agricultural value chain, enabling them to realize profitable returns, be true agricultural entrepreneurs and improving the livelihood of their families and communities “in a climate smart way”. The idea is to “find answers together” and to create an irreversible impact for meeting the aspirations of the smallholders along with managing climate resilience aspects, such as soil and water management. Aware of the increased pressure on soil, the next step will be to introduce climate smart agriculture approaches and technologies with a focus on improving soil quality, replacing fuel-based irrigation system thereby reducing emission and cost of irrigation and bringing irrigation efficiency through drip irrigation. 

Hema Abichandani, Vice President Enabling Functions & Country Clusters, visited the project just two weeks ago and was impressed by the talks with smallholders: “A truly fulfilling visit in Odisha, India. Salute to the strong willpower, resilience and commitment of these farmers and entrepreneurs who have changed the landscape of their community, linking the vegetable value chain from seed to market generating sustainable income for many households.” 

Country Head Vegetable Seeds India Sushil Kaushik adds: “This Social engagement initiative has led to creating an irreversible impact through an Agro-ecosystem transformation and promoting inclusion of the tribal farmers into sustainable and commercial growers.”

The award ceremony was hosted on 15th November in New Delhi.