A start of a new partnership with the Government of Maharashtra, NGOs and Industries with the launch of the Maharashtra Cotton Water Platform

2030 WRG recently launched the Maharashtra Cotton Water Platform to enhance and de-risk the livelihoods of more than 500,000 cotton farmers by delivering coordinated solutions for sustainable agricultural practices and water security in the Marathwada and Vidharba regions of Maharashtra. High dependency on rainfall (87% farmers in Marathwada region), unsustainable water use (only 4% of cotton in the Marathwada and Vidharba area is irrigated) and low cotton productivity aggravated due to climate change is driving cotton farmers to suicide.

The platform addresses the present situation by convening key representatives of the government, private sector and civil society which includes a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra, and representatives from the state’s Water Resources Department and Water Conservation Department, Jain Irrigation, Syngenta Foundation, C & A Foundation, H & M, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, and WWF India.

The initiative seeks to integrate government schemes, on-farm technology and leverage market resources through the Public Private Partnership for Integrated Agricultural Development (PPP-IAD) framework, making cotton production more sustainable and enabling cotton farmers to be a part of the global sustainability initiatives in cotton.

Currently, the platform is creating a dynamic network of organizations active in Maharashtra in the cotton sector, sharing lessons and good practices for accelerated collective learning on ongoing initiatives and finalizing new initiatives at the farm, community and watershed level. The first formal Sounding Board Meeting was held in December 2015.