From arid hillsides to prosperous orchards

Two NGOs in Orissa have helped tribal villagers organise a green revolution.

Five years ago, the inhabitants of Gudasahi, a tribal village in Orissa's Gajapati district, embarked on an experiment that would transform their lives.

They began the difficult task of healing their arid hillsides, and restoring once-lush forests and fresh water springs, all of which had been almost destroyed in the last century.

Today, the valleys yield rich crops of pineapples, mangoes and cashew. Parts of the area are a riot of colours, with many villagers growing several varieties of flowers.

The tribal village, at the foothills of the Mahendragiri mountain, once suffered from a chronic shortage of fuel, fodder and water. Women in the area had to trek for miles daily to gather the bare necessities of life from the forests. The villagers had to search for areas for podu (shifting) cultivation. Now, all this has changed. This is the result of the tribal people getting together and creating orchards .

The credit for this switch over to planting fruits and flowers goes to the efforts of non-governmental organisations People's Rural Education Movement (PREM) and Plan-India, which are working in collaboration in this area. Land is being made regenerative using natural inputs like compost. This is supplemented with training to the villagers in orchard plantation. The consequent green revolution has changed the lives of about 8,000 tribal families in 225 villages.

The villagers of Khaikua, a small tribal village in Mohana block in the same district, not only generated an income for themselves, but also came forward to participate in the development process of the village by investing their income.

"Now we have about Rs 50,000 in our account and the money will be spent on the development of the village" said Bipra Raito, one of the villagers at Khaikua. He added that five years ago, he could not even feed his children sufficiently, whereas today, his financial situation is sound and his two children go to school.

Besides creating orchards, PREM and Plan-India are now training them in planting vegetables and spices like ginger and turmeric. Last year, Suku Raito of Puti Sahi raised vegetables. "I earned about Rs 1,000 selling them," he said.

"We train them in planting and maintenance of the fields. They collectively protect the plants and market them on their own" said Jacob Thundyl, the president of PREM. "Our main market area is Mohana, a block headquarter town" said Sukumari. The other market is Paralakhemundi, the headquarters of Gajapati district.

"The uniqueness of this green revolution is that there is no chemical fertiliser or pesticides used in the crops," he added.

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