What’s the equation for the perfect farm? It’s 78 farmers added to some investors, half a lakh of equipment and a non-profit organisation named ‘progress.’
With this calculation, several Gadaba, Paraja and Kondh tribals from seven villages have not only created the model farm but also changed their fortunes.
The name of the game is eco-farming, and it employs solar power and strategic deployment of natural resources to sustain the land all year round.
In 2016, social organisation Pragati stepped into Kotpad, Borigumma, Koraput and Nandapur blocks of Koraput district to train the impoverished and nomadic farmers here on how to bring out the best from their land.
The farmers would grow only Mandia (Raagi or finger millet) and Alsi (flaxseed) on the half an acre they possessed. “When the torrid summer would set in, their land would yield nothing,” explains Prabhakar Adhikari, director, Pragati.
Eco-farming employs solar power and strategic deployment of
natural resources to sustain the land all year round to set up model
farms
The paltry crop would fetch Rs 2,000-5,000 annually. “So, the farmers would travel to States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala (to work as labour),” says Adhikari.
Pragati changed the system. The half-an-acre model farm of tribal farmers was judiciously segmented into five sections for year-long yield. Two parts were allocated to fruit orchards, another two parts to seasonal vegetables and the remaining one part to fast-growing creepers.
Soon, the results began to show up. The tribals started making up to Rs 40,000- 1 lakh yearly. Phulmati Gadaba of Kankiaguda village in Kotpad says she now earns Rs 70,000 and is thankful to Pragati for giving them the know-how. “When eco-farming started wielding its magic, their migration registered a discernible slump,” says Adhikari happily.
The model farms’ success also brought in subsidies from the Odisha government along with investment – from the Philippines-based Tebtebba Foundation, which works for “self-determined sustainable development of indigenous people”; UN agency International Fund for Agricultural Development that helps alleviate rural poverty and hunger in developing countries; the Australia High Commission and Mumbai-based EdelGive Foundation, which supports development work at the grassroots level.
The Centre-supported Kalinga Reliable Energy Manufacturers, a startup from IIT- Bhubaneswar, provided Rs 52,000 worth of solar pumps to the tribals. Another farmer, Padma Santa of Tamugida village, Kotpad, says, “The farmers are allowed to pay back the cost of solar systems in interest-free installments.”
“Investment in the farm is Rs 5,000-25000. Those with their own land and large families to supply manpower can invest less,” Padma adds.
Pragati now plans to take up Project Lakhpati Farmer – which is a self-explanatory name – and has shortlisted 75 farmers with land that has a water source in the vicinity, according to Adhikari.
