Bhubaneswar
Piggyback on the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), a government agency, farmers of three tribes of Munda, Oraon and Mundari in Sundargarh district are an elated lot these days, as their previously low-yielding land have now turned into high-yielding terrains of tomatoes.
Spurred by the success, tribal farmers have now multi-pronged vegetable cultivations to reap rich dividends in three months every year — September, October and November. Their scantily rain-fed fields have now proved fertile enough to fetch them Rs 40,000 to Rs. 45,000 on an average in three months every year.
Earlier, tribals used to grow tomatoes haphazardly in their hilly land. As a result, tomatoes and branches of their plants brushed against the earth underneath, and they rotted in the rainwater that remained stagnant in their root areas. This used to reduce the output by 30%. However, the loss has all but come down to naught after the ITDA intervened three years ago.
“We provided the farmers with wire nets that they tied with wooden sticks in such a way that only roots of the saplings run deep into the ground while their branches and fruits never come in contact with the rainwater at their root areas. This process has helped them check the reduction in production by over 90%,” ITDA livelihood expert Prasanna Das told The Indian Tribal.
The ITDA started this project in Kundeidiha as an experiment with 100 farmers. Each farmer tested the venture in 50 decimals of his land that proved a windfall of sorts. “Though I cannot quantify the output, I am quite satisfied with it,” gushes Chukku Lakra of the village while his spouse flaunts the currency notes to boast of her husband’s earnings.
When the experiment clicked with the farmers, they resorted to inter-cropping. Soon cultivation of cauliflowers, cabbages, pointed gourds and many such vegetables have been taken up that has now landed on their laps as an exhilarating bonus.
“I grow tomatoes, lady’s fingers, pointed gourds and pumpkins in rows in my 2.5 acres of land that fetch me Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh in three months every year,” boasts Daut Ekka, one of the 10 progressive farmers in Kundeidiha who benefitted from the ITDA project..
The success of tribal farmers has inspired other tribal and non-tribal farmers in the adjoining villages like Balia, Kindro and Lachchada to emulate them.
“Impressed with their effort, Odisha Agriculture Department has gifted seeds of millets, jatangi (a kind of oil seeds) and sesame to tribal farmers for cultivation. Similarly, the Horticulture Department has started a project under MNEREGA in Kundeidiha,” says Prasanna.
