Jaipur, Residents of a small and nondescript village in Karauli district, who were living under the shadow of constant fear in a dacoit-infested area, are engaged in making their lives better through vegetable cultivation supported by a philanthropic organization. The villagers of Patri in Karauli district were earlier barely able to make ends meet by working as labourers in mines. Patri village has been adopted by Lupin Human Welfare & Research Foundation, working in Bharatpur district for over two decades, for its all-round development. As part of its development programme, Lupin HW&R Foundation formulated an action plan for creating alternative livelihood opportunities in the village.
The Lupin HW&R Foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Sita Ram Gupta, said here today that Patri village has very little land suitable for agriculture, as it is situated in an undulating area and is surrounded by hills on all sides. However, the ground water level in the village is high as a result of a huge quantity of water collecting in the space between hills during rains.
Taking advantage of the availability of water, the Lupin HW&R Foundation chalked out a plan for helping out the villagers through vegetable cultivation. The villagers were earlier sowing traditional crops, such as wheat, mustard and gram, which had a low yield and did not generate sufficient income to sustain their families. For most parts of the year, villagers in Patri were working as labourers in the mines in the adjoining hills and trying to survive with the magre income with a great difficulty, said Mr. Gupta. The constant fear of dacoits operating in the region is another aspect which the villagers have to deal with to ensure their survival.
The Lupin HW&R Foundation’s entry into the village has led to a turnaround in the situation. The Foundation, working as a philanthropic body in the neighbouring Bharatpur district, provided intensive training for vegetable cultivation to villagers and supplied seeds of improved varieties for vegetables on 50 per cent subsidy to 15 farmers.
“The objective of the exercise was to gradually replace the farming of foodgrains with vegetable cultivation to secure remunerative prices to the villagers. We identified cauliflower as the most profitable vegetable for the region and laid emphasis on its extensive cultivation,” said Mr. Gupta.
Most of the farmers grew cauliflowers, tomatoes and brinjals this year under the guidance of representatives of Lupin HW&R Foundation. Mr. Gupta pointed out that about 10 quintals of cauliflower was being supplied everyday from Patri to Karauli vegetable mandi, bringing the title, Gobhiwalon Ka Gaon(village of cauliflower growers) to Patri.
In addition to the hard work of villagers and skilled guidance of Lupin HW&R Foundation, tanks have been constructed in Patri for storage of water coming in the shape of streams from the nearby hills. This has ensured availability of irrigation waters to villagers throughout the year at a very low cost.
Mr. Gupta said the Lupin HW&R Foundation had also installed 10 units of vermi-compost to further reduce the cost of vegetable production. Besides, a new action plan is being formulated for providing training to landless farmers of Patri for generating alternative means of livelihood by utilizing the locally available resources.
Kalyan Singh Kothari, Media Consultant, Mobile: 9414047744