One district, one site, and the most specific land position in our portfolio. A 30 acre Centre of Excellence at Kadma village, built to prove one thing on hard dryland ground: invasive biomass removed, turned into biochar, returned to the soil as a bio-input, with 2,500 acres treated around the hub over five years.
Where we work in Rajasthan
| Area | District | Institution or partner | What is happening there | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kadma village, Jhallara Block | Salumbar, formerly part of Udaipur | SLRD with Vistaar Agrotech and Global Association of MSMEs | Centre of Excellence for Biochar, Biofertilisers, Agroforestry and Restoration on roughly 30 acres across two parcels totalling 12.52 hectares, owned by board members of SLRD and dedicated to the initiative. | Under setup |
| Kadma village | Salumbar | Partner farmer producer organisation in the district | Integrated land restoration and rural enterprise unit built around productive use of Prosopis juliflora and lantana, covering biochar, biofertiliser, essential oils, land restoration and eco-conservation. | Preparatory |
| Treatment area around the hub | Salumbar | SLRD | 2,500 acres of dryland treated over five years, combining soil, water and vegetation work, with an agroforestry and native species nursery to replant cleared ground. | Planned |
| District level | Salumbar | District administration | Presentation made to the District Collector. Land use conversion under process. | Under process |
Centre of Excellence for Biochar, Biofertilisers, Agroforestry and Restoration
The centre sits at Kadma village, Jhallara Block, Salumbar district, on roughly 30 acres across two land parcels totalling 12.52 hectares. The land is owned by board members of SLRD and dedicated to the initiative, so no purchase or acquisition is involved.
Southern Rajasthan carries the combination the centre is designed for. Degraded and eroded dryland, thin soil organic carbon, heavy Prosopis juliflora and lantana infestation, a large tribal population and thin local processing capacity. Every one of those is an input to the model rather than an obstacle.
- Removes invasive biomass from village common land and degraded ground, and converts the material into biochar
- Produces biochar based biofertilisers using a patented circular manufacturing system, supplied first to farms in the treatment area
- Runs an agroforestry and native species nursery to replant cleared ground
- Treats 2,500 acres around the hub over five years, combining soil, water and vegetation work
- Trains farmers, field technicians and enterprise teams, and functions as a demonstration site for state departments and research institutions
- Carries an integrated biochar, biofertiliser and essential oil unit as part of the same cluster
No photograph Nothing photographed. See the shoot brief at the foot of this page.
How the work is structured
SLRD leads the initiative and carries community mobilisation, restoration and training. Vistaar Agrotech brings the patented processing technology. The Global Association of MSMEs develops agriculture and agroforestry enterprises in the district. One farmer producer organisation in the district is connected to the work, and the operating partner arrangement follows the ownership rule used at every other site.
Why a Centre of Excellence rather than another unit
The six field clusters prove the model works in one place at a time. The Rajasthan centre exists so the method is taught, tested and handed to others. Soil trials, feedstock trials, species trials, training batches and demonstration plots run on the same 30 acres, which makes the results transferable to any dryland district facing the same combination of degraded soil, invasive cover and thin household income.
An honest note on this page
This page is shorter than Northeast India and Madhya Pradesh, because the work here is one site at an early stage. A ten crore rupee commitment on land already dedicated is a serious position, and describing the position briefly and precisely serves a reader better than padding the page to match the others.