In search of relevance...

My fellowship with CHC came to a close in March. The rest of the fellows wound up in February, but because of my month in US/Canada, I had requested an extension. My report was due at the end of March and I spent a lot of time on it from December onwards. In retrospect, I'm glad I did and am thankful to CHC. Because of the report and my blogging, I have a much better record of what I did during my first year back in India.

The report can be found here. It's 77 pages long, but I think it is an easy read. I will start blogging again, so there should be more to read out here as well.

From victory to celebration... to reflection

After the achievements of the dharna, plans were made to organize a sammelan, a gathering in Sitapur city. The goals of this sammelan were many: to mobilize other villages in Mishrikh and Pisawa blocks as well as other blocks throughout Sitapur dt., to show the people of Sitapur city, media etc. that the Sangathan did more than organize protests, to discuss the problems of the rural poor etc.

In the meantime, some progress had occured after the dharna vis a vis issual of job cards. Further, work had been started in most of the Sangathan villages. After almost a year of almost no work being provided, ponds were being dug, fields were being leveled and labourers were being employed under NREGA for this work.

For me, most of February was spent planning for the sammelan, from discussions at the village level on the reasons for holding a sangathan to the nitty-gritty of the venue, equipment etc. The expected turnout was 2000-2500, so this was a bigger event than any I had worked on in the past. My role was small – mainly helping out with posters and a small photoexhibit, helping out in meetings etc. Dwiji had a bigger responsibility – he was in the logistics team.

The sammelan was held on the 24^th and 25^th of February. Attendees were expected to arrive by noon, but as usual, it was 2:30 pm before the venue began filling up. The sammelan was inaugurated by the lighting of torches held by 5 women and 5 men of the Sangathan. It was followed by slogans, speeches and songs. Activists and supporters who had arrived from MP, Lucknow, Delhi etc. spoke, congratulating the Sangathan and exhorting the audience to continue the struggle. I found the speeches given by the Sangathan Saathis Bitoli and Prakash as inspiring, if not more. Maybe more because I had seen them practicing and had given feedback. To see all their hard work pay off was immensely satisfying.

After the inaugural, we took a break for three hours to relax and have dinner. Incidentally, meals during the sammelan were being cooked using the rice and wheat flour that had been collected during the dharna. At 9 pm, we re-convened to discuss problems with implementation of NREGA, changes necessary to the Act itself and the problems faced by the poor in general. This session continued till midnight after which entertainment commenced in the form of songs. I guess a gathering this size never sleeps! Some singer performed the traditonal 'alhas' while others sangs songs from movements, ghazals and filmi songs. Some performers bagged a good sum of money through requests!

Over in the food tent, events were progressing less smoothly. About 1500 packets of poori-sabzi were to be distributed in the morning (the turnout was less than expected), but by 4 am only 400 had been made! The team hired for cooking may not have ever cooked for this many people and had clearly not anticipated the effort required. Tea was served early, but by the time there were enough packets to distribute, it was almost 11 am. After distribution, a few people started saying that the sabzi was rotten (it did smell a little off, maybe because it was packed tight and because tomoatoes were used). Anyway, that started a commotion and the next hour was not pleasant!

The sammelan was to end in a rally, but first, word was received that the CDO and PD (Program Director) would show up. They did, and spoke as well. The CDO assured the assembled people that overdue payments for work done would be made before Holi and that work would be started in all villages. He said that the government had enough funds to ensure that every family worked for 100 days in a year. There were just a few problems in the system that needed to be fixed, for which he asked the Sangathan to continue working!

Of course, our friends did not let him get away with that! They thanked him for attending the sammelan but also reminded him of the many things that were still wrong. They took on the issue of overdue wages and he assured the assembled crowd of payment before Holi.

Like with other Sangathan events, the sammelan ended with a rally. The resolution that had been approved in the morning was presented to the DM. With a little bit more of slogan chanting, the sammelan was completed.

The sammelan had its highs and lows, but it was clear that this event marked a new phase in the Sangathan's journey. Sitapur had sat up and taken notice of SKMS. And while all the stated goals of the sammelan were not met, such as mobilizing in other blocks, the seeds have been sown. It was a satisfied lot of people brimming with ideas that returned to their villages on 25^th February.

Two steps forward, half a step... forward?

Immediately following the SKMS dharna, I was down with diarrhoea for 2 days. I had been fine during the summer and monsoon in Sitapur, so to be brought low in the winter was surprising. Thankfully, the dharna was over, so I could concentrate on rehydration and rest.

Things were better on the Sangathan front – account numbers were being collected for payment of the unemployment benefits and work had started in many villages. Of course, there are problems. In Mishrikh and Pisawa, the 3-day camp for job cards started off badly with the Block office asking for just the list of people who needed job cards. No application forms were available and no photographer was present. After a little wrangling, the process improved in Mishrikh over the next 2 days.

On another front, there were rumours that the BDOs who were to receive suspension orders had gone to court. And soon the news came out that they had indeed filed a writ petition in the Lucknow High Court, claiming conflict-of-interest by committee members, labourers incorrectly deemed eligible for benefits etc. The bench mainly ruled on whether the Commissioner at the Ministry of Rural Affairs was the responsible authority with powers to overrule decisions at the district level. They deemed that he was and asked him to review the additional documentation presented by the BDOs within 10 days. They also asked him to ensure that eligible families received the unemployment benefit as they were entitled to. This was a better outcome than many in the Sangathan and among its supporters had expected and the mood was upbeat.

At the village level, there are still problems with work not being made available, applications not being received etc. But some people, at least, have learnt to demand their rights. In one Gram Sabha, a few hundred people went to the Pradhan's house and demanded job cards. He was forced to bring out cards that had been in his keeping since 2006!

Finally, fights in villages continue. In some cases, they seem to be power plays between Sangathan members and those close to the Pradhan or older powerful families. Nerves are also a little frayed and people are reacting to every little thing that seems out of the ordinary. Until the unemployment allowance reaches the accounts of the beneficiaries, this state of affairs will most likely persist.

On another front, planning has started for a sammelan to be held on the 24th and 25th. Farmer-labourers from across Sitapur district and other areas will be invited to share their experiences, learn from SKMS' journey and plan for collective action to ensure a better life. There is talk of about 1500-2000 people attending from Mishrikh and Pisawa and ~500 from other blocks in the district. I think the numbers will be higher. At any rate, Sitapur city will witness a bigger gathering of the rural poor, without any party backing, than it has been accustomed to!

End on a high note!

January 19^th - 20^th

When we returned to Vikas Bhavan on Monday morning, it was to find messages in limestone written at the gate. Some friends sent me off to read the slogans and messages written at the entrance to the Collectorate building. All 9 demands of the Sangathan had been written out in huge bold script. 'Sangtin Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan Zindabad' was written on the vertical portion of the steps, clearly visible to all who walked up them.

My first action, after congratulating those who made this happen, was to find out who had done the writing. I had found the scribe for the next edition of Sangtin Samachar!

Today, it was a little easier to get some articles, though I still had to work with a few of the writers to improve their work. Some were responsive – others, especially the more educated among the lot were not. But the best part of the day's effort, for me atleast, was finding two teenagers, Akhilesh and Pramod, who were willing to be budding cartoonists. I told them the story we wanted to depict – villagers going to ask their Pradhan and Secretary for work, while the latter were busy preparing forged muster rolls. The two worked together and came with a very good depiction. I had realized the previous day that people here had a unique way of drawing figures. They learnt to adapt that to tell the story, which was great!

Towards evening, everyone was getting impatient with the lack of response from the officials and talk started about gheraoing some officials. We then received the message, via Sharmaji, that the CDO had returned to Vikas Bhavan (he was out all day) and wanted to talk with the Sangathan. There was a brief discussion on whether the negotiation team should go to meet the CDO and the issues that were non-negotiable. The team then set off. The rest of us began a program of songs and slogans. The Sangathan has got this process down pat. As Mukesh bhayya put it, while the CDO is talking to the negotiation team, he should be able to hear our voices and know we are there. It was a good session. We had all eaten and there was a cold wind blowing, so everyone came together inside the canopy rather than spreading out. Some old friends finally made their appearance and entertained us with their songs.

Finally, the negotiation team came out. The CDO had agreed with all of their demands and a notice was being sent out to the BDOs! Camps would be set up to issue new job cards. Work would be started in the Sangathan villages soon and go on till March 31^st so that labourers could do as much work as possible this financial year. Where wages hadn't been paid for work done, the payments would be made immediately and responsible officials punished. And so on. These were the commitments the Sangathan was looking for. The struggle was not over – these changes would have to be implemented at the block and village level. But the purpose of coming to Sitapur was fulfilled. Plans began to be made to organize a sammelan in late February to celebrate the victory and galvanize more people in Mishrikh and Pisawa as well as other blocks in the district.

We decided to end the dharna the next day with another small rally – this one towards the place where jeeps and tempos would be available to ferry people back to their homes. This one was less organized than the earlier rally, but no less enthusiastic. The happiness was visible on people's faces and communicated by their voices.

The road ahead for the Sangathan is new and uncharted. This is the first time it has directly brought money into the villages (if one does not count the work obtained through NREGA and payments for the same). And 15 lakhs worth of it! Sadly, many of the less active people and villages are getting a larger payment. This is largely because the more active villages managed to get work. But this is a potential point of conflict. Further, a lot more people will want to join the Sangathan because of the perceived benefits. So the work will expand dramatically. But these are good problems, I think, and with the renewed energy after this victory, the Sangathan should be able to meet these challenges.

Getting our message across

January 18^th

The third day of the protest was on Sunday, when the officials would be away. Therefore, plans were made to get some work done, especially recording the account numbers of all the recipients of unemployment benefits. Messages had been sent to the listed villages to send passbooks so that the numbers could be accurately recorded. Further, meetings were held with each of the Sangathan villages to record their individual problems.

While this was going on, I was busy trying to get 'Sangtin Samachar' going. The previous day, we had written out some news items on chart paper and posted it on some boards facing outward so that passersby could read them. We received the feedback to paste a number of chart papers together and make a consolidated newspaper. I started going around the venue asking people to contribute articles and discovered the challenges with a group of mainly illiterate folk. In many cases, I asked people to get someone to write down their opinions, but that didn't always happen. I also tried to get some people to draw – my idea was to make cartoons. But most people had no concept of cartoons and even that was challenging. I ended up drawing my first cartoon ever! Overall, we managed to get a decent paper together.

Dwiji was busy presiding over the cooking (surprise, surprise!). A number of women kept asking me throughout the day whether we were married or brother and sister, whether we had children, who cooked at home etc. etc. I also got a lot of ribbing from Bitoli and her enthusiastic group for 'allowing' Dwiji to grow a beard!

Starting with a victory!

January 16th

While we were preparing for the dharna in Sitapur, efforts were underway in Lucknow, mainly through Arundhati Dhuru, to get the order for payment of unemployment benefits issued. And these were successful - on the morning of the 16th, Hindustan Hindi reported that the Commisioner at the Ministry for Rural Affairs had signed the order to release almost Rs. 15 lakh in unemployment benefits and it had been sent to the District Administration. My first reaction to this news was that we could call off the dharna. But during further discussions, it dawned on me that the struggles of workers at the village and block level to get work, get new job cards, be paid for work already done etc. did need resolution.

We set off to the dharna site to find the shamiana up and a few villagers already there. Action picked up around 2 pm, with speeches, slogans and songs. Richa talked about the order issued in Lucknow. The Sangathan hadn't received a copy yet. Further, there were 9 more demands that had to be met. Should the dharna be called off? The answer was a resounding no!

At some point, I took a break to have a snack – the villagers had brought food from home, but we hadn't cooked anything. When I came back, it was to find that the P.D. (Program Director) had read out the order on unemployment benefits with the list of recipient villages and the amount to be paid out! Officials at the Collectorate have finally learnt that all such announcements need to be made in public, in front of the Sangathan, rather than privately with one or two representatives...

January 17th

The victory over unemployment benefits is not a small one – this is the first time such a payment has been announced in Uttar Pradesh and perhaps the only place where a committee with equal representation from the aggrieved parties was set up. To celebrate, a victory rally was planned at noon. But first, the negotiation team went to parlay with the CDO. They came back with disappointing news – the CDO had promised to look into the issue and had not offered any concrete proposals.


Anyway, the rally set out with all of us standing in 2 lines and streaming out onto the road. The two lines spread out and effectively blocked traffic. We first went to the nearby Gandhi statue to offer our prayers and commemorate the Father of the Nation. We then headed to the market area, chanting slogans and distributing pamphlets about the issue. In the market, the head of the Merchant's Guild, who has been supporting the Sangathan, showered flowers on all the marchers.

I was at the rear of the procession, helping to keep the line in place and prevent any vehicle from entering between the marchers. We didn't have a mike due to a last-minute snafu, so all slogans were chanted with sheer lung power. Different Sangathan saathis took up the lead in chanting slogans and others enthusiastically joined in. The way in which people struggling for their daily existence have taken ownership of the Sangathan is truly heartening.

Preparations for the heart, mind and stomach

On 11^th and 12^th January, I attended the regional meetings in Qutubnagar and Pisawa. Here, plans for the dharna were again discussed – the wheat flour, rice, potatoes etc. each village would be contributing, dos and don'ts during the dharna etc. A good amount of time was also spent on other issues such as compensation for collapsed houses. A number of people still haven't received the Rs. 1500 that was promised for houses that collapsed during the severe monsoon from June to September. Plans were made to submit these lists on the 13^th at the tehsil in Mishrikh.

Another major point of contention was the manner in which work was being conducted at worksites. As a number of people put it, those who had not filed applications for work were still getting it because they are close to the Pradhan. Surbala tried to explain (and I joined in) that we had no way of making this case. If we complained, work applications could be made up on the spot. We need to pick our battles and this one wasn't worth engaging in. Further, if other people were getting work, what is the harm in that? Didn't they need the extra income as well? This point of dissent highlights the divisions along caste and/or party lines that exist in villages and that prevent mass mobilization at the village level. On the bright side, some older Sangathan saathis seem to have understood this and are promoting the message.

One poignant moment occurred in the Qutubnagar meeting when an active Saathi, Prakash, talked about how a group in his village challenged their Pradhan and wrested back the 'commission' he had taken to get old-age pensions and the like done. This group then got the work done legally, without any extortion. Prakash got a pension for his mother as well. One day, when he was away from home, the Pradhan came to his house and demanded Rs. 500 as commission from her. She gave it to him without a murmur! How hard it is to reverse decades of subservience!!

At any rate, the preparations for the dharna were proceeding at full strength. On the evening of the 15^th, a tractor deposited all the collected provisions at the Sangathan office. A whopping 20 quintals (2000 kg.) of wheat flour and rice had been collected, as well as potatoes, salt, oil and other supplies and about Rs. 3000 in cash. What a thrill to start a dharna knowing that you have food supplies for atleast 20 days at hand!

NREGA at work

10th Jan 2009

Saturday found us accompanying Richa and Sharmaji to a village where a serious dispute had broken out over measurement of work at an NREGA work site. A pond is being dug in a village in Mishrikh and ~150 labourers turned up to work here. As we've seen and heard in many places, the Pradhan's 'chamchas' and cronies were doing less work and getting paid more. This was frustrating the rest of the workers, especially those who are SKMS members. A serious disagreement had broken out and a full-blown fight had been narrowly averted. A few of the Pradhan's 'gang' had used extremely foul language against some women and this had become more of an emotional issue.

At the village, people quickly assembled – work had been shut for the day – and began recounting their versions of the incident. The Pradhan Pati (his wife is the puppet Pradhan), his son and cronies were nowhere to be found, even though they had promised to be there.

A major point of contention was the measurement of work done – the government assessment is that an average worker can dig and remove 70 cubic feet of earth per day and will receive the minimum wage – Rs. 100. If a worker digs less or more than that, he/she will be paid accordingly. Now earlier, the average volume of earth was set at 100 cubic feet. With the downward revision, most workers would be eligible to receive more, but at this worksite, 100 cubic feet was still being used as a reference. Further, the measurement of work done is supposed to be recorded daily in the Measurement Book. Instead, it was recorded only after 6 days. And the calculations showed that most people would be paid Rs. 25-40/day, a number that seems absurdly low.

Sharmaji stepped into the half-dug pond to demonstrate how to measure the volume of the pits each worker or team had dug. This is a simple process – most pits are cuboids, so the volume measure is length x width x depth. But I realized that for semi-literate/illiterate workers with low self-confidence, even this level of math is a challenge. I am sure that they can compute more difficult sums, such as interest on their loans etc. So how to get them to figure out this relatively simple equation? As Dwiji remarked, workshops on muster roll records, measurement of work etc. are in order and a good time and place for them will be the dharna!

Richa and Sharmaji persevered in locating the Pradhan Pati and his son – we finally got them to meet us in Mishrikh in the presence of the Block Pramukh. After some amount of arguing and negotiation, a compromise was arrived at. The main mischief monger would apologize for the foul language he used and would be removed from the worksite. The Junior Engineer for the region would come and independently measure the pits and calculate the wages to be paid out. This process is planned for the 15th – till then, it's wait and see and continue preparations for the dharna...

The road to Sitapur

6th - 7th Jan 2009


We returned to Sitapur on New Years Eve after an absence of 4 months. Most of this period was spent in traveling – in the US and Canada, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Karnataka, Tamilnadu... Dwiji even spent a few weeks in Kerala while I was busy at CHC. So I was ready for a change to mere local journeys – after all, travel within Mishrikh and Pisawa blocks in Sitapur dt. feels comparable to commutes within Bangalore city, maybe better. Though the distances are greater, one is not stuck in traffic jams, breathing in diesel fumes!


The first few days of our return were mainly occupied in acclimatizing to the cold and setting up supplies in the kitchen and one room of the new SKMS premises – we are staying here until we can find a place of our own. I did accompany Reena, Surbala and others to a couple of villages near Mishrikh. The year-and-a-half long campaign for unemployment allowance that SKMS has been involved in is stuck in what should be its penultimate phase. The DM-appointed committee, set up after the December 2007 dharna, came out with its final report on Oct 10th establishing the eligibility of 800+ families for roughly Rs. 15 lakh worth of dues. But, since then, the district administration has been pursuing the usual beaurocratic delaying tactics. Therefore, SKMS is planning an indefinite dharna to demand action on this matter, viz the release of funds to the families as laid out in the report. The current round of village meetings was to drum up support for this dharna in villages in the two blocks.


A committee of 3-5 people from each village were also invited for a 2-day meeting to coordinate and plan for the dharna. The meeting was held at the Mishrikh dharamsala. It was to run from the noon of 6th January to noon of the next day, with as little time spent sleeping as possible! Usually about 60-80 people have turned up at such meetings – this time there were almost 150 people! This did create a few problems with logistics, such as sleeping arrangements, and seating when we had to move inside from the terrace. Also, the even mix of newbies and older hands made it harder to organize the meeting and the agenda. But overall, it was an entertaining mix of songs and slogans (with a lot of people being trained for the same), coordination for the dharna, discussions of other issues and problems and even some scoldings and exhortations. During the past dharna in December 2007, a lot of help and support was requested and given by people in Sitapur. This time, there were more efforts to raise donations in cash and kind (wheat flour, potatoes) from the villages itself. Enough foodstock was pledged to provide food for the protestors for 15 days – hopefully, that will suffice!


While I have spent a reasonable amount of time with the members of SKMS, this workshop provided a lot of new perspectives. Some were quite simple, and given my previous experiences here, logical. After initial problems with people dirtying the toilets, it was quite easy to find an empty and clean one, though there were just 3 available. Villagers here are used to answering nature's call in the open, and they seem to answer it less frequently than us city-bred folks!


A tougher issue, and one that will very likely be a problem during the dharna, is getting folks to cooperate while distributing food, blankets etc. The sad truth is that the members of SKMS are deprived in many ways. When food is being distributed, they think about the children or other family members back home and try to squirrel away some for later. This sometimes results in other people not getting a serving at all, as during the workshop with samosas. At night, the distribution of quilts was similarly problematic. Maybe people just have to develop confidence in the sangathan and in each other. Or perhaps that will always be a challenge.

Anyway, I was sadly reminded of how much food is wasted in marriages, parties and all the other events hosted by the better-off among us. In contrast, during the dharna, due to logistical and economic issues, a simple meal of rotis and 'alu ki sabzi' will be prepared in the evening and just chai in the morning. Some people mentioned how tough it would be to not have anything to eat in the morning and it was suggested that they keep aside some rotis from the evening before. Thankfully, it is winter, with less chances of food spoiling.


The dharna has been finalized for January 16th. My primary responsibility at the time will be with the 'khabar' or news team. We are planning to come out with a daily 'akhbaar' – here's hoping we'll be able to come together as an effective news team!

A balloonist's view of agriculture

For the past month and a half, I have been hard at work trying to put together a report of all I have seen and learnt in the past 6 months. This was a requirement from CHC - a good one, because it forced me to put down on paper a lot of thoughts that were randomly floating through my brain!

Below is the chapter on agriculture. The context to the 'balloonist' is from a question posed to us at CHC: 'Do you want to be a balloonist or a molecular biologist' referring to two approaches of looking at an issue. I consider the past 6-9 months of hectic travel to be in the balloonist mode of learning!

Since 2004, I have been building my understanding and perspective on agricultural issues in India and throughout the world. In the last few months, I have met a number of groups and individuals working on this issue and have had extensive discussions with them. Following is a brief description of each of these visits:

• LEISA project – connecting the dots

In December 2005, Dwiji and I had visited Motaganahalli, a village in Bangalore rural dt., where Prasanna Saligram and others were working as part of AID India with locals on a LEISA (Low External Inputs Sustainable Agriculture) intervention. Back then, their focus was more technical – they were looking at how much biomass was required, what crops to grow together etc. Now, with the implementation of NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in all districts of the country, the social aspect of this program has increased to getting Panchayats involved and using NREGA funds to pay for some of the off-farm activities such as composting and preparing biosolutions. A new field area: Dhanametapalli in Kolar dt. has been added.

The basic model is as follows: a group of 4-6 landless women are selected to work on leased land to improve its fertility and organic content. In the process, they receive a share of the produce and valuable training that can allow them to become resource-persons or workers on organic farms. The philosophy of work is inspired by Dabholkar's ideas and practitioners like Mr. Renke. The current conceptualization with the social components was done by Mr Datye, an expert who passed away recently.

The challenges in this work are immense, the extremely low levels of the water table, shortage of biomass, good quality seeds etc., dependence on the goodwill of the leasing farmer and now cooperation of the Panchayat and so on. But there has been progress – local leaders have been created at the village level and the project has continued due to their commitment. The women of Dhanametapalli, in particular, were enthusiastic and enterprising. At a point when the work was delayed due to non-availability of seeds, they took the initiative to find out who farmed organically in the area. They visited these farms, learnt some farming approaches and procured seeds themselves! Because of the proximity to Bangalore, selling their produce has been relatively easy as well.

In conclusion, this initiative is worth supporting and learning from. It has pitfalls and inconsistencies, but it has also provided valuable capacity-building. Also, from the beginning, importance has been given to replicability and the larger picture, something that is lacking in many agricultural interventions.

• Revathi and TOFARM - where there is no alternative

I first met Revathi in early 2005 in Tamilnadu, while helping her draft a proposal for rejuvenating agricultural land damaged by the tsunami. At that time, agricultural unversity professors were saying that it would take 3-7 years for the land to return to full productivity. Revathi, along with Nammalvar and other people involved in organic farming, wanted to prove them wrong and they did. Of course, whether the farmers involved are continuing these practices is another matter...

Since then, Revathi has continued to work on training trainers and on setting up a model farm near Thiruvarur. More recently, her group has worked with Oxfam in Ampara province in Sri Lanka. The entire province has turned organic, in large part due to the difficulties of supplying fertilizers, pesticides and seeds in this conflict-torn region. A huge challenge from an organic farming standpoint was the lack of domestic animals, again due to conflict. But by using techniques such as green manuring with 15-20 seed varieties, they have been able to make land productive again.

The model farm that Revathi is setting up near Thiruvarur is only a year old, therefore it was an excellent point in time to observe her planning. The land she and her husband purchased is low-lying and often gets waterlogged, therefore it was sold at a cheap rate. Revathi and her team are trying out many innovative techniques to compensate for this. A number of ponds have been dug and the mud from them was used to elevate certain fields. In another place, a zigzag system of trenches has been created with the dug-out soil elevating the space in between them and creepers planted to reduce evaporation in summer. Fish have been introduced into the trenches and ponds – their sale provides income as well.
Revathi's mentor is Nammalvar, one of the pioneers in the Tamilnadu organic movement. He once very beautifully explained to us how it is essential to tailor farming practices to the local conditions. Seeing Revathi's work underscores those principles and provides inspiration for coming up with such approaches wherever we are.

• Farming in Auroville

Around the time we were to visit Auroville, we found that some friends from ReStore, a Chennai collective fostering consumer-producer links, were attending a 10-day workshop at Solitude Farm. We decided to attend part of the workshop while visiting other groups at Auroville. The parts we attended included discussions on Fukuoka's methods, digging a soak pit with banana saplings and other seeds and processing of traditional grains. I also briefly participated in making seeds pellets – encasing them in clay to prevent being eaten by birds and insects when broadcasting (no-tilling sowing).

Solitude farm fits seamlessly into the Auroville ethos of living in harmony with the earth. Also, since Auroville markets and consumes a huge amount of organic produce, the market does not seem to be a problem. The farm, like everything in Auroville, seems quite disconnected from the surrounding population. The cook, who comes in from a nearby village, told us: 'What is the point of going through all this trouble to pound, clean and then cook these grains?' Perhaps, because the farming and food practices are so rooted in spirituality, the residents of Solitude Farm and Auroville are willing to work harder, and pay more, for this lifestyle.

• BAIF Karnataka – tree-based dryland cultivation

BAIF is one of the oldest NGOs in the country, set up during Gandhiji's lifetime by Manibhai Desai. It works in a number of states across the country. BAIF Karnataka works on a number of issues, but we were primarily interested in the agricultural aspects of their work. They have been promoting tree-based farming as the best solution for dryland areas. We saw two types of interventions. One was with individual farmers, where over a 3 year period, they introduced organic practices such as trenches filled with organic matter, biosolutions etc. A lot of their work has been with mulberry growing in this silk-producing area. Through use of biomass, they have cut down on water consumption significantly.

Another effort has been to rejuvenate huge tracts of land, such as a 100 acre barren area that was distributed among landless families. BAIF provided training, support and funding for 3 years, at the end of which the land is productive and covered with trees. This is quite an achievement, given that many such projects are not successfully implemented. The BAIF staff told us that they paid people to water saplings in the summer and extensively monitored to ensure that they were doing so. In the words of their director, 'such work requires commitment over long periods of time'.

The work that BAIF does requires a lot of funding. They have even signed MoUs with the government in order to implement some of this work, and advocate similar styles of functioning for other NGOs. They do not have faith in local government functioning in an honest manner without inspection by NGOs, but NGO can be as susceptible to corruption as a local official, in my opinion.

• Bhaskar Save – the voice of natural farming

In 2007, Bhaskar Save, a famer who has grown using natural methods for decades, wrote an open letter to M.S. Swaminathan about the agricultural crisis in the nation. That letter was an inspiration and we were keen on meeting Bhaskarbhai. We met him a couple of days after Diwali at his farm near Umargaon. A number of pilgrims seem to have found their way here and he now has developed a 2 hour session for visitors! He talked about realizing that he was losing money rather than making a profit through chemical farming because he was spending so much on seeds, fertilizers etc. The understanding that he needed to bring down costs led him to Fukuoka and natural farming. Since then, he has not looked back. His son, Nareshbhai, is also farming organically – the premium these products fetch in the market is also attractive.

Sadly, the area around Umargaon is rapidly getting industrialized. Land prices are shooting up and pollution has shot up. It will be sad if the land that was nurtured carefully for all these decades will be impacted by these new developments.

• Becoming the change – individual experiments in farming

A significant path for people aiming to lead more meaningful lives has been agriculture. I have heard of and met people both in India and the US who have given up professional careers, bought land and begun growing their own food. It is an option we have considered too. In early November, we met Smitaben and Dhirendrabhai, a couple who were professors in Baroda. Through a process of reading, discussions and reflection, they decided to live a more sustainable life and moved to Sakvi, a village near Rajpipla. They learnt traditional farming methods from their Adivasi neighbours, who have now ironically moved to chemical farming.

The couple educated their children at home, allowing them to learn what they were interested in. They grow all they need on one acre of their land. The other acre is devoted to trees and is almost like a forest. They provide mentorship and guidance to others interested in taking up farming. If there is regret, it is that they have not been able to do more work with the villagers. But they feel that such efforts would lead them to neglect the land for which they came here in the first place. It was really nice meeting them and their older son. However, I think I would need a lot more patience and humility than I have to live life as simply and steadily as they have!

• The farmer-labourer connection

In more than one place, we have heard farmers talking about how hard it is to find farm labourers. 'People don't want to work hard','Men are addicted to drink' etc. are some of the comments I have heard. On the other hand, we know that many in rural areas are poor and underemployed. So why does this situation persist? Visiting Subhash Sharma's farm near Yavatmal might provide some of the answers.

The first thing he has done, which is simple yet profound, is provide employment for his labourers all year round. Conventionally, agricultural work has been seasonal, with a lot of demand during the sowing and harvesting times, but little in between. Subhashji has planned his farm so that there is somthing or the other to do. He provides food and accomodation to his employees and even takes them on early vacations! These systems have allowed him to not only farm successfully on his own land, but also lease others' and make them productive and profitable.

Subhashji mainly grows greens, vegetables and pulses. He sells almost all his produce in Yavatmal, with oly a few items bought by dealers in Nagpur. He firmly believes in selling in the open market as close to the farm as possible. I agree with him on this – food that is labeled organic and sold in the export market defeats the goal of sustainability. Subhashji has been able to make good profits by timing the arrival of his produce in the market, for example, the first methi in the market always fetches a good price, so he plants an early crop even though the yield is low. By incorporating natural farming techniques, Subhashji has been able to reduce his costs and his water usage. The tree cover on his land provided a haven for birds, which naturally control pests. He leaves some land fallow every year to let it 'rest'.

After touring Subhashji's farm, I was stuck with the uncomfortable thought that this kind of planning and practices would be possible only on a large landholding. One would need atleast a few acres to allow some of it to remain fallow, to plant trees etc. Would the labourers on this farm follow these practices if they owned the land? I talked to some of them who have land back in their native village – one said that his son, who farms the family land, grows cotton using chemical methods. I was left wondering how to incorporate some of Subhashji's approaches in a collective of marginal farmers.

• 10-gunta farming, rooftop gardening – a model for Indian farmers and cities?

I have been reading 'Plenty for all', a book on how everyone can enjoy a good quality of life with juat half an acre of land. The author, Dabholkar's description of Prayog Parivar, a network of people who learn from and teach each other and collaboratively build on existing knowledge. Dabholkar passed away recently, but many people inspired by him continue to work and refine on the techniques he propounded. Even the aforementioned LEISA project draws on some of these techniques, though one problem with them that the group found was the huge biomass requirements in the first year or two.

Anyway, we heard of a rooftop garden experiment by the manager of a Bombay Port Trust canteen, Preeti Patil. The approach taken by her is inspired by the Prayog Parivar. She has been able to convert all the organic waste produced by her canteen into compost and her team grows a number of vegetables using them. While nowhere near producing the vegetables needed daily in the canteen, this effort effectively manages waste and is a green oasis in the dreary Port area.

We also visited Deepak Suchade in Bajwada, MP. Deepakji is Dabholkar's protege and is working on documenting many of these approaches and providing training and workshops. His farm is on the banks of the Narmada and is a beautiful place. Over the past two years, he has transformed his land and has laid out a model of a 10-gunta (quarter acre) farm that will provide for all the food a family needs. Another model that is called the Gangamaa mandala uses all the household wastewater and provides enough fruits and vegetables for a family.

While these techniques are worth learning, the earlier mentioned drawback of huge amounts of required biomass still exists. Further, the principles that Dabholkarji laid out and which Deepakji advocates seem a bit unrealistic. For example, they say that the Gangamaa mandala would yield atleast 2 kg of vegetables every day. One kg. Can be used for domestic purposes and another kg. can be sold. In my opinion, one cannot sell 1 kg. of vegetables unless one belongs to a cooperative that can take small quantities from a lot of people and sell them collectively. To set up such a cooperative is not a trivial task and may not make business sense, but the Dabholkar school of thought does not seem to give much importance to this problem. From a personal nutrition point of view, this approach is very useful, but I am not convinced that this can provide a livelihood for a marginal farmer, let alone a middle class lifestyle.


All these visits, combined with my learnings in the past have now given me the confidence to begin some work on agriculture in Sitapur dt. The farmer-members of SKMS hold small tracts of land, many under an acre. Most have access to irrigation and therefore grow 3 crops a year. The rabi crop is usually wheat, followed by lentils or vegetables etc. In the monsoon, some grow paddy, others corn, groundnuts etc. A lot of sugarcane is grown, though receiving prompt payment from the sugar mill is a challenge. Monocropping is prevalent and soil erosion is extensive. On the nutrition front, there are high levels of malnutrition and anaemia.

There are many fronts on which I could proceed and I plan to explore them in the future months.