Support Small Farmers in India

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Seva Mandir

Thank you for your continued support to our project ‘Improving Food Security for Tribal Farmers’.

With your support we are about to begin a new year and are excited about the hopes and challenges it will bring. And at this year end, we would like to share with you a case study of Bed village. So that you come to know how exactly YOUR support is creating real change.

A case study of Pastureland in Bed Village (Girwa Block)

The village has 43.5 hectare of pastureland in which villagers constructed boundary wall in the year 1980-81 with the help of Panchayat (Local Government Body) and did some land development work. People from nearby villages tried to encroach the land and also destroyed the pastureland by breaking the boundary wall. After this incident, villagers of Bed came together, did meetings and tried and removed encroachments. From then onwards villagers started taking care of the pastureland by themselves.

This pastureland is 1-2 km away from the village because of which there was always a fear of encroachment from outsiders. Then later on in the year 2007-2008, Gram Samuh (Village Group) people made a contact with Seva Mandir office in Shisvi and took part in the meetings conducted by the organization frequently. Villagers were very much influenced by the pastureland pattern adopted by villagers of Kemri and thus discussed this with the people of the organization so as to develop the same in their area. In the year 2009-10, the task got approved and different works like construction of boundary wall, soil-water conservation works like contour trenches, check dams and plantation work was completed. As per Seva Mandir’s rule, 10% of the contribution amount was collected and deposited in Gram Vikas Kosh (GVK)-[Village Development Fund]. In the initial period, villagers took care of the pastureland by a system called by them as “Suiya System” in which every day one household went for the protection of pasture turn by turn. Then, lately a guard named Bhura was appointed for the task. As a result of protection, in the very first year there was ample grass grown in the field. The grass grown was then collected by the farmers keeping Rs 25 as a token money. Altogether 20 family’s harvested grass in the field for 8 days and each family used to carry 25 bundles of grass daily.

Following this, in the year 2010, keeping the token money as Rs 40 total of 21 families took 35 bundles of grass collected from the field for 8 days. In the year 2011, the families took grass for Rs 25 per bundle.

In another project plantation work was done in July 2011 in which 5820 saplings were planted to cover the barren patches in the pastureland. Around 50 families were employed. These families were able to earn Rs. 2250 per month.

According to the village committee members, the biggest impact of pastureland treatment and development process has been increased unity among the villagers, apart from large amount of grass production.

We are able to make these progresses because of YOU. We look forward to your support and thoughts. Wish you a very happy holiday season to you and your family. 

Best Wishes,

Atul Lekhra 

Links:

• Seva Mandir's Official Website