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Sustainable Agriculture and Livelihoods
School for Sustainable Futures

Overview

At the School of Sustainable Futures, we empower communities by promoting sustainable agricultural practices that boost productivity, conserve resources, and support equitable livelihoods. Through innovative agricultural technologies and livelihood-centric solutions, we aim to foster resilience, ensuring communities are equipped to thrive and face future challenges. Our mission is to create long-term value that enhances both environmental sustainability and economic growth, building resilient communities for generations to come.

25

Resilient Communities

27

Community Trainings

36

Projects

1.51

Million USD Funding

54

Publications

34

Researchers

Research Areas

Tribal Empowerment Through Validation of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge in Agriculture

Dr. Sudheesh Manali, Dr. Iniya Kumar, Dr. Raji P.
Funded By: SEED

Sustainable Agriculture Practices and Food Security Among Small and Marginal Farmers in Rangayana Koppalu Village, India

Mr. Douglas Marowa, Dr. Manoj P.
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Challenges and Constraints in the Adoption of Organic Farming in India

Mr. Habanyati Estone Jiji, Dr. P. Sivaraj
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Community COVID Resilience and Resource Centers

Dr. Maneesha V Ramesh
Funded By: DST

Unraveling Pathways to Climate Resilient Agricultural Adaptation Strategies Among Smallholder Farmers in Rural India

Ms. Juliet Angom, Dr. Viswanathan P. K.
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Optimizing Time of Planting in Rice Crop: An Integrated Modeling and Field Experimentation Approach

Mr. Masoud Barati Kakolaki, Dr. Soundharajan B.
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Assessing Current Challenges and Countermeasures in Post-Harvest Management of Farm Produce Among Small-Scale Farmers in Rural India

Mr. Muganyizi Jonas Bisheko, Dr. Rejikumar G.
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Value Addition to Underutilized Plant Products Through Phytochemical Analysis

Ms. Amabile Manianga, Dr. Chinchu Bose, Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Will be updated.

A Study on Occupational Vulnerability, Migration, and Resilience Among Tribal Groups in Madhya Pradesh

Mr. Bernard Attah Otu, Dr. Angan Sengupta
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Design Strategies, Systems, and Platforms for Technology Adoption of Solar Lemongrass Distillation Unit to Ensure Inclusive Sustainable Livelihood

Mr. Aroun Clément Baudouin-van Os, Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

A Study of Applying Drone Technology in Fisheries Communities for Sustainability in Rural Kerala

Mr. Lukambagire Isaac
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Ocean Net Blockchain

Mr. Mojtaba Enayati
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Poverty and Mental Health: Understanding the Vicious Cycle in Rural India

Mr. Ogbonna Amarachi Onyeyirichi
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Solar Automated Versatile Repellent System, Harirampura, Rajasthan

Ms. Niloofar Abed
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Agricultural Risk Management for Resilience: Challenges and the Way Forward for Farmer Producer Organizations in Chhattisgarh

Owen Chiweshe
Funded By: E4LIFE, Amrita

Enhancing Multi-Crop Cultivation Through IoT and ML-Based Land and Climate Suitability Analysis

Ms. Lekshmi G. S., Dr. Aryadevi R. D.
Funded By: DST WISE Fellowship

Research Initiatives

Community Outreach Programs

  • Kitchen Gardening
    • Conducted training sessions for women members on kitchen gardening
    • Seeds are distributed along with kitchen garden manuels
    • Farmer’s diary is also distributed to each member to account the harvest
  • Mushroom Farming
    • Conducted training sessions for women’s self-help groups in Odisha to empower them in mushroom cultivation
    • A typical mushroom farming unit consists of 150 beds, with each bed producing 200-300 grams of mushrooms per harvest
    • For three harvests, a single bed can yield a total of 750-1000 grams
  • Women Empowerment: Lemongrass Oil Extraction
    • The women members were trained to extract the oil
    • The curriculum was framed as per their requirements
    • A post-evaluation is conducted to understand the knowledge level of the trainees compared to the pre-evaluation using the same set of questionnaires
    • They scored higher marks, indicating their knowledge level after the intensive hands-on training sessions
    • The increase in their knowledge level is greater than 70% compared to the pre-evaluation test

TAG Members

Dr. Maneesha V Ramesh
Dr. Maneesha V Ramesh

Provost & Dean, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Dr. Debapriya Dutta
Dr. Debapriya Dutta

Adjunct Professor, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures

Dr. Sudha Arlikatti
Dr. Sudha Arlikatti

Professor & Research Head, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures

Dr. Sruthy S.
Dr. Sruthy S.

Assistant Professor & Academic Coordinator, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures

Renjith Mohan
Renjith Mohan

Program Coordinator, Live-in-Labs, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures

Dr. Remya S. N.
Dr. Remya S. N.

Assistant Professor, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures

Dr. Sajithkumar K. J.
Dr. Sajithkumar K. J.

Assistant Professor, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures

Collaborating Faculty Members

Dr. Ramachandran V. S.
Dr. Ramachandran V. S.

Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, Coimbatore

Dr. Viswanathan P. K.
Dr. Viswanathan P. K.

Principal & HoS, School of Business

Dr. Viswanathan P. K.
Dr. Viswanathan P. K.

Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Coimbatore

Dr. Aryadevi R. D.
Dr. Aryadevi R. D.

Assistant Professor, Amrita center for Wireless Networks and Applications

Publications

  1. Angom, J., Viswanathan, P. K., & Ramesh, M. V. (2021). The dynamics of climate change adaptation in India: a review of climate smart agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Aravalli district, Gujarat, India. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 3, 100039.
  2. Abhinav Reddy, K., Sanjana Reddy, D., Ranjani, Y., Palivela, S., Sagar, B., & Soumya, M. (2022). Assessing Appropriate Technologies for Sustainable Irrigation Practices in Muljipura Village, India. In Smart Trends in Computing and Communications: Proceedings of SmartCom 2021 (pp. 345-355). Springer Singapore.
  3. Douglas Marowa (2021), Need for sustainable solution: Environment, rural agriculture and food security affected by electronic waste pollution of streams and Sakubva River, V20, N2, P25-39
  4. Cornet, S., & Barpanda, S. (2021). Exploring social innovation through co-creation in rural India using action research. Social Enterprise Journal, 17(2), 240-259.
  5. Baudouin-van Os, A. C., & Ramesh, M. V. (2022). Analysis of Long-Term Sustainability Challenges & Optimization of Solar Thermal Lemongrass Essential Oil Extraction Systems. 2022 IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech), 8–15. https://doi.org/10.1109/SusTech53338.2022.9794167
  6. Angom, J., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2022). Contribution of National Rural Employment Guarantee Program on Rejuvenation and Restoration of Community Forests in India. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 5, 91.
  7. Enayati, M., Lekshmi, S. S., Toby, T., Prabhu, M., Rahul, K. P., Parvathy , S., & Ponnekanti , S. (2022). Blockchain-based location sharing in 5g open ran infrastructure for sustainable communities. In A. K. Nagar, D. S. Jat, G. Mar ́ın-Ravent ́os, & D. K. Mishra (Eds.), Intelligent sustainable systems (pp. 571–585). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
  8. Lukambagire, I., Bhavani, R. R., and Lieres, J. S Von. (2022). Aerial Drone use for Sustainable Development in India–A Content Blog Analysis. 2022 IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech), 31-38, doi: 10.1109/SusTech53338.2022.9794169
  9. Oberoi, A., Bandla, S., Mohan, H., Basavaraju, S., Bhattacharjee, S., Raparthi, S., … & Cornet, S. (2022). ICT-based enhancement of employment schemes: a case study in rural Uttarakhand, India. In ICT with Intelligent Applications: Proceedings of ICTIS 2021, Volume 1 (pp. 643-651). Springer Singapore.
  10. Vishnu Priya, P. S., Frey, L. M., Chinmayi, R., Mohan, R., Lalith Prakash, E., Anne Rose, S., … & Vidhya, S. (2022). Exploration of technology-driven income sources for an agricultural community in West Bengal, India. In IOT with Smart Systems: Proceedings of ICTIS 2021, Volume 2 (pp. 541-550). Springer Singapore.
  11. Habanyati, E. J., Paramasivam, S., Seethapathy, P., Jayaraman, A., Kedanhoth, R., Viswanathan, P. K., & Manalil, S. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture sector: Survey analysis of farmer responses from Kerala and Tamil Nadu States in India. Agronomy, 12(2), 503.
  12. Barati, M. K., Manivasagam, V. S., Nikoo, M. R., Saravanane, P., Narayanan, A., & Manalil, S. (2022). Rainfall Variability and Rice Sustainability: An Evaluation Study of Two Distinct Rice-Growing Ecosystems. Land, 11(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081242
  13. Bisheko, M. J., & Rejikumar, G. (2023, March). A study on farmers’ perceptions about the scope of the Kisan Suvidha App in improving agricultural sustainability. In 2023 Conference on Information Communications Technology and Society (ICTAS) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.
  14. Bisheko, M. J., & Rejikumar, G. (2023). Major Barriers to Adoption of Improved Postharvest Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia: A Systematic Literature Review. World Development Sustainability, 100070.
  15. Barati, M. K., Manivasagam, V. S., Soundharajan, B., & Manalil, S. (2023). Rice cultivation and water sustainability in peninsular India : Examining the challenges of climate change through extreme rainfall events with the Markov chain approach. In Modeling and Mitigation Measures for Managing Extreme Hydrometeorological Events Under a Warming Climate (1st ed., Vol. 14). Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-18640-0.00002-X
  16. Marowa Douglas and Manoj P. (2023). Forest policies pertaining to the formation of protected areas. A case study of Nagarhole National Park and eviction of the tribal people. Journal of Namibian Studies, 34(2023): 6249–6275 ISSN: 2197-5523 (online).
  17. Hasan, N., Pushpalatha, R., Manivasagam, V.S. Arlikatti, S., Cibin, R. (2023). Global Sustainable Water Management: A Systematic Qualitative Review. Water Resources Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-023-03604-y
  18. Douglas Marowa, Manoj Pokkiyarath, Pozhamkandath Karthiayani Viswanathan & Sudheesh Manalil. (2023). Role of sustainable agriculture practices towards food security and livelihood in India. International Conference on Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (ICEABT).
  19. Douglas Marowa, Manoj Pokkiyarath, & Pozhamkandath Karthiayani Viswanathan. (2023). The Nexus Between Sustainable Agriculture Practices, Food Security and Climate Change in India: A Review . Migration Letters, 20(S1), 181–202. Retrieved from https://migrationletters.com/index.php/ml/article/view/3571
  20. Raji Pushpalatha, & Gangadharan, B. (2023). Climate resilience, yield and geographical suitability of sweet potato under the changing climate: A review. Natural Resources Forum, 1– 14. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12309
  21. Angom, J., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2022). Contribution of National Rural Employment Guarantee Program on Rejuvenation and Restoration of Community Forests in India. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 5, 849920.
  22. Angom, J., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2023). Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices and Technologies in India and South Africa: Implications for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihoods. In The Palgrave Handbook of Socio-ecological Resilience in the Face of Climate Change: Contexts from a Developing Country (pp. 161-195). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
  23. Angom, J., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2023). Irrigation Technology Interventions as Potential Options to Improve Water Security in India and Africa: A Comparative Review. 15(23), 16213.
  24. Muganyizi J. Bisheko, Rejikumar G, Damilola Ibirogba & Steven Kikonyogo (2023) Traditional grain storage methods: An exploration of their contribution to the sustainability of Indian agriculture, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 9:2, DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2023.2276559
  25. Kanyagui, Martin Kofi et al. “Livelihood Challenges Faced by Women in Rural India: Exploration of Solutions Using Participatory Action Research.” Development in Practice: 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2023.2285251.
  26. Abed, N., Murugan, R. and Manalil, S. (2023). Optimizing Synergistic Combinations of Adaptive IoT-based Animal Repellent Systems for Sustainable Agriculture in Rajasthan, India. Agricultural Science Digest. DOI: 10.18805/ag.D-5887
  27. Angom, J., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2023). Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices and Technologies in India and South Africa: Implications for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihoods. In The Palgrave Handbook of Socio-ecological Resilience in the Face of Climate Change: Contexts from a Developing Country (pp. 161-195). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore
  28. Enayati, M., Arlikatti, S., & Ramesh, M. V. (2024). A qualitative analysis of rural fishermen: Potential for Blockchain-enabled framework for livelihood sustainability. Heliyon.
  29. Bisheko, M. J., & Rejikumar, G. (2024). Mitigating Postharvest Losses: A Policy-Driven Approach to Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania. Scientific African, e02119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2024.e02119
  30. Pranavan, V. M., Aakash, S., Balakrishnan, S., Sai, V., & Cornet, S. (2023, October). Integrating Technology, Local Knowledge, and Participatory Approach: Real-time Detection System for Mitigating Human-Animal Conflicts in Rural India. In 2023 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 217-224). IEEE.
  31. Isaac, L., Baker, M., Bhavani, R. R., Yildiz, M. A., & Remya, S. N. (2023). Relevance of Data Analytics in Fisheries: Unveiling Insights for Sustainable Management-A Systematic Literature Review.
  32. A. Sadanand, R. Pushpalatha, V. Dubey, K. Sankaranarayanan, Y. Velankar and N. Pavithran, “A Systemic Approach to Understanding Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Rural Odisha, India,” 2023 IEEE 11th Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference (R10-HTC), Rajkot, India, 2023, pp. 1071-1076, doi: 10.1109/R10-HTC57504.2023.10461863.
  33. Manianga, Amabile, et al. “Examining underutilized jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) seeds as a potential source of human subsistence in the Byse community, India.” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 8 (2024): 1377076.
  34. Barati, M.K., Soundharajan, B. and Reza, M. (2024), “Environmental and Sustainability Indicators Simulation of climate-adaptation responses to rainfall variability on rainfed yield anomalies”, Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, Elsevier Inc., Vol. 22 No. December 2023, p. 100411, doi: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100411.
  35. N.Abed.(2024).Navigating the Challenges: The Crucial Role of Sensors in Advancing Precision Agriculture and IoT-Based Sustainability. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 11 (3), h97-h102.
  36. Pushpalatha, R., Roshni, T., Gangadharan, B., Kutty, G. 2024. Computer-Aided Crop Yield Forecasting Techniques – Systematic Review Highlighting the Application of AI. Environ Model Assess. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-024-09978-6
  37. Isaac Lukambagire, Baker Matovu, Amabile Manianga, Rao R. Bhavani, & Anjana S,. (2024). Towards a collaborative stakeholder engagement pathway to increase ocean sustainability related to marine spatial planning in developing coastal states, Environmental Challenges, 15, 1-24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2024.100954. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010024001203)
  38. Isaac Lukambagire, Agrah T, J. Sophie von Lieres, Baker Matovu, and Rao R. Bhavani, (2024). Fishermen’s attitudes towards drone use for sustainable fishing in a coastal community in Kerala, India: An exploratory qualitative study, Sustainable Futures, 7, 1-14 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2024.100225 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188824000753)
  39. Attah-Otu, B., Sengupta, A., & McAleavy, T. There and Back Again: Dynamics of Temporary Labour Migration, Insights from Rural India. Frontiers in Sociology, 9, 1422602
  40. Anand, S., Enayati, M., Raj, D., Montresor, A., & Ramesh, M. V. (2024). Internet over the ocean: A smart IoT-enabled digital ecosystem for empowering coastal fisher communities. Technology in Society, 102686.
  41. Manianga, A., Bose, Ch., Sreeraj, S. (2024). Sustainable applications of phytochemicals and nutritive components derived from selected underutilized seeds: A review. Acta Sci. Pol. Technol. Aliment., 23(1), 87–122. http://doi.org/10.17306/J.AFS.001204
  42. Enayati, M., Lukambagire, I., Manianga, A., Attah-Otu, B., Baudouin-van Os, A., Sabarinath, S., & Ramesh, M. V. (2024). Navigating sustainability and resilience: A collective case study of four Indian communities. Environment, Development and Sustainability.
  43. Enayati, M., Gudimetla, P., and Arlikatti, S. (2024). Blockchain Technology as a Tool to Make Supply Chains More Resilient and Sustainable. Operations and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.
  44. Pushpalatha, R., Gangadharan, B., Thendiyath, R., & Kutty, G. (2024). Potential distribution of rice thrips (Stenchaetothrips biformis) in India under changing climate. International Journal of Pest Management, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670874.2024.2410179
  45. Harisankar, R., RT, A. S. R., & Arlikatti, S. (2024). Utilization of Participatory Rural Appraisal Techniques for Housing Condition Evaluation for Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Earthen Dwelling. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 559, p. 04005). EDP Sciences.
  46. Assare-Mokwah. E & S. Arunkumar (2024) Application of human-centered design principles to wearable exoskeletons: a systematic review, Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2024.2415433
  47. Habanyati, E.J., Paramasivam, S., Seethapathy, P. & Manalil, S. (2024). Assessing Organic Farming Adoption in Selected Districts of Tamil Nadu: Challenges, Practices, and Pathways for Growth. Agronomy.
  48. Marowa, D., Manoj, P., Viswanathan, P. K., & Manalil, S. (2024). Tribal rehabilitation and its impacts on land use changes, food security and sustainable livelihoods: a case study in South India. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2024.2420449
  49. Der Tambile, E., Ramachandran, V.S., Rajendrakumar, S., Ramesh M., Ramaswamy, J., & Ramesh, M.V. (2024). Rural livelihoods sustainability in South Asia and Africa: a systematic review with bibliometric analysis. Discov Sustain 5, 410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00651-2
  50. Abed, N., Kakolaki, M. B., Ramesh, M. V., Sankarannair, S., Murugan, R., Soundharajan, B. S., & Pushpalatha, R. (2025). Assessing farm-level agricultural sustainability in India: A comparative study using a mixed-method approach. Agricultural Systems, 224, 104223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104223
  51. Der Tambile, E., Pushpalatha, R., & Ramachandran, V. S. (2024, October). Potential Geographical Distribution of the Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus and its Impact on Food Security: Prediction Based on Modelling Using Climatic Factor. In 2024 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 36-43). IEEE.
  52. Ejigu, D., Pushpalatha, R., Jayaprakash, K. S., Gangadharan, B., Himanshu, K. S., & Gopakumar, Sh. (2024). Integrated Fertilizers for Sustainable Wheat Production to Improve Food Security- A Comprehensive Review. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.202400213 
  53. Attah-Otu, B. (2024). Surviving the Shadows: Armed Conflict Exposure and Forced Displacement Experience of Cameroonian Refugees in Southern Nigeria. Int. Migration & Integration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-024-01212-2
  54. Hasan N, Pushpalatha R, Manivasagam VS, Arlikatti S (2024). Wheat streak mosaic virus: transmission, its impact, and crop protection strategies—a systematic review. Journal of plant diseases and protection. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-024-01012-x

Spotlight Project

Kitchen Gardening and Nutritional Security in Rural India

Kitchen Gardening and Nutritional Security in Rural India

Developing a model village focused on kitchen gardening and nutritional security in Kuruvakurdha village, Raichur, Karnataka…
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