Garkhindi is an interior village in Parner block of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, with 1280 population representing 256 households and 1375 ha land with agriculture as the main occupation. The average annual rainfall was 534 mm but due to scanty rainfall during the last 10 years, the villagers had to depend on water tankers for drinking water for about 3-4 months every year. Hence, a community based water management and ground water recharge in this river basin was initiated. Ghod River Revival project was initiated under Mission Sunhera Kal in 2015 which included soil and water conservation and its efficient use and sustainable agricultural production. The first step was community mobilisation, DPR preparation, micro planning, followed by river revival activities like cement check dams, repair of existing structure and sub surface barriers and recharge measures through farm ponds. Another important initiative was to promote sustainable agriculture through agri-horti- forestry and organic farming. The community was motivated right from the beginning for participatory implementation of the project thereby ensuring meticulous planning and designing, crop selection for improved agriculture and land development. Soil and water conservation was ensured through construction of stone bunds, gull plugs, contour trenches and water absorption trenches. Capacity building/awareness generation was ensured through community mobilisation camps, exposure and awareness meetings for the villagers and training of village watershed committees. Composting of farm residue was promoted by supporting 26 compost units. For encouraging conjunctive use of water, 12 micro irrigation units  were supported with 50% contribution from the beneficiary. With successful implementation, water storage capacity increased by 54540 m3. The village does not need water supply through tankers anymore. Improved cultivation of onion by using seedlings produced on raised beds, timely planting, drip irrigation and micro nutrient application, increased the yield by 22%. Revival of agriculture brought peace and prosperity to the village.

After her husband, a farmer, committed suicide, the responsibility of bringing up her two children came on Tarabai Baban Padol from Sonewadi Budruk village, Niphad,  Nashik, Maharashtra. She has three acres of land under irrigation with a well as her source of irrigation. Although agricultural production has been adversely affected during the current cropping season leading to distress among the agrarian community, she is coping well due to her involvement in the BAIF Navjeevan Project. Tarabai cultivates vegetables, wheat, gram and onion. She has taken grapes as a perennial crop for cultivation. She received support of trellis for grape cultivation and also installed the “Y” structure. She earned Rs.3 lakhs during 2016-17 and Rs.5.50 lakhs during 2017-18, making her a happy person who is able to support her family.

In early 1980’s, when Dr. Manibhai Desai, Founder of BAIF, proposed to promote Orchard Development for rehabilitation of Scheduled Tribe families in South Gujarat, all the tribal  families having one acre, were invited, provided they were willing to give up consumption of alcohol. Out of thousands, only 42 families came forward and Babanbhai was one of them. Today, he has developed over 15 acres of mango orchard on barren land newly purchased from his income from the old orchard and built a lavish cattle shed to expand his dairy business with home-born crossbred cows. He has built a new 3 storied bungalow adjoining his wadi with a modern kitchen. His granddaughter is appearing this year for final year of MSW degree. Babanbhai is earning Rs.25000 to Rs.30000 per month from sale of milk and hence the dairy animals maintained by him have proved to be an asset. He is also earning Rs. 70000 to Rs. 80000 per year from sale of his mango crop from his earlier wadi plantation which has led to the prosperity of the family and enabled them to invest in gold as well.

Babulal Dayal from Kaukheda village in Barmer, Rajasthan, was a rag picker. In 2013, he joined the BAIF-CAIRN Wadi project and planted 150 plants of ber, gunda, pomegranate, lemon, budded khejri and Apple ber on his degraded land. Realising the problems of unsafe pesticides, Babulal adopted vermicompost application. He developed a combination of jaggery, chick pea flour, desi cow dung, cow urine and sand of Vat Vriksha, known as Jeevamrit for spraying on the plants. He also developed a liquid mixture of butter milk and copper which was decomposed for seven days and sprayed as a pesticide. Presently, every ber plant is yielding 30 kg fruits and 150 plants in a season, yield 4500 kg fruits, fetching Rs. 90,000 per season. Gunda plants are expected to fruit in the near future. He has also received a buck of Sindhi breed, which was used for breeding services to local goat keepers, enabling them to produce over 450 improved kids over the last 4 years. Babulal is no longer a rag picker. Instead, he now serves as a Master trainer for KVK and other Government agencies. He has developed his own library of books and documents on agriculture to enrich his knowledge.

Dan Singh, a 65 year old man from Manner Malla village in Patti district of Uttarakhand, practiced traditional farming on open terraces of rugged mountainous terrain. He was often confronted with hail storm, heavy rainfall, intense heat and incidences of pests and attack by wild animals. During an interaction with the villagers, the BAIF field team, realising the opportunity to transform the quality of life of villagers like Dan Singh, promoted poly house technology in the village. Dan Singh constructed a poly house on his farm. Plant protection measures were provided in convergence with Krishi Vigyan Kendra Lohaghat. With a total project support of Rs. 30,000 and intensive training, Dan Singh tasted success with tomato and capsicum raised in the poly house. His total income was Rs. 33,250 while his total expenditure amounted to Rs. 9000 enabling him to earn a net income of Rs. 24,250. Satisfied with the first harvest and price in the local market, he has been motivated to take up cultivation of minor spices twice a year. The demand for poly houses is on the rise in this village.

Chhabeli Devi is a marginal farmer in Gopalichak village, Dharhara, Munger district of Bhar. She had approximately one acre of land for cultivation. With her association with the TARINA Project, she was trained in vegetable cultivation and also attended an exposure visit to the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, Patna. She received technical inputs such as quality seeds, fertiliser, protective irrigation and guidance. She initiated vegetable cultivation on 0.25 acre of land under the supervision of BAIF Field Officer. Land preparation was taken up with the involvement of her family followed by sowing of okra, sponge gourd, bitter gourd and bottle gourd. She incorporated intercultural operations and was soon able to harvest her crop. Adequate intake of a variety of vegetables improved the nutrition pattern of the family. She was also able to sell 120 kg of okra, 20 kg of bitter gourd and 25 kg of sponge gourd in the weekly market and earn Rs. 4800. She now plans to extend her vegetable cultivation to one acre and motivate other women for food security and a secure livelihood.

To increase the income of small farmers, vegetable cultivation was promoted in Damaragidda mandal of Mahaboobnagar district, Telangana, covering 1173 farmers. Major interventions included supply of superior quality vegetables seeds at subsidised cost, guiding farmers to raise vegetable seedlings under shade net, promotion of good agronomic practices, renting of efficient farm equipment, guiding on erection of stakes, trellises and pandals for providing support to vegetable creepers and grading and packing of vegetables in plastic crates for transportation. These farmers formed groups for procurement of inputs, exchange of information and transportation of produce to the market.  The average area covered under tomato, brinjal, chilly, bitter gourd, okra, ridge gourd and beans was 0.48 ha (1.22 acre) per family. The post-harvest activities included establishment of five vegetable collection centres for grading, weighing and packaging. Seeds of superior variety vegetables increased the crop yield by 30-50%.  Wastage reduced from 15-20% to less than 5%. With grading and choice of better markets, farmers received 15-20% higher price. On an average, the net income per ha was Rs. 2.62 lakhs/year, a 100% increase over farmers cultivating these vegetables traditionally. These farmers have become role models for wider adoption of this method.

At first, Rangaina Koppalu village in Hunsur taluk of Mysuru district appears to be nondescript, but as one walks by its bylanes, one gets to see boards next to the main doors bearing the names of ‘Champion’ women. They are championing women empowerment and right agricultural practices, and are trained under Mahindra & Mahindra’s Prerna initiative.

The initiative, which was first launched in Odisha in October 2017 and later expanded to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, is positively impacting the lives of thousands of women farmers in partnership with Central Institution for Women in Agriculture, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, BAIF Development Research Foundation and NGO Pradhan.

In Karnataka, the initiative is carried out in two clusters, one in Mysuru and the other in Tumakuru.

Each Prerna cluster comprises 100 Champion women farmers, who in turn train 10 other women. Therefore each cluster covers 1,000 women.

The women are trained to use gender-neutral, easy-to-use farm tools such as battery sprayer, pedal-operated thresher, dry-land weeder, power thresher cum winnower etc, which reduces farm drudgery, increases farm productivity and thereby their income.

“Through Prerna, we aim to empower women farmers with the necessary opportunities, training and equipment to be better skilled and more productive in farming operations,” says  Rajesh Jejurikar, President, Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

From playing a secondary role — by weeding, watering, harvesting and threshing, as instructed by their husbands — these women are now decision-makers and financially independent.

“Earlier, we were ignorant and would blindly do what was told by our husbands,” says Mangala  Gowri, a 41-year-old champion farmer.

“But now, we have a good understanding of seed selection, the right time and method to sow, the way to water the crops, and manure application. In fact, we advise our husbands on farming,” Mangala Gowri says.

Mixed cropping

Resource persons from the agricultural department and NGOs take monthly sessions on different farm practices. Demo plots have been created for the practicals. They are even taught to prepare organic fertilisers and pesticides at home using locally available resources. The use of these eco-friendly solutions not only improves the soil quality but also saves a major portion of their income.

The farmers of Rangaina Koppalu, who were mainly cultivating tobacco earlier, have now adopted mixed cropping and are gradually switching to ragi (finger millet) and toor dal (pigeon pea) as the main crop along with avarekai (hyacinth bean), hesaru (green gram), yellu (sesame) and vegetables, which have improved their earnings.

“We were provided with better-quality seeds, using which we harvested 14 quintals of ragi per acre, whereas before we would harvest just eight quintals per acre,” says Roja Mahesha, a 25-year-old farmer.

The once-shy women are now confident and participate in gram sabhas, social meetings, and voice their opinions.

They are taken to krishi melas and agricultural institutes in different parts of the state, which has given them a good exposure.

“As we were confined to our homes earlier, we didn’t know the details of our farmland like its measurement and survey number. We weren’t aware of the agricultural department and the facilities we could avail,” says Shashikala Lokesh, a 38-year-old farmer.

“Most of us did not have proper documents either.” Now, they are well informed, get their soils tested and visit the panchayat office and agricultural department on their own.

The road ahead

“The programme will be implemented for a period of two years in each cluster, and we ensure that the women will be self-sustainable within this period,” says a project leader.

Beyond sessions on agricultural practices, sessions on health, hygiene and nutrition are in place to bring about a holistic development.

The initiative has also empowered these women digitally. They now use smartphones, are part of WhatsApp groups where they discuss agricultural practices, and know how to transfer money online. Mangala Gowri proudly shows the wristwatch she recently ordered online.