The drumstick Project (Sticks2Grow)

January 2016 Farmers in India lead majority of their lives with low income and less resources. They do not reap enough money from their sow. Farmer borrows money to buy seeds, fertilizers, manure to get a good harvest. If the harvest is not optimal or crop failure, the farmer is not able to get enough money to close the debt. So, the farmer again borrows money to grow more crops, sell them and close of the loans. This vicious cycle is a continuous process in which many farmers get captured. There are many natural as well as man-made causes which lead to low crop growth or crop failure itself. Water is one of the major resources for farmers which can affect their harvest. Drought and flooding both destroy crop. This also drives many farmers to commit suicide. Farmer suicides has only increased multifold in the past few years. Farmer suicides not only causes loss of precious human lives but has long lasting after effects for the families of the farmers. Now, the family members are further driven into poverty which not only affects them economically but psychologically too. The situation is such that farmers cannot think beyond 3 meals. There major concern is not have enough food to provide for their family and less priority to improve their lives. They do not think of sending their children to schools, but worry to put enough food on their plates. This indeed is a very drastic situation which majority of farmers in India face in this day and age.

Save Indian Farmers has come up with an initiative to improve the quality of life of farmers. The organization has started drumsticks farming to benefit the farmers. Drumstick plantation is a very efficient and cost effective process. Drumstick is a crop which consumes less water, has high shelf life and requires low initial capital investment. As drumstick requires less water for growth, it is an apt crop to grow in water scarce regions. Also, drip irrigation can be used to grow the crop. An added advantage is it has high shelf life, which means the probability of the crop getting spoiled during transportation and storage is minimal. The process requires an initial investment of only 60,000 to 70,000 rupees. This method can expect to provide a return of around 1-2 lakh rupees per year. The crop can be harvested for 7 years after initial plantation. This allows the farmers to become self-reliant and self-sufficient. With low investment they can expect to earn steady income for next few years. This results in improvement in their standard of living and quality of life. We are calling this “Sticks 2 grow Project”. Stay tuned.

Save Indian Farmers would like to recognize and extend their thanks to Mr.Marale, Mr.Jamdar, Mr.Lokhande and Mr.Khandale for their immense contribution to this initiative.