PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Sugarcane farming in Uttar Pradesh has long relied on traditional, multi-generational practices like multi-bud seed sets, narrow row spacing and heavy urea application. While once effective, these methods now contribute to declining productivity, higher susceptibility to pests and disease and stagnating yields. In this scenario, 18-year-old Winchester College student Yash Sawhney stepped in with an idea few would expect from someone his age. In 2023, he founded Project 101 (Ek Sau Ek) to strengthen sugarcane productivity and socio-economic resilience across rural communities in Bulandshahr. What began as a small initiative with 100 farmers across 26 villages has since expanded to 1,000 farmers in 45 villages, reflecting growing trust, demonstrable results and rising demand for science-backed farming support.
The idea for this initiative took shape earlier during Sawhney’s research project, ‘Agricultural Interventions in Sub-Tropical India for Optimised Sugar Cane Cultivation & Farmer Empowerment: A Case Study’. “During my extensive fieldwork in Bulandshahr, I noticed that very simple, accessible interventions like trench planting, balanced nutrient management and integrated pest management could dramatically change yield and income. But most farmers lacked the knowledge, material support and technological access required to adopt it. That gap stayed with me,” he said.
He created Project 101 to bring practical, affordable, scientifically grounded solutions directly to farmers while respecting and preserving indigenous agricultural wisdom.
At its core, the initiative is equipping farmers with techniques that improve crop performance and reduce costs while enabling sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture. Through hands-on training, farmers are introduced to trench planting with 4-feet row spacing, which encourages better tillering and also creates space for intercropping pulses and vegetables, creating an extra source of income. Furrow irrigation has reduced water usage by approximately 30 per cent, while bio-compost and mulching have improved soil organic carbon and reduced crop-residue burning.
“Across our project plots, we have seen clear and consistent gains. Single-bud planting has led to nearly 30-70 per cent savings in seed material, while germination rates have improved from about 40 per cent in control plots to 70-76 per cent, resulting in an 8-15 per cent increase in millable cane count. Crops in project fields were 11-23 per cent taller and 5-9 per cent thicker in girth, with farmers reporting stronger tillering, better cane maturity and noticeable reductions in insect damage and Red Rot,” Sawhney said.
These improvements, combined with lower input requirements, have already translated into meaningful cost savings. Yield and sucrose data, currently being collected from mid-January to February, are expected to further confirm the strong performance observed so far.
Along with improvements in farming practices, Project 101 also focuses on strengthening rural livelihoods more broadly.
Sawhney said, “In partnership with Haqdarshak, we help farmers access government schemes, subsidies, healthcare and other essential services. We have also developed and shared educational materials, pamphlets on sustainable farming with more than 200,000 farmers. Our bilingual myth-busting booklet has been distributed to 5,000 farmers and accessed digitally by nearly 200,000 through the Sugarcane Farmers App, enabling widespread dissemination of verified scientific information.”
Today, as the initiative continues to grow, it is contributing to a larger effort to future-proof Indian agriculture – one where knowledge, technology and community partnerships work together to deliver lasting improvements in yield, income and resilience.
