ICICI Foundation's Initiatives on Environment

ICICI Foundation’s environmental initiatives are focused on water conservation, creating awareness of judicious water usage, prudent use of natural resources, and maintenance of the fragile ecological balance in villages.

Water Conservation

ICICI Foundation continues to work towards water conservation through impactful initiatives.

Harvesting Rainwater in Schools

In fiscal 2021, we had initiated rainwater-harvesting projects at over 300 schools across 14 states. We expanded the ambit of the project in fiscal 2022 to 2,000 schools in 21 states. It has led to savings of 50 million litres of water in the year which is equivalent to filling 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools. In addition to helping these schools to save water, we are also educating students about the benefits of rainwater harvesting.

As per estimates, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, when full, holds 2.5 million litres of water.

Watershed Projects

ICICI Foundation collaborated with local authorities to work on three watershed projects in the low rainfall receiving districts of Beed and Latur in Maharashtra. The initiative included river deepening, creation of percolation tank and repair of a canal gate. It benefited nearly 450 households having more than 1,400 acres of agricultural land.

It raised the water levels - from 10-18 metres to 78-83 metres - in 538 borewells and pumps. It also led to raising of the water level in 189 wells from 4 metres to 14 metres, ensuring drinking water supply throughout the year. Similarly, four watershed projects - one at Marathwada in Maharashtra and three in Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh - are underway.

Revamping of Canal Gate at Latur, Maharashtra

ICICI Foundation has revamped a canal gate at Dhanora village in Latur district of Maharashtra to retain water in the river Prerna. This initiative provides year-round drinking water to nearly 400 families and recharges nearly 100 wells and 75 borewells allowing farmers to now use 150 acres of land for irrigation, which was lying barren due to water scarcity.

Creating an Artificial Glacier in Leh, Ladakh

ICICI Foundation along with the local authorities created an artificial glacier that holds nearly 56,000 cubic metres of snow in winters. This glacier is located at 13,000 feet above the sea level which is 5,000 feet lower than its natural height. As a result, it melts earlier than the natural glacier and provides water to the villagers in April when they need it the most to sow their crops.

Rejuvenating Lake Alkoda, Raichur District, Karnataka

Alkoda Lake is the only major source of water for irrigation, recharging of borewells and feeding cattle at Arakera Hobli village in Raichur district, Karnataka. ICICI Foundation has cleared the aquatic weed and silt from the 24-hectare water tank that connects to the lake. The initiative led to the removal of 4,550 cubic metres of weeds and 230,000 cubic metres of silt. These were then provided to the farmers to use on their land. As a result of this initiative, the input cost has come down by ₹ 2,000 per farmer.

Reducing Water Consumption with Crop Substitution

ICICI Foundation has been working with farmers on crop substitution for saving water and helping boost their income. It has promoted crop substitution in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts of Karnataka, by persuading 1,600 farmers to shift to crops like turmeric that consume less water and thereby helping them to save money. The project reduced water consumption by 90%.

Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture

ICICI Foundation promotes Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) as a sustainable method of farming for enhancing productivity, income and reducing input costs. The World Bank defines CSA as an integrated approach to manage landscapes - cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries - that address the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change.

Deploying SRI and ADW Methods

ICICI Foundation is helping paddy farmers increase productivity through the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), popularly known as the Madagascar method. It is a comprehensive initiative for managing land, seed selection, water, nutrients, labour and capital. It involves planting of fewer and younger seedlings in a well-spaced out manner, using organic manure. ICICI Foundation has implemented the SRI method with farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

ICICI Foundation has also promoted the Alternate Dry and Wet (ADW) irrigation method for paddy cultivation in Mayiladuthurai district, Tamil Nadu to enable water saving. This is a water-saving technique involving intermittent or controlled irrigation instead of keeping the field continuously flooded. It reduces the water usage by 30% without any loss to the yield/crop.

So far, ICICI Foundation has worked with farmers to cultivate over 1,150 acres of land using SRI method and 1,250 acres using ADW method. These methods have led to over five billion litres of water savings.

Mitigating Air Pollution

In fiscal 2022, ICICI Foundation conducted 57 awareness camps for farmers and school students in 41 villages of Punjab to avoid the burning of paddy straw. With this intervention, over 5,100 farmers stopped paddy husk burning in nearly 10,880 acres of land. As an alternative, nearly 200,000 quintals of paddy straw was provided to a biofuel company for producing CNG. ICICI Foundation also provided machinery to the farmers to collect the paddy straw from the field. Resultantly, 15 villages declared themselves as a 'zero burning village'.

Boosting Yield with Organic Manure

Farmers of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh are engaged in extensive lemon tree plantation. There are about 70,000 farmers growing lemon trees across 80,000 hectares of land. ICICI Foundation is supporting the lemon farmers with organic manure by creating 560 vermicompost beds. Vermicompost has emerged as an excellent manure for enhanced productivity of lemon plants. Its higher nitrogen, phosphate and potassium content, coupled with its ability to improve soil structure and boost water-holding capacity, makes it beneficial for citrus trees. This intervention has helped the farmers increase productivity, save on fertiliser and the cost of pesticide.