←Bridge the Gap — Healthy Cities
S Vineeth Kumar
Paradox Bio-Energy
Chinthamani, Chikaballapura district · Karnataka · From February 2025, ongoing
Five farmers, five acres, four harvests of Napier grass. Seasonal crops on that land return around forty-five thousand rupees an acre a year. This is the trial that asks whether biomass beats it. It started a year ahead of the rest of the cohort and is still running.
20
Farmers engaged and trained
from February 2025
5 acres
Under Napier cultivation
from February 2025
4
Harvest cycles completed
from February 2025
~140 tons
Biomass harvested
across four cycles from February 2025
The work
Show farmers the biomass market
Napier grass as a crop with a buyer, not fodder nobody sells. What it yields, what it costs to keep, and who pays for it.
- Ran awareness sessions with farmers around Chinthamani
- Piloted cultivation with five farmers on about five acres
- Took four harvest cycles off the pilot plots
- Mapped land layout and irrigation and monitored soil through the cycles
- Trialled varieties and settled on Pangong-3 super Napier as the highest yielding
- Wrote daily harvesting procedures and began digestibility tests on the feedstock for biogas
What people said
A farmer on the pilot plots
“We were unsure in the beginning, but after seeing multiple harvests, we now believe this crop can give steady income.”
Chinthamani
A farmer on the pilot plots
“Napier grass grows well on our land and requires less replanting compared to seasonal crops.”
Chinthamani
The rest of the cohort
-
Bharuch · Gujarat
Anjali Choudhary
Maati Maange More
-
Mahuva, Dabhoi and Viramgam · Gujarat
Mansi Thakar Jani
Varso Jal Sanchay Initiative
-
Jabrella, Bharsaua and two further campuses · Uttar Pradesh
Palak Bajpai
Miyawaki Plantation Project
-
Peth, Bubnal, Mangle and Kuslewadi, Sangli district · Maharashtra
Shubham Dipak Gurav
Climate Resilient Agriculture Initiative, Integrating Agroforestry and Natural Farming
-
Jhala, Harsil Valley and Saini, Dunda block, Uttarkashi · Uttarakhand
Shubham Panwar
Women-Led Sustainable Mushroom Cultivation for Nutrition and Livelihood in Rural Uttarkashi
-
Bilaspur · Chhattisgarh
Swapnil Chaurasiya
Behavioural Nudges for Urban Climate Action: A Student-Led Solid Waste Management Model for Bilaspur City
-
Delhi
Taniya Gill
Rooted in Our Land: A Visual Toolkit on Native Plants and Climate Adaptation
-
Salmora and Karatipar, Majuli · Assam
Tanuz Kalita
Indigenous Youth Led Habitat Restoration for Climate Resilience in Majuli
-
Moradabad · Uttar Pradesh
Tawheed Zubair
ECONOVA (For Nature, For People)