Tribal farmers grow organic millets and vegetables on once-barren land; income up over three times

Budura Pradhani, a Bhumia tribal in the Koraput district of Odisha, is a happy farmer whose nine acres of barren land have turned into lush green fields. He earns Rs1.5 lakh from millet (mandia) cultivation for six months a year, while vegetables bring about Rs 2 lakh during the rest of the year. 

Like Budura, 20 other farmers in the Nuaguda village under Kundra block have converted their barren 60 acres into productive stretches.

Earlier lying vacant, these fields in Nuaguda now yield black gram, green gram, Bengal gram, millets, paddy, niger (herb and oilseed crop), maize and vegetables. 

This transformation is the result of the joint effort of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Jeypore, and Indian Institution of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC), Sunabeda of Koraput district, a wing of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

 How water harvesting changed farming

“In 2001, I began growing eucalyptus (nilagiri in the local language) on nine acres as it can thrive in degraded lands. I would cut them and sell them to traders after five years of their plantation. It fetched me around Rs 1 lakh. The earnings halved every five years, bringing almost no returns after 15 years. Moreover, the plants absorbed much water from the soil, leading to depletion of the water table,” says Budura.

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At around that time, in 2017, MSSRF and IISWC teams visited the area.

“They trained us in organic farming practices and created water sources (tanks and ponds). This prompted me to start growing millets and vegetables in 2018 after uprooting the eucalyptus plants,” he tells 30Stades. 

Besides, people had to trek nearly three km to fetch water from the nearest Kulu River for drinking and cooking. However, now four taps have been installed -- two in Upara Sahi and two in Tala Sahi of the village.

 “Two check dams have been put up for rainwater harvesting and recharging aquifers. While the taps in Upara Sahi function with solar power, those in Tala Sahi work with government electricity supply,” says Govindia Ghuria, a resident of Tala Sahi

Prior to 2018, Govindia had been growing paddy in half an acre for consumption. Now he grows paddy, mandia, black gram and green gram in five acres, generating an annual income of about Rs. 1.7 lakh.

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Organic farming benefits 3,000 tribal farmers

Conversion of barren land into crop-growing fields has been possible under two projects implemented by MSSRF and IISWC with financial assistance from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The first project ‘Ensuring Safe Drinking Water to Tribal Households in Koraput Region of Odisha’ commenced in 2012 and ended in 2017.

The second project was ‘Upscaling Sustainable Technological Solutions and Replicable Models for Ensuring Food and Nutrition, Livelihood and Social Security of Scheduled Tribes in Selected Gram Panchayats of Koraput District, Odisha. It took off in 2021 and would continue till the end of 2025.

 While Rs 81 lakh was allocated for the first project, nearly Rs 2.81 crore was provided for the second. Around Rs 96.72 lakh out of total Rs.2.81 crore has been earmarked for providing drinking water facilities. 

“Now nearly 1500 hectares of barren land in 34 villages under Kundra, Boipariguda and Koraput blocks of Koraput grow different crops because of the two projects. This has helped increase earnings of nearly 3,000 farmers who mostly belong to Paraja and Bhumia communities,” says MSSRF Director Dr Prashant Kumar Parida. 

MSSRF has also converted 400 hectares into orchards with fruit-bearing saplings like mango and guava, which check soil erosion. The fruits are intercropped with vegetables.

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“Now farmers grow vegetables, green gram, black gram and Bengal gram in 1000 hectares during Rabi Season (November-March). They also grow seasonal vegetables in over 250 hectares during Kharif Season (between June-July and September-October) besides paddy, millet, niger and maize in other parts of the land,” says Dr Kartik Charan Lenka, a senior scientist of MSSRF.

 Both MSSRF and IISWC brought all target villages under their Science Technology Innovation Hub and created five check dams in different canals, 32 tanks, 24 polythene-lined ponds and six regular ponds. 

For organic farming, nearly 1,000 vermicompost beds were set up at household levels and farmers were trained to use biofertilisers and biopesticides like ‘Handikhata’, ‘Jeevamruta’, ‘Bijamruta’ , ‘Neemastra’, Trichoderma and rhizobium in place of toxic chemicals.   

Under the first project, the average number of distribution points installed in a village for providing potable water varied between four and eight. While half of them function with solar energy, the conventional government power supply helps the other half to function.

Land levelling, improving soil quality, setting up water harvest structures and promoting organic farming were included as components of the second project, according to Dr Kartik.

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“Besides land levelling, we did bunding-cum-trenching in about 269 hectares to check run-off rainwater and soil erosion between 2021 and 2023 during my tenure as senior scientist in Sunabeda-based IISWC. During this phase of my tenure in IISWC we also set up 14 polythene-lined ponds in several villages to prevent water seepage so that farmers could irrigate their land adequately,” says Dr Jyotiprava Dash who is now a senior scientist in Nagpur-based National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Maharashtra. 

Dr Kartik says, “We also set up 10 water harvesting structures in six selected villages that store 15.6 lakh cubic meters of water used for irrigation. Drinking water facilities have been provided in these villages to cater to the needs of 2000 households.”

More than 100 farmers of village Banuaguda under Boipariguda block of Koraput who grow paddy and millet on about 120 acres and vegetables and fruits on 50 acres are satisfied with their progress.

“Earlier, I received an annual yield of less than one quintal per acre. But now it is over three quintals per acre. My annual income per acre has also gone up from less than Rs 30,000 to over Rs70,000,” says Ratakar Nayak, another tribal farmer.

(Niroj Ranjan Misra a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports).

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