Cross-cutting India project to address smallholder farmer incomes, malnutrition and starvation, bioplastics and biofuels -- and begin to create a value chain and economic ecosystem.

1. A Collaborative, India-Based, Small Scale Producer (SSP) Smart-Agribusiness Project
1. Executive Summary:
The scope of this two-year demonstration project will enable SSP farming optimization across India
through ICT; bring one of the most climate/nutrition-smart crops to those in need – Orange Flesh
Sweet Potatoes and their Edible Leaves -- and demonstrate the conversion of the crop to food
innovations plus the conversion of crop damage and food processing wastes to biofuels and
bioplastics. The states to be supported will be Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
The challenges addressed will include: 1) low productivity driven by lack of access to information and
services; climate change, weather variability and pests and diseases; and 2) lack of access to and
choice of market and offtake options. Solutions will also address barriers to adoption of digital farmer
services, such as low language and digital literacy, the cost of services and devices and, in particular,
gender gaps and other potential downsides of ICT (e.g. growing digital divide) – by equipping, training
and proving to all stakeholders the impact of ICT through increased yields, incomes and profits.
This project will address starvation, malnutrition, poverty, inclusion, economic development and
environmental stewardship in locations across India via optimized, smart farming of Orange Flesh
Sweet Potatoes and their Edible Leaves. Including through efficacious mid-day meal production.
2. Goals And Rationale (Contingent on Govt. Providing Access To Seed/Slips As Expected):
 Introduce and advance the Orange Flesh Sweet Potatoes and their Edible Leaves as a most
efficacious dual-food crop that will deliver cross cutting benefits for consumers and society and
multiple income generation opportunities for SSPs
 Help launch newly government-approved OFSP variety(ies); develop its scope through propagation
of seeds, slips/vine cuttings and tissue culture; and prove the crop’s nutritional and economic
impacts (Farmers can only engage in OFSP farming and sales of government-approved product.
Importantly, the crop’s significant propagation characteristics can enable scaling, but it will require
aggressively testing, scaling, refining and managing all facets of propagation strategies.)
 Test and prove out new agribusiness processes and technologies that can ultimately be scaled to
benefit smallholder famers and communities across India and globally
 Develop food innovations –- from sweet potatoes, their edible leaves and the combination of leaves
and potatoes, for Mid-day meal alternatives -- in a manner that tests and documents the nutritional
impact, cost efficacy and appeal of the innovations. This will also enable dietary diversity plus use
of healthy greens in particular, and the combined crop’s nutritional merits will enable wellbeing
 Prove out the OFSP’s tremendous propagation wherewithal, which will help meet the identified
global need for more “seeds” to affect greater world-wide feeding capacity. OFSP has been
deemed a top crop for feeding the forthcoming 10 billion population, and FAO projects its average
yield could increase from 8 T/HA to 85 T/HA. Benefitting from and documenting the propagation
process impacts will necessitate running the project for a full two years
 Capture and demonstrate utilization of crop damage and food processing wastes from OFSPs and
convert this needed biofeedstock into bioethanol, biohydrogen and bioplastics. This can be a key
solution for the global commitment to reduce fossil fuel use in energy, apparel, packaging, etc.
 Demonstrate that converting processing wastes to valuable product will also alleviate related
environmental burdens and costs typically associated with OFSP, converting a negative to a positive
 Demonstrate these multiple crop uses can generate incremental income for farmers plus establish
new value chains that will create multiple jobs and much-needed economic development for Indi
 Document the dual food crop’s environmental efficacy -- including least water footprint, low GHGs,
carbon capture, and post-processing environmental impact and cost mitigation
 Lift and optimize crop yields through use of smart farming technology proven across the EU; bring
the IT value to smallholder farmers; and help close the digital divide with greater inclusion in
technology uses. This technology will affect smarter irrigation, disease and pest mitigation via

2. decision logic and other ICT related functions, using such technologies as sensors, Drone as a
Service and satellite images typically reserved for more established farms
 Prove improved water efficiency and environmental impacts of solar-powered, precision drip
irrigation compared to current electric or diesel generation-fed broadcast irrigation and establish
crop-per-drop metrics critical for water stressed areas, now increasing across India and worldwide.
A key goal of this project: by enabling the crop’s non-food potential, this can result in engaging entities
not yet addressing SDGs for poverty, hunger and wellbeing but wanting to secure 2nd
generation
biofeedstock. This would bring resources to help achieve the goals. This project will prove impacts and
document processes essential for scaling through more smallholder farmers across India and globally.
In total, the variety of uses from OFSP and Leaves presents new opportunities for farmers to receive
increased incomes and communities to build and benefit from related post-harvest ecosystems.
Beyond the scope of this project, but from a long-term farmer value creation and economic impact
perspective, the crop damage and processing waste can also support beverages, lithium-ion battery
anodes and pharmaceuticals for malaria and pneumonia, as noted below:
This project will address 11 SDGs and counter COVID-19 increases in starvation and poverty by
advancing an efficacious, rapidly propagating crop trusted globally for starvation relief and offering:
 top-ranked calorie and nutrient production per hectare
 considerable nutritional value across both tuber and edible leaves
 significant sources of biofeedstock from crop damage and food processing wastes
 multiple product innovation opportunities across multiple sectors
 significant income generation potential to improve farmer livelihoods
 new ecosystems and jobs for community economic development and government tax revenues
 sustainable: water efficacy, GHG efficiency, carbon sink performance, fertilizer/pesticide reduction
3. Design, Scope and Approach o Expert-Recommended Food System Transformations
Given COVID-19 repercussions, experts are advising that a holistic food system transformation will be
needed to address pressing needs. COVID-19 surfaced major vulnerabilities and disruptions in the
food system and health efforts -- as well as what’s being described as a human rights failure wherein
many farmers who work hard to feed us can’t afford to feed themselves or their families. Experts have
called for and articulated how to affect a transformation to build back better. These experts include
participants in COVID-19 conferences run by WEF/DAVOS, Business Fights Poverty, Rockefeller-
EAT, FAO-GAIN, and Food & Land Use coalition.
Impacting SSPs and 11 SDGs – in a foundation for the future
This project will affect an ICT-enabled, collaborative, cross-cutting SDG strategy focusing on the
Orange Flesh Sweet Potato and its Edible Leaves as a foundational ‘starter crop” that can deliver
immediate cross-sector gains and provide the impact (and payback) needed for scaling, as well as set
a foundation for expansion of smallholder farming ICT strategies into other crops and holistic impacts.
This foundational OFSP and Leaves “starter crop” has been recognized as a starvation relief crop, but
it can also bring many other cross-sector impacts that address 11 SDGs across food and beverage
innovations, biofuels/bioenergy, bioplastics, pharmaceuticals and more.
This -state, 2-year project will involve, prove out and document the following strategic impacts
 Affecting gains across starvation, poverty and economic development while also addressing water
crises management and climate-smart and nutrition smart agricultural goals. This project will also
help reduce fossil fuel products with biomaterials and ecosystems for bioplastics and biofuels

3.  Advancing the most efficacious dual crop of sweet potato and leaves -- with highest nutritional
impact-per-acre, highest nutrient density/least water footprint, relatively low GHGs, carbon sink
capacity, ability to produce higher yields organically than via traditional farming (156% higher),
incredible propagation wherewithal for scaling and improving average yield from 8 T/HA to 80 T/HA
 Developing a Mid-day meal program, proving nutritional lift and cost efficacy vs, current offering
 Testing conversion of crop damage (e.g.: 30% - 35% of harvest per FAO) and food processing
waste (20% - 25% of processing) as “2nd
generation” biofeedstock for bioethanol, biohydrogen,
bioplastics (PHA/PLA), to create ecosystems for jobs and community economic development and
to reduce dependency on fossil fuel by addressing the current shortfall in biofeedstock
 Testing and documenting the impacts of Smart Farming IoT/Decision Support proven in the EU to:
o help poor SSPs lift yields and improve farming efficacy with reduced climate impacts
o Increase farmer incomes and farm profitability while reducing crop risk
o optimization of tubers/leaves by maximizing propagation and leaves w/o compromising tubers
 Testing and documenting impacts of smart solar drip irrigation to affect/prove out continuous
farming impacts, significant propagations, increased yields, reduced water and GHG consumption,
reduced fertilizers and improved SSP revenues and profitability, enabled by smart irrigation, in a
way that can justify and foster new SSP business models to relieve SSPs of irrigation costs upfront
 Testing advanced, smart farming IoT and crop decision support for risk mitigation, higher yields,
reduced inputs, environmental impacts, revenue lift, and profitability improvement – such as Drone
as a Service and use of satellite imagery – for business models that make ICT available to SSPs
 Testing aggressive propagation of leaves increased supply of edible greens (amid far-too-little
greens consumption globally) and as an efficient means of multiplying crops and production of
tubers and greens, including enabling needed seed beds for equipping multiple farm sites
 Development of collaboration/partnership dashboards and KPI metrics for documenting impacts of
various smarter farming strategies and contributions from partner solutions -- including irrigation,
fertilizer and pest mitigation services and value chain activities pre-, during and post-harvest
 Pursuit of significant food/beverage innovations using both potatoes and leaves, as single products
(potatoes or leaves) and mixed products (leaves and potatoes), advancing a shift to healthy eating
 Development of market-making services to build consumer adoption and revenue sources
 Natural resource management comparing productivity in water, fertilizer, pesticides to other foods
Work components across four sites with 2 acres each:
1. 2 acres trial in each of the location with tests of each variety
2. Comparison of seed/vine cutting and raised plants
3. 1 acre undisturbed following suggested agronomic practices:
a. 1 acre of land for testing
b. ½ acre – removing leaves for various purposes (determining what % of leaves and at
what stage they can be removed for optimal impact)
c. Nutritional analysis of leaves at different stages of development
d. If there is any decline in the nutritional content during storage of leaves
e. ½ acre of land for developing agronomic practices taking into account NRM.
4. Harvesting
b. Weight of each tuber (range/average)
a. Calculate % of damaged tubers
c. Work to establish market acceptability. Also, preference for the tuber size
d. Post-harvest management of value chain
e. Nutritional analysis at harvest and then at weekly internals until the stage it’s consumed
f. Assess main components such as immunity boosters and define them
g. Assess climate efficacy across GHGs, water/crop-per-drop metrics
5. Determine sales price at the farm gate
6. Explore the market with retail chains such as Big Basket, Mother Dairy; Reliance Fresh, etc.
7. Processing for potential use in the Mid-day meal program -- explore combined leaves and
tubers for soup, chipati, etc. Leverage the development to also check market potential amid:

4. a. Farmers, local market, potential players who are planning to enter into health food
8. Potential for Bioplastic (test and develop both PLA and PHA/PHB/PHBV)
9. Potential for Biohydrogen and Bioethanol
10. Develop value chains requirements
11. Develop the Tissue Culture protocol including the possibility of micro/mini tuber production for
easy supply of clean, high-quality planting material.
12. Work with NIN and Institute of Public Health & Hygiene to identify in which states and areas
the OFSP will be most beneficial in reducing malnutrition
13. Comparing all these parameters with already accepted crops (in terms of acceptability as food
and thus marketing) relative to Potato and Sweet Potato.
14. Questionnaire to be developed, circulated and executed for checking attitude of public – with
free distribution of samples – including but not limited to
a. .Test multiple plant varieties (final # TBD, contingent on Govt. provision of seed/slips)
c. Are the agronomic practices well developed? If not, determine best agronomic practices
d. Prove precision agriculture for the benefit of SSPs and their communities: irrigation,
drone as a service, satellite imaging, decision analytics for water, fertilizer and pest
management and documentation of lift of farm yields with calculated P&L/ROI, nutritional
impact, market adoption and pricing, conversion of crop into bioenergy and bioplastics, etc.
15. Supporting designing ICT contributions and leveraging PSNC IT for viable SSP application:
a. Process improvement, exploiting propagation via calendaring of notifications and actions
b. Smart ag efficacy of water, fertilizer, pesticides via controlled irrigation, drone as a service,
satellite data, crop-specific decision support, etc.
c. Measure and leverage of impacts -- OFSP, leaves, crop damage, and utilization for value
of crop, input ROI/income, etc. – providing attribution of contributions of partner inputs
4. Organization Capabilities And Collaboration (See page 5):
This will be managed by The Energy & Resources Institute, India; Poznan Supercomputing &
Networking Center, Poland; International Potato Center, Peru; and Lifestyle Management, Int. USA
5. Enable Scaling And Sustainability
At the conclusion of this project, findings will be packaged for SSP and Community insights and
adoption of practices, and for education on the efficacy of OFSP and Leaves as a nutritional and
income generating dual crop, on agroeconomic best practices and their ROI, on market-making, and
on conversion of crop damage and processing wastes. Furthermore, recommendations will be made
for scaling this effort. Critical findings will be shared throughout the project and a report will be issued
at the end of the project. Scaling support will include the following goals:
o Educate communities, SSPs and government on OFSP/Leaves’ value in nutrition, health, diabetes,
job creation, immune systems, SSP incomes; sustainability, fossil-fuel replacement, bioplastics, biofuel
o Value ICT for Crop-Specific Smart Farming - IoT/Decision Support Services – configured for SSPs
o Leverage seed/slip/tissue culture supply sources -- seed beds developed through propagation
o Propagation understanding and aggressive pursuit of vine cuttings for seed beds and to have leaves
compromising growth of potatoes, using technology to test strategies for leaf and potato growth
o Vendor relationships built for food innovation/conversion across food and biomaterials conversion
o Community relationships/processes set for introducing nutrition innovations, e.g. Mid-day meals
o Share natural resource requirements and input/output improvements vs. baseline to prove value
o Processes established to enable the capture and conversion of crop damage and food processing
wastes into biofeedstock for incremental non-food products and revenues streams (replace fossil fuels)
o Create ICT-Enabled New Business Model of Farmer Support
• At minimum, illustrate representative revenue and profit earnings; Data to help secure SDG-17
blended finance to take burden off farmers upfront, recover costs at farmgate/post-harvest sale

5. CONSORTIUM
This Pilot Will Prove The Impact Of SDG 17 With Expert Collaboration Partners:
Poznan Supercomputing & Networking Center (PSNC), Poland, (www.psnc.pl) has developed and
deployed high-performance supercomputing resources for agribusiness collaborations, risk mitigation,
yield optimization and new business models. Poznan is bringing smart agribusiness ICT proven across
the EU to poor smallholder famers globally, including through the pursuit of new business enabled by
such provisions as Drone as a Service and dashboards for attribution of partner contributions. For
more than 25 years, PSNC has been addressing the challenges of overcoming barriers in scientific
research, by means of advanced cyber-infrastructure and innovative ICT technologies. In recent years
this goal has also been extended to the social dimension. Technological advances in areas such as
Big Data, IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality offer huge potential for applications related to
SDG objectives. Affecting partnerships with domain partners is extremely important to PSNC.
The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), India, (www.teriin.org) specializes in providing innovative
solutions for sustainable development, including with a specialization in agriculture. TERI has provided
considerable expertise and solutions in helping farming communities improve their livelihoods through
their products and practices. Of particular note, TERI not only brings considerable field experience
managing agriculture initiatives, this pilot will also leverage their existing competencies and networks
across sustainable agribusiness management and optimization, conversion of crop wastes into
bioplastics and biofuels and specialized knowledge in such areas as advanced, solar-powered drip
irrigation currently deployed across India. TERI was a co-author of India’s Food and Land Use
Collaborative/Better Futures recommendation calling for many of the propositions identified herein,
including irrigation and more efficacious crop selection. TERI has the experience to support Food and
Land Use Collaborative pilot recommendations and to address FAO identified crop and food waste via
utilization of unused material for bioenergy and bioplastics. Additionally, Department of Biotechnology,
GOI and TERI have established Center of Excellence on Biofuels and Bio-commodities.
International Potato Center (CIP) (https://cipotato.org/sweetpotato/) leverages decades of
specialized OFSP knowledge with expertise to support farmers, an entire agribusiness ecosystem and
communities. CIP brings OFSP development expertise – an example from work done in Malawi:
• Crop-specific farming support for location conditions
• Contributed to poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods through increased, diversified
production, stronger value chains, and improved market access.
• Collaborated with partners, community groups, value chain development consultants, bakery
• Team identifies, develops, and implements viable gender-sensitive agri-business and processing
• Supporting the multiplication of sweet potato planting materials through fostering local enterprises
• Teams support value-addition activities, such as production of sweet potato chips and other
cooked products for sale locally. Bakeries were encouraged/helped to conduct feasibility and
profitability studies, develop recipes and marketing, consult with consumers, and buy machinery.
• Engaged supermarkets via introducing puree for bread production replacing wheat imports
Lifestyle Management International (LMI) (www.lifestylemanagementint.com) is a specialist in
strategy innovation and execution management globally. LMI focuses on the UN SDGs and ESG –
including addressing materiality of averting disruption and assuring sustained growth through
innovation. LMI has developed strategies, innovations and marketing for the White House, leading
companies, and top business organizations -- including the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, the U. S.
Small Business Administration, The International Franchise Association, and an affiliate of the
Smithsonian Institution and their members and constituents. LMI has also partnered with its sister non-
profit organization, Global Institute For Transformation, (GIFT), to advance OFSP and Leaves and
related farming best practices across Haiti, Malawi and Philippines. LMI will manage the project scope
plus the further engagement of and reporting to all collaborating entities and funding organizations.

6. Budget:
Smart Farming Innovations for Small-Scale Producers In India
(Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh)
Year 1 Year 2* Estimated Budget
Personnel (including salary,
fringe benefits, tuition, or other
direct compensation)
a. Growing Crops – Farmers
b. Project/ICT Managers
c. Configuring/deploying ICT
d. Market-make (mid-day meal)
e. Convert damage/processing
waste to bioethanol/hydrogen
f. Convert damage/processing
waste to bioplastics PLA/PHA
a. 60,000
b. 80,000
c. 100,000
d. 40,000
e. 25,000
f. 25,000
a. 60,000
b. 80,000
c. 100,000
d. 40,000
e. 25,000
f. 25,000
a. $120,000
b. $160,000
c. $200,000
d. $80,000
e. $50,000
f. $50,000
T: $660,000
Capital Assets/Equipment
a. Solar Powered Irrigation
b. ICT Equipment
c. Drone as a Service
d. Storage units (x4)
e. Equipment to Produce Food
f. Equipment for Biomaterial
a. 30,000
b. 40,000
c. 120,000
d. 30,000
e. 25,000
f. 45,000
a. 30,000
b. 40,000
c. 30,000
d. 25,000
e. 45,000
a. 60,000
b. 80,000
c. 120,000
d. 60,000
50,000
e. 90,000
T: $460,000
Travel 20,000 20,000 $40,000
Supplies
Seeds/Slips/Tissue, Fertilizer
Consumables For Biofuels and
Bioplastics
60,000
40,000
60,000
40,000
120,000
80,000
$200,000
Other Expenses 60,000 60,000 $120,000
Indirect Costs (please review the
Indirect Cost Policy)
Total $1,480,000
*Year two only needed for scale-up grant category
Budget Narrative
The costs are for introducing a new crop with farming ICT, supplies, training, plus work and technology
to provide offtakes in food – including midday meals -- bioplastics and biofuels to bolster farmer
incomes, address malnutrition and starvation, and build an economic ecosystem.
For more information, contact:
Tim Maurer
President
Lifestyle Management International, Inc.
tim.maurer@lifestylemanagementint.com
1-402-212-7973