Once, the women of Muddana Guddi, a village in Raichur district, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, suffered from drought and poverty. With no alternatives except cursing their own troubles, they used to migrate to neighbouring states for work. Now, they are earning their own livelihoods by running a business worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.
Though the green revolution enabled India to attain food security, the technologies, subsidies and public support systems failed to address the problems of small-scale dryland agriculture. Diversified farming, being more economically and ecologically resilient, can reduce risk.
Small land holders can be self sustainable. This was proved by Shri. Santu, a small farmer in Gorakhpur, who started making a decent living from farming by increasing the diversity on the farms and integrating one into another.
A fungus grown on bagasse can save bamboo from another fungus EVEN as several fungal species act as significant plant pathogens, many have been found beneficial in controlling plant diseases. Take for example the fungus Trichoderma. This fungus is a common biological control agent and is useful in controlling diseases, particularly the white rot disease in bamboo. However, growing
Enabavi and Ramachandrapuram villages broke away from the pesticide-debt trap. They are now teaching other villages to become debt free and self-reliant A board with bold letters announces the chemical free and GM free status of Enabavi village in Warangal district. The village stopped using pesticides 10 years ago and adopted organic farming five years later, much before the state
Enabavi, a village of 52 families, is abuzz. It is hosting farmers from the nearby Kallem village who have come here for tips on profitable agriculture. Those who missed the excitement of the Green Revolution in the 1960s can get a glimpse
Shanmukha M. Dyamakkanavar is a progressive chilli farmer following organic cultivation methods. His knowledge is based on experience inherited from his father and the technical support from various agencies promoting organic cultivation. Here is his experience of growing Byadagi Chillies, popular in his area using organic cultivation methods.
In the present publication, thirty technologies and approaches from the Nepal Conservation Approaches and Technologies (NEPCAT) database, documented using the WOCAT tool, are being published as printed fact sheets to facilitate sharing with a wider audience.
