Water Resources — Indravati and Balijore rivers
The Intervention
Harsha Trust, supported by Caring Friends, set up a solar-based Lift Irrigation system using a 3 HP solar pump to lift water to the main field, which spans 8 acres of area and is shared among 20 farmers. All the farmers collaborated to lay the pipes, and after a week, they started ploughing their land to cultivate vegetables.
Income Enhancement
During the last Rabi season, the farmers successfully grew onions, tomatoes, and brinjals, earning approximately ₹ 15,000 each.
Impact
Earlier, despite having a large area of flat land and two rivers -Indravati and Balijore rivers surrounding the village, villagers could not utilise the same for commercial vegetable cultivation due to erratic electricity supply, high cost of diesel, absence of roads and irrigation infrastructure. Owing to this, only a few farmers would venture into vegetable cultivation during the Kharif season.
The day the solar structure was set up and the pump began operating, the villagers, from children to the elderly, were filled with joy. This marked the beginning of a promising journey. They prepared a seedbed early in the Rampur Harsha team area and decided to grow brinjals and chillies as the main crops collectively. This progress has been possible owing to the Solar River Lift System and the combined efforts of the Harsha team and the farmers.
Way Forward
The farmers have come to appreciate the organisation’s efforts, and as a result, they are willing to contribute towards procuring seeds and other inputs for the upcoming Kharif season. They have taken the responsibility upon themselves to arrange for all necessary inputs and aim to cultivate an average of 40 cents of land with vegetables.
The community has wholeheartedly accepted the idea that they will be responsible for future system maintenance. Harsha Trust will assist in ensuring quality parameters for all crops and establishing market linkages. The farmers of Khamanpada are confident that with solar irrigation, they will be able to grow crops throughout the year and earn an average income of 80,000 rupees per year.
A demand to lay an all-weather concrete road connecting Khamanpada to Kumarkani will be put up at the upcoming Gram Sabha meetings as the fair-weather road adjoining the wooden bridge gets submerged during the monsoons, making it difficult for travel, transport and marketing. Once the road gets constructed, they can even market their produce at the bigger markets of Kashipur and Junagarh, located 40-50 km away.
In the words of Dhanamani Gouda,
On my 2-acre land, earlier, I used to cultivate paddy, ragi and corn on most of my land and vegetables on 15 cents during the monsoons (Kharif). Now, with the solar lift irrigation facility, I cultivate vegetables on 30 cents of land across three seasons. During winter (Rabi), I grow green pea, broccoli and cauliflower; during summer (Zaid), I grow bitter gourd, tomato and brinjal. This year, I gained an additional income of ₹ 25,000 from winter vegetables compared to last year. This has helped me buy a two-wheeler in instalments, using which it is easier to transport the vegetables to the markets at Dumerpadar (5 km away) and Thuamul Rampur (9 km away). This year’s rainy season, I will be sowing pointed gourd and spike gourd.
