Three years is a very short time in the history of any village, and it is generally considered very difficult to bring changes of durable benefit in such a limited period. Yet a project nearing completion in Jaitpur block of Mahoba district in Uttar Pradesh, covering about 50 villages, suggests otherwise. If efforts closely linked to the actual needs of villagers are taken forward sincerely and in thoughtful, friendly ways, significant and durable benefits can be realized even within about three years.
The reference here is to Swavalamban, meaning self-reliance, a rural development project implemented by the voluntary organization SRIJAN with the support of the Parivartan initiative of HDFC Bank. As with all good efforts, villagers told me emphatically during my visit that they would have liked it to continue longer. But given the constraints of time and other factors, the project activists can take well-deserved solace from the fact that they have made a very significant contribution. Its success owes much to its focus on changes in farming and rural infrastructure that villagers themselves recognized as close to their real needs.
Those needs are pressing. Most farmers in Mahoba, part of the wider Bundelkhand region of Central India, are small farmers with a low resource base. They need low-cost, low-risk technology. But when high-cost, high-risk technologies spread through the region, many farmers fell deep into debt and distress, and several farmer suicides were reported from this district. Farmers were looking for alternatives, and the project met this strongly felt need. It helped that the team worked with evident sincerity and quickly won the goodwill, confidence and cooperation of most villagers.
At the heart of the project is the spread of natural farming among small farmers. A major reason for rising costs is the growing dependence on ever higher doses of expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which also erode natural soil fertility, destroy earthworms and micro-organisms, pollute water sources and endanger health. Natural farming replaces these with organic fertilizers and pest protectors made within the village, at very low cost, from locally available materials. Together with soil and water conservation, greater farm diversity, mixed farming and crop rotations, this has allowed a significant number of farmers to maintain good yields while cutting costs, securing a steadier income and reducing vulnerability. The project deliberately prioritized smaller farmers from weaker sections. It formed 100 farmer groups and set up 20 natural farming centers, prepared 625 demonstration plots for kharif crops and 868 for rabi crops, treated nearly 528 acres of land with bunds and other conservation measures, and provided 266 sprinklers. Many farmers have since continued these practices on their own and influenced others.
Crop diversity has grown considerably. With multi-layer vegetable gardens, several farmers now grow as many as 25 types of vegetables and related produce in a single annual cycle, improving nutrition and income flows. Help came as materials such as bamboo, wires, seeds and nets, along with technical know-how in natural farming. Small orchards were another welcome change. Orchards were earlier mostly the preserve of bigger farmers, but the project showed that even those with an acre or two can devote a small part of their land to fruit trees, reducing their vulnerability to bad weather. In all, 210 small orchards covering about 37.8 acres and 188 multi-layer vegetable plots covering about 11.28 acres were created. Project records show an average investment of about Rs. 9,000 per vegetable plot against a reported average return of around Rs. 30,000.
Water conservation received the highest priority, since it offers protective irrigation and raises the water table for entire communities. A major component was the doha, a standardized ditch dug in a natural water channel so that more rainwater is retained for the lean season. Sites were chosen with local farmers, and a typical doha is about 20 meters long, 3 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. In all, 481 dohas were built across the 50 villages. The project also built 10 new check dams, renovated 14 more, constructed 2 earthen dams and created 31 gabion structures. It renovated 331 damaged wells and de-silted 7 village tanks, whose silt can enrich farmland. SRIJAN estimates the combined storage potential at nearly 18.6 crore liters. Water now remains in several channels and streams much later into the lean months, and drinking water has improved for people, livestock and wild animals alike.
The environmental gains go further. Nineteen tapovans, gardens on the Miyawaki pattern that pack a larger number of diverse indigenous trees into small plots, were planted, along with nearly 24,000 other trees, all with close community support. Diesel use has fallen as farmers shift from tractors to smaller tillers, and 19 solar irrigation pumps have shown that solar power is viable, encouraging others to use it with government subsidies. Lower costs of cultivation and diverse produce also strengthen resilience to climate shocks and reduce the chance of indebtedness. In some places, soil and water conservation and some assured irrigation made it possible to bring neglected stretches of land under cultivation for the first time.
The human benefits are equally visible. Families now eat more fruits and vegetables grown on their own farms, and villagers, particularly women, say they fall ill less often and spend less on doctors. They also point to healthier food grown without chemicals, and to the end of the hazards faced by those who spray pesticides. Women have been quick to see these advantages and have played a leading role in mobilization and implementation, with the project giving due recognition to their place in farming.
In some villages, wild animals raiding crops are a serious constraint. The project tried strong pre-fabricated fencing or netting, which farmers told me they find economically viable, as costs can be recovered through increased yield in about three years. Conditions vary from village to village, but it is an encouraging beginning. Water conservation helps here too: when dohas and streams hold more water, wild animals can drink outside the village and are less likely to venture inside.
Self-reliance has also been advanced through 12 seed banks, a good start, although far more needs to be done to collect diverse indigenous seed varieties. Twenty tool banks, from which equipment can be hired at affordable rates, have cut costs. This matters because many small farmers, swayed by attractive advertisements or social prestige, bought tractors they could not afford and were trapped in long-term debt, when much cheaper tillers would have met their needs.
Community life has been strengthened as well. Fifty village development committees were formed, one in every village, with the most emphasis on women and small farmers. Improvements in farming infrastructure gave fresh enthusiasm to mobilization, and 506 solar lights created places where people could gather and talk in the evenings. Just as valuable is something less obvious, a democratic discourse on development. Nothing was imposed. Suggestions were offered, questions answered, demonstrations held on the plots of willing farmers, and everyone was free to accept, reject or ignore them. Some farmers adopted changes boldly, some phased them in, and some waited and joined later. In the community discussions I joined, several useful ideas and deeply felt views were expressed.
The project also reflects a sensible combination of modern science and traditional wisdom. Heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides was spread in the name of science, yet it is deeply unscientific once all its consequences are weighed against a temporary rise in yield. Here, well renovation sits alongside solar pumps, each valued for what it does best.
The limitations should be stated plainly. A project centered on farm development offers few openings for landless households, and their livelihoods received relatively less attention. Social problems such as alcoholism and wasteful expenditure also did not get the same emphasis as economic ones. The project is therefore an important but partial step toward an alternative model of rural development. Even so, by lowering costs, steadying incomes, avoiding fresh debt and building hope and cooperation, it offers lessons well beyond these 50 villages, for Bundelkhand and for a nation still debating how to ease the crisis of its farmers.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include "A Day in 2071," "Protecting Earth for Children," "Man over Machine," and "India's Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food"
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