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India is emerging as a major economic power as
it has gone from producing simple exports to
becoming a world leader in software and
technology exports. However, as the world’s
second most populous country, it is facing
enormous challenges such as the wide gap
between its urban and rural populations, the
growing unemployment and the fact that a
quarter of India’s population, that is more
than 250 million people, still lives below the
poverty line. The Millennium Development Goal
#1:aims to Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty, by
halving “the proportion of people whose income is
less than $1 a day”. At ADRA India, we believe that
having a sustainable livelihood has the potential to
address and prevent many development issues,
starting with poverty. This is why our work of
combining resources with the energy and
resourcefulness of communities, has the power to
transform thousands of families in India.
We are doing this by providing agricultural support
to rural rice farmers through the System of Rice
Intensification (SRI) technique, by providing
livestock assistance such as goat banks and the
innovative emu banks. As well as crafts making,
sewing, small business enterprise development, vermi-culture,
environ-livelihood options, community fish ponds, and
others. |
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Farmers uses Eco-Technology to
great sucess |
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In the agricultural village of Pitchavaram in the state of Tamil
Nadu, ADRA India is working with the
rice farmers, training them in new
Eco-Technological ways to increase
yield and quality of their crops. More
than 90% of the population in the surrounding
districts depend on agriculture for their
livelihood. These districts comprise of 1030 acres
of cultivation area. |
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More than 60% of the farmers own less than two acres
of land where rice paddy is the predominant crop
that is cultivated two seasons a year. For
generations farmers have followed the traditional
method of rice paddy cultivation which means using
inorganic fertilizers and production tools. These
traditional methods are expensive and farmers are
forced to go into debt to pay for them, resulting in
a crop that is high in cost and low in yield. ADRA India’s program is training and
educating these farmers on crop diversification
including the adoption of SRI Technologies. SRI
(System of Rice Intensification) is a methodology
for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice by
changing the management of plants, soil, water and
nutrients. The SRI motto is “increase the yield and
reduce the cost of cultivation by adopting organic
methods”. Initially the traditional rice paddy
farmers were afraid to take the risk in adopting a
new technology. |
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ADRA India identified Mr. Kenyan, one
of the leading farmers in Pitchavaram who was
interested in organic farming, but lacked the
technical knowledge. ADRA India gave him an
opportunity and technical support to initiate SRI as
a pioneer in his village. His interest on SRI not
only motivated him to attend all the sessions, but
also voluntarily taught and motivated the leading
farmers of Pitchavaram, Kayalpattu, Andarmullipallam,
Uthamacholzhamangallam and Kandakaddu villages
who also took part in the training programs. |
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As a result of his enthusiasm and success a
total of 23 farmers, covering 10 acres, have
adopted SRI in their field in the forthcoming
season.
Mr. Kannan expressed his joy of having produced a
poison free healthy food, plus gaining an extra
two bags (150 kgs) of increased yield (net
profit Rs.7000) with a lower cost input. He
says, “Earlier I sowed 60kgs of paddy for one
acre of land, but now I have sown only 2kgs per
acre. |
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When we were told during the training that
only 2kgs was enough, all of us thought it was a
joke! Because generation after generation, we
farmers
used 60kgs per acre for cultivation and it
was only after the
implementation of SRI in my field we realized
that it was not a joke at all, but reality! I
feel proud that in the history of cultivation in
our village I have broken the tradition, and
have adopted a modern, eco friendly technology
that has proven to be a model for the other
farmers.” He goes on to say “It gives me immense joy to
have produced for the first time, food that is
not only healthy but is poison free by adopting
low cost organic technologies, from my own field.” |
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