e-Choupal

Web-enablement of the Indian farmer through the e-Choupal digital infrastructure enables even small and marginalised farmers, who are de-linked from the formal market, to access relevant knowledge and agricultural extension services. This enables real-time price discovery and improvement in farm productivity and quality, making them more competitive in the national and global markets. Leveraging social capital through community involvement, the e-Choupal network currently benefits more than 4 million farmers through 6,500 internet kiosks covering 40,000 villages across 9 states.

Social and Farm Forestry Programme

ITC’s Social and Farm Forestry programme emerged in response to its Paperboards Division’s challenge to source cost-effective pulpwood from sustainable sources to enhance its competitiveness. Instead of taking the easier route of importing pulp, ITC innovatively leveraged its pulpwood requirements to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to poor tribals and marginal farmers, by assisting them to convert their private wastelands into productive pulpwood plantations. To ensure the commercial viability of these plantations, ITC’s R&D Centre at Bhadrachalam developed high-yielding, disease-resistant and site-specific clones. This programme ensures sustainability in three ways - (a) India’s forest resource base remains intact. With the beneficiaries using the loppings and toppings from plantations for their fuel wood requirements, the programme ensures that forests remain safe from such degradation; (b) Provides a sustainable livelihoods option for poor rural households; and (c) Supports our paperboards business by creating a sustainable raw material base.

Livelihoods creation on a significant scale, one of the main objectives of the programme, is clearly evident from the impressive number of beneficiaries and income generated. The programme has successfully generated employment and raised incomes in rural hinterlands – 35 million person-days of work have been provided so far. The repayment to the village sanghas to form the Village Development Fund has increased to Rs 67.39 lakhs.

Covering over 80,000 hectares to date, these plantations also bring significant environmental benefits by extending forest cover and restoring ecological balance. Their large potential for carbon sequestration has played the most vital role in making ITC a ‘Carbon Positive’ company.