Systematic Crop Intensification (SCI) method of sowing crops, that Sulochana adopted, requires farmers to sow only one-two seeds at a relatively larger distance than in the conventional sowing in which 8-10 seeds are sown at one spot. It promises to increase the production manifold by ensuring enough sunlight, water and air to each plant, and also significantly cuts on the seed costs crucial for smallholder farmers. For the farmers of Baarwan, already facing the heat due to increasing input cost and reducing returns from their farms, this was difficult to believe.
"For initial one month of sowing with the new method, nothing grew in the field. This is when everybody starting chiding me. They said I spoiled the entire crop that they would have otherwise produced," she recalls. The end result, however, left everybody in awe. "The production increased by 1.6 times from the previous year. This was the highest that the small land had ever produced," says Sulochana with a smile. This year, the men in Sulochana's family, who by now realised the benefits of SCI method, patiently waited for her to get back from her stay at her parents' house in the neighbouring village so that she could take over sowing of the new wheat crop as well.
Sulochana is not the only woman in Baarwan who has earned herself the reputation of a prudent farmer. In past two years, women from 14 households in the village have come out of their kitchens and taken charge of the family farming. In the process they have also transformed the geography and demography of their village.
Baarwan lies in the drought-prone Deoghar district. Farmers in most part of the district have been struggling to get good agriculture outputs due to poor rainfall (1200-1300mm annual) and upland terrain which hardly retains rainwater. Most of the farmers in the district have been cultivating only small percentage of their landholdings due unavailability of irrigation facilities and high input costs involved in purchasing modern seeds and chemical fertilisers.
A baseline survey done by the Deoghar-based non-profit Abhivyakti Foundation in 2012 to implement its Sustainable Integrated Farming System (SIFS) program, revealed that in the 12 villages in Devipur block of Deoghar, including Baarwan, 53% of the kids in the area are stunted while 74% mothers, anaemic. The survey also revealed that all families engaged in agriculture, irrespective of income, were able to produce less than 50% of their food requirements, while the other half was purchased from market. Agriculture contributed only 14.02% of the income source.
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"As agriculture farming declined, most of the men in the village would engage with the farms only for six months and migrate to work as labourers for another six months of the year," says Krishna Kant of Abhivyakti Foundation. It was to make up for this gap that the women in Baarwan decided to come forward. They took advantage of the training and support provided by the Abhivyakti, in collaboration with German non-profit Welthungerhilfe that is supporting the implementation of SIFS, to adopt innovative methods of improving output from the smallholding farms while bringing down the input costs.
Sulochana, who was one of the first women in the village to have got trained under SIFS, also experimented with 'layer farming' in a 0.2 acre piece of land next to her house. In the land where only potato grew a few years ago, she now grows 22 varieties of vegetables making space for each of them at different layers- underground for roots, ground for grasses and vegetables plants as bean pod, a machan for creepers like bitter-gourd and pumpkin and shadow farming for crops like turmeric.
She has also built two small 'key-hole' kitchen gardens, each of which provide at least five different types of green vegetables for household consumption with negligible input of water. "The 'key hole' system provides for centralised feeding of water and manure which is evenly spread to the circularly grown crops. The design also involves mulch lining underneath, so that the water does not percolate, and is available for absorption by plants. This makes it suitable for dry areas, like Baarwan," says Anshuman Dash of Welthungerhilfe.
The key-hole gardens now allow regular intake of green vegetables to farming families by making them readily available. "Till one year ago, I would have to ask my neighbours for chilly. Now I have maximum vegetables in the village to consume, to distribute to others and even surplus to sell," says Sulochana. The family now also has a pond to breed fish and ducks, which add to nutrition consumption and gives regular side income through sale.
Sulochana's neighbour Shakuntala Devi's story is no different. Till two years ago, her family used to struggle to sustain in the peak summers as no vegetable would survive in her farms due to water scarcity. She then adopted a customised version of 'drip irrigation' for herself to grow vegetables like pumpkin, ladyfinger, brinjal and cucumber in the summers. She collected used saline from a local medical practitioner and used them to drip water throughout the day in the soil allowing plants to absorb it and keeping them hydrated. "There are several other women in the village who have undertaken SCI, crop diversification and livestock farming," says Neeraj Kumar, a local coordinator in Baarwan with Abhivyakti Foundation.
This is not all. Fifteen women farmers of the village have now formed a women self-help group which markets their products. The women produce, package and market multiple products like home-grown turmeric, roasted gram and pulses among others. Some products are made on pre-ordering basis, while others are directly sold in markets. The self-help group has been able to supplement the income of each of these women by Rs 800-1000 per month.
The entrepreneurship of these women has changed the landscape of the village. The arid farms, which could only produce one crop a year, now has 3 crops and yields all through the year. The crop diversification in the village, from the major cash crops like wheat and paddy to vegetables, spices and flowers has not only increased the nutritional value of the food consumed by the people but also seems to have significantly contributed to their income. "Now we earn Rs. 2,000-2,500 more than we did by growing one crop. We get more money even after consumption and distribution to friends and relatives," says Shakuntala Devi. Gyani Devi, one of the many in the village to have adopted the crop diversification in her farm and developed a kitchen garden, counts the benefits of the innovations: "My kids eat much healthier now; I give them vegetables every day. Earlier, we could only give them vegetables twice a week. I feel good that I can do this for them."
Krishna Kant, believes that women can actually be better farmers because of their sincerity, The Charkha Development Communication Network feels that these women with their training and will to move forward have successfully broken the stereotype of the Indian farmer who is clad in a dhoti, adorning a proud moustache.
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