First Anniversary Stock taking and Appeal for Funds

Dear fellow members and friends of Farmers First,

It is one year since our dream took the shape of an organisation. We
have achieved a lot, a lot remains to be done. Let me list a few of
our achievements:

1. We have created a conceptual base for promoting integrated and
sustainable agriculture. The Model Open Farm with its three sized
variants - small, medium and large - is at the heart of this
conceptual base. We are preparing the documents detailing the
techniques, economics and human resource implications of these
concepts in the light of practical experience. That would ensure that
the concepts are seen as practical and replicable by all our partners.

2. We have also created a string of relationships with scientific
institutes, acaedmic centers, corporations interested in bioresources,
bankers, NGOs farmers and lay persons interested in farming. We have
drawn a lot from these relationships - Institute of Himalayan
Bioresource Technology (IHBT) Palampur, National Dairy Research
Institute (NDRI) Karnal, BARC Mumbai, Sonalika Tractors, Sterling Agro
and HSBC to name a few and conversely our activities have given these
partners the hope that their plans and activities in the bioresource
sector in India are attractive and viable.

3. A number of our trainers have been trained in key areas of
integrated agriculture - medicinal and aromatic plant cultivation,
essential oils, organic farming, mushroom cultivation to name a few.
This allows us to begin training farmers in FFF's concepts and their
concrete application.

4. We have achieved a limited recognition through our outreach
activities including the website http://farmersfirst.ning.com as well
as our membership of the Confederation of NGOs in Rural India (CNRI).
I urge you to check the website occasionally to keep track of our
activities. There are some new pictures that you would love to see.
Please register as a member on the website, upload your own picture
and keep your profile updated.

5. Most importantly, our first Model Farm has been established at
Bilaspur village in Haryana, 65 kilometers from Delhi. Our motto is
'bin dekhe upje nahin aasa'. This farm allows us to claim confidentlly
that we practice what we preach and that what we preach is viable and
sustainable. Those of you who have not yet visited the farm please do
so as soon as you can. We especially welcome children, the next
generation of farmers and bioresource entrepreneurs.

However, I would be failing in my duty if I did not mention the
setbacks and the disappointments of the past year. This includes our
attempt to partner a company in building a medium sized dairy centered
Model farm at Sakhere. Nonetheless I believe that all stumbles, all
falls are important lessons and pointers from the God-force. Perhaps
She wants us to focus first on the five-acre, small sized Model Farm.
After all 85% of the more than 550 million farms in the world are of
that size. Our potential corporate partners, who have to worry per
force about financial viablity and marketing, also need to first
evaluate the viability of the smaller model before they contemplate a
larger replica. Finally we also need to be ready with the resources -
financial and human - as well as the documentation to be able to scale
up our operations and training.

This brings me to another important lesson. We have had to scramble in
midstream from a farm financed through a corporate partnership to one
financed by our internal resources and loans/donations in cash and
kind from our benefactors. This was not easy. The Foundation needs to
build a corpus of funds as it gets ready for the expansion ahead, in
particular for training. I would appeal to all of you, especially the
founder members, to donate generously. Your cheque-based contributions
would soon be tax deductible.

After some deliberation we have decided to suggest a sum of Rs 25,000
each as possible contribution by the founder members and other members
who wish to become involved in the core activities and decision making
of the Foundation. Some of us have already contributed at least this
much and Shri Nar Singh Dev has extended a generous loan. I would urge
others to do so and send your contributions to the Treasurer Shri
Amardeep Bhatia. I would also urge you to devote your time and skills
in helping us raise funds, make contacts, complete training
documentation and conduct training courses.

This is also an opportunity for me to thank wholeheartedly the
following individuals for their most valuable contribution, not in any
particular order of preference:

1. Dr Ahuja, Dr Anil Sood and their colleagues at IHBT Palampur; Dr
Stanislaus Desouza and his colleagues at BARC Mumbai, Dr Kamboj, Dr
Gosain and their colleagues at NDRI Karnal, Dr M Vishwanath at the
Biocenter in Bangalore and all the professionals we have met in our
travels these past months.
2. Shri Manu Malik, Shri Arun Monga, Shri Dileep and Shri C P Gahlaut
- for lending us 6 acres of land at Bilaspur for the first FFF Model
Farm. Apart from the land, they have also contributed Rs 300,000
toward the capital cost.
3. Shri Jitin Khera and his colleagues at HSBC for their ideas and
encouragement, for tying up some of the corporate sponsorships and for
financing the signboards at Bilaspur.
4. Shri Deepak Mittal, Managing Director, Sonalika Tractors for the
donation of a tractor to the Bilaspur farm.
5. Shri Kuldeep Saluja and Shri Sharad Saluja of Sterling Agro for
financing the purchase of cattle for the Bilaspur farm.
6. Shri Digvijay Singh Chauhan for helping us set up the website.

I look forward to seeing you on my return to India from Stanford in June 2009.

with best wishes for the holiday season and the New Year

Amandeep S Gill
Secretary General
Farmers First Foundation (NGO)
Telephone 91-9810173026
E-mail farmersfirst@gmail.com
URL http://farmersfirst.ning.com