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According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, since 1994, a farmer commits suicide every 41 minutes
Save Indian Farmers > A Field Report on Borisinh Village

A Field Report on Borisinh Village

Global and Local Efforts to Make Borisinh Village Sustainable

INDIGENOUS AND ECO-FRIENDLY VILLAGE

Borisinh is a village in Yavatmal District (Maharashtra State). Population of the village is around 1600. The Adaan river flows near the village. Hindus and Muslims live in harmony here, practising their ancient traditions and customs. Village `Shivar’ has a very good topography, landscape and forest area, blessed with a water stream that flows in the rainy season.

YOUTH POWER

The village has a very good population of youngsters. There are mixed groups of youth – some are educated and some are not. Few youths are educated up to 10th, 12th, D.Ed. and graduate.

Preshit from Save Indian Farmers interacts with youth groups who are the main stakeholders of the proposed project

AGRICULTURE-BASED LIVELIHOODS

THE LIVELIHOOD OF THE VILLAGERS IS MAINLY BASED ON FARMING, DAIRY, GOAT FARMING, LOCAL HENS, AND MANUAL LABOUR. LOCAL COWS AND MURHA BUFFALOES ARE THE MAJOR LIVESTOCK IN THIS AREA.

Tur hub: There is good acreage under the tur (red gram) crop. We can say that the people’s pulse of livelihood is tur. As a long duration crop, it requires 6 to 7 months for maturity. It has better yield in irrigated conditions. But there is lack of assured water for the tur crop after the rainy season.

During the interactions with young farmers, they suggested that in this area there is need of Dal Mill to process their produce. Save Indian Farmers (SIF) and Deendayal Trust are planning to support the Dal Mill project with the participation of farmers.

MAJOR CONSTRAINTS

Major problems of the village are poverty and unemployment.

Majority area in the periphery of the village is barren as no watershed structures are available for enabling farming activities. This area faces flood problems during the rainy season, adversely affecting around 200 acres area (water stagnation and soil erosion).

PROPOSED INTERVENTION BY SAVE INDIAN FARMERS (SIF) THROUGH DEENDAYAL TRUST

The proposed project will benefit 25 youths in the village and their families. These 25 families are supported through providing `Murha` buffaloes on account of the good availability of the fodder in the village `Shivar`. Milk production will generate enough livelihood income for the selected 25 families. This will also solve the problem of malnourishment.

Water conservation activities are also proposed to be carried out through their participation. Stone weirs will be built across the water stream. This will help to increase the water table in the `Shivar`. This will enable the farmer to take fodder crops, rabi and summer season crops.

These initiatives will be run under the leadership of the Deendayal Trust.

GRASS ROOT PARTNER: DEENDAYAL TRUST

DEENDAYAL TRUST IS A COMMITTED NGO WORKING IN VIDARBHA TO BRING SMILES TO THE POOR FARMER’S FACE. THEY HAVE A WELL-EXPERIENCED, DEDICATED AND SENSITIVE TEAM,  WHICH IS HELPING IN INSTITUTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING OF YOUTH, FARMERS AND WOMEN. THEY CONDUCT AWARENESS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS FROM TIME TO TIME.

The site where water conservation structure will be built to enable farmers to grow Rabi and Summer crops
Vijay Kadre of Deendayal Trust discusses with colleague about proposed stone weirs/water conservation structures and how much area will come under the crop cultivation.

SWADESH HAI MERA…

Majority of the people involved in Save Indian Farmers (SIF) initiatives are settled abroad. They are very sensitive towards the poverty and agrarian crises in `Swadesh`. Though they may be physically abroad, their heart is always with their motherland. This, we feel, when we interact with them.

Preshit Dalal and his Father with Vijay Kadre & youths who are involved in the proposed livelihood activities

BOUNDED BY PRINCIPLES

Save Indian Farmers (SIF) is bounded by the principles of transparency and direct positive impact on the livelihoods of end users. They believe in small scale of work but larger impact on the farmer’s livelihood.

SURPRISE VISITS

The representatives of the Save Indian Farmers (SIF) will make surprise visits to the project area in order to inspect what is happening at the ground level. They also continuous feedback from the stakeholders of the project through telephone interactions from abroad.

FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK

  1. Goat Farming
  2. Fishery in water storage structure
  3. Encouraging Crop Diversification
  4. Milk-based value-added products
  5. Local hen poultry
  6. Women SHGs formation and building small-scale businesses for them
  7. Education and Health Programs
  8. Convergence with Government Schemes
  9. Farm Ponds
  10. Solar, wind and water energy structures
  11. Implementation of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas) model which is designed by Late Shri. Bharatratna Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Former President of the India

ABOUT THE WRITER

Yashwantrao Yadav is a Doctoral Scholar from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai working on Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Farming. On August 13, 2015, he visited Borisinh village to see the proposed interventions by Save Indian Farmers and Deendayal Trust with the help of Asia Initiatives (AI). Recently, he joined as a member of Save Indian Farmers (SIF) and is involved in field activities.

ALL IMAGES BY: PRESHIT DALAL

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