DCM Shriram Ltd – Sugar Business empowers sugarcane farmers to conserve 299 billion litres of water in 2 years via Meetha Sona CSR initiative

DCM Shriram Ltd – Sugar Business today announced the successful conservation of 299 billion litres of water in the last two years under its flagship sustainable sugarcane cultivation initiative Meetha Sona certified by Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow.

What is Meetha Sona?

The company has been training farmers of Hardoi & Lakhimpur Kheri district on water use efficiency. The company collaborated with Solidaridad and International Finance Corporation to improve sugarcane cultivation in the catchment area of Sugar Mills of DCM Shriram Ltd. The Company helped growers to adopt and scale-up improved agronomic practices such as trash shredding, mulching, composting, laser levelling and trench planting – enabling farmers to save approximately 299 billion litres of water between FY2019-20 and 2020-21 under its ‘Meetha Sona’ project covering 2250 villages and 225,000 sugarcane farmers and trained them on water-efficient agricultural practices.

Under ‘Meetha Sona’, DCM Shriram Ltd – Sugar Business works with the agricultural community in Hardoi & Lakhimpur Kheri, UP to enhance the capacities and knowledge of farmers towards sustainable sugarcane cultivation.

Conserving water

The impact assessment was undertaken by the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow – an apex sugarcane research organization affiliated to ICAR. Earlier, 275 billion litres of water was assessed to be saved from 2016 to 2019 – bringing the total amount of water conserved in the last five years to 574 billion litres, in the catchment areas of DCM Shriram Sugar factories.

Roshan Lal Tamak, Executive Director & CEO – Sugar business, DCM Shriram Ltd said: “As a socially-responsible company the farmers have been trained on the best agricultural practices and water-efficient methods of production – enabling them to save 299 billion litres of water in the last two years compared to 275 billion litres saved in the three years earlier. It is heartening to note the positive impact and growers have also perceived value in the training provided leading to the adoption of good agri-practices.”

Dr A D Pathak, Director, Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow said, “DCM Shriram Ltd has been actively promoting sustainable agronomic practices in the sugarcane crop of their catchment areas. This has resulted in conserving 574 billion litres of water in the last five years which has been verified by the scientists of our Institute. We truly believe that such initiatives are important to fulfil the long term goals for sustainability and climate change and these should become industry benchmarks.”

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