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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Harvesting freshness by Surinder Sud


Indian farmers are known to be second to none when it comes to adoption of new technology. But, what is not so well-appreciated is that many of them are daring enough to take a break from traditional crops and venture into wholly new fields and make a success of it through their own ingenuity or with some institutional or state help.

There are countless instances of such endeavours. The agriculture ministry has, in a Nabard-sponsored initiative, collected 101 such instances and presented them in a well-produced and fully-illustrated publication, aptly entitled “Harvest of hope”. Some of these success stories are truly amazing.

One among them is the story of a farmer named Dina Nath Sharma of Una district in Himachal Pradesh who is now producing cultured pearls in this northern hilly state, far away from any seashore. He actually wanted to convert part of his farm in village Ambehra Ramkishan into a pond to rear fish. But, he lacked the specialised knowledge of fish-rearing. So, he went for training to the Bhubaneswar-based Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA). There he learnt that pearls could also be produced in freshwater ponds. This prompted him to train in pearl culture as well. He is now a successful producer of this precious product, and that too in a place like Himachal Pradesh where nobody could dream of rearing pearls.

Equally interesting is the case of two women friends from Nagaland who dared to say good-bye to the traditional crops of the area to take up the production of an exotic, as also high-value, fruit like strawberry. These two friends, Tekasangla and Arenla, of village Yisemyong, bought some strawberry runners (seeding material) from a private firm to plant them in small plots in their husbands’ fields. Indeed, luck did not smile on them in the first go — though they had a good crop, most of the fruit got damaged by inclement weather. However, they did not lose heart and approached the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) for advice. They got not only technical advice here, but also support for erecting a poly-house (a covered structure made of plastic sheets, also called greenhouse) for growing strawberry under protected conditions. After that, there was no looking back and the two friends are now truly in the pink of financial health.

Another incredible, but true, case is that of a Nagaland rural woman who gave up her job as a laboratory assistant in a college to become a commercial flower grower, and that too in the vacant backyard of her home. This woman, Amenla J of village Chuchuyimpang, came to know that the horticulture department was trying to promote flower cultivation in the area to boost farmers’ income. She decided to give this venture a try and approached the horticulture inspector of the area to seek assistance. The department helped her put up a poly-house in her backyard to grow lilium in a scientific manner. She also got the list of potential buyers of this flower and began selling it directly to an export company. Now, she is earning a net income of over Rs 20,000 every two months and is thinking of getting into cultivation of other lucrative crops as well.

An equally inspiring account is of two men, belonging to different communities, who organised the residents of Madhupur, a remote village in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, to save their lands from the wrath of the frequently-shifting course of rivulets meandering through the area. Ali Miah and Paresh Sarkar prepared a plan to strengthen embankments of the rivulets with community participation, and later took measures to improve the health of the reclaimed soil to make it fit for growing crops. The agriculture department is now helping them in taking up intensive crop cultivation for steady income.

Similar other reports contained in this anthology of success stories are, indeed, an eye-opener. They can also serve as a source of inspiration for people in the rural areas who are beset with various kinds of problems and are looking for opportunities to brighten their future. They can emulate the examples of these upbeat entrepreneurs. There is, therefore, a need to widely circulate these success stories through all available means of communication. The agriculture ministry will do well to bring out a mass-produced, low-cost, if not free of cost, version of this publication for wider circulation.