Over to the Greener Side - Agriculture & Forestry

Isn’t it ironic when the hands that grow our food are left begging? That’s life in Jharkhand – one of the most food insecure regions in India. Agricultural practices are obsolete. Farmers depend on rain and cultivate only one crop. The vast land remains untapped. And precious forest resources are abused and degraded in the fight for survival.
But not for long, we hope.

Our interventions in agriculture aim to influence quality, quantity and price of agricultural resources. For this, we reclaim land, bring uncultivated land to life by enhancing soil quality, and providing HYV seeds and irrigation facilities, by developing an area-specific farming model. We also provide market linkages so that farmers get the best price for their produce, preventing chances of exploitation. Fields of Gold in Kadru

Key Projects
Joint Forest Managementy
Partner: India-Canada Environment Facility
Operational area: 2,000 ha in the tribal belt of Patratu block of Hazaribagh District
Initiatives:
  • Constituting Village Forest Protection and Management Committees (VFPMC) with members elected democratically through Gram Sabhas (village bodies)
  • Introducing the usufruct sharing principle — 90% of forest produce going to villages and 10% to the State Forest Department
  • Opening joint bank accounts for every VFPMC
  • Introducing bush and parasitic climber cutting to unclog the forest cover and save broad-leaved trees
  • Maintaining the newly-recharged Dhob Dhab river which had dried to a trickle
  • Building structures like boulder checks, gully plugs, gabions and silt detention dams  

Development of the Tribal Area of Ranchi
Partner: Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT)
Operational area: 3000 households across 16 villages of Ranchi district
Initiatives:
  • Ensuring security of kharif crop by improved agro-infrastructure and technical support facilities
  • Introduction of HYV seeds and demonstration of modern farming methods
  • Land reclamation, improved irrigation systems
  • Introduction of additional livelihood sources, especially animal husbandry, horticulture, vegetable cultivation and fertilizer production
Ecological Agriculture at Rukka Demonstration Farm
Operational area: Rukka village, Ranchi
Initiatives:
  • Creation of Farmers’ Clubs for better agro practices
  • Introduction of Ecological Farming Model
  • Provision of market linkages, R&D facilities and technological assistance
  • Exploration of aquaculture, dairying, and natural resource management for alternative income generation
  • Encouragement of medicinal plant cultivation in collaboration with CAPART, CIMAP, RRL and Central Universities
Joint Forest Management (JFM)
Partner: The Forest Department; ICEF
Operational area: Patratu, Hazaribagh
Initiatives:
  • Mobilization of CBOs like the VFPMC and Village Development Committees (VDCs) for forest protection
  • Implementation of contour trenching, drainage line treatment and afforestation
  • Awareness generation on the need for forest land conservation and relation between forest and agriculture

This is the only example of an NGO  working in protected forest  area with the support of the state forest department for complete treatment of the catchment areas.
Eco Clubs for students of Patratu

  • To get the next generation involved in conserving the environment, we introduced Eco Clubs in rural schools of Patratu Block, under the KGVK-ICEF Project.

Medicinal Plants Project with CAPART
  • Jharkhand is blessed with ideal conditions for medicinal and aromatic plants, which provide not only primary health remedies, but also additional income. The 3-year project, partnered by CAPART, CIMAP, RRL and Central Universities, covered 4 blocks of Ranchi and Hazaribagh, involving progressive farmers, traditional herbal practitioners and forest-dependent groups.

Round the corner!

Major Livelihood-based Projects in the Ranchi District, partnered by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and Oxfam 

 

New Indians ..............................................................................................

Meet the New Indians

  • The Enchanted Forests of Armadag

    There was a time in Armadag village when there were no regulations for cutting fire wood, which degraded forest resources.

    But ever since the KGVK-ICEF project intervened, the people of Armadag have joined hands to protect forest land, forming their first Village Forest Protection and Management Committee (VFPMC). And today, anyone who needs timber will need the VFPMC’s approval to even touch an axe! Violation of this regulation is penalized by a hefty fine, which is then transferred to Armadag’s Village Development Committee, to be used for village welfare. By saving the riches they have, the people of Armadag crossed over to the other side… which really was greener!

  • Urmila’s Green Revolution

    Of the 624 households in Chikor village, 411 are of tribal folk. Their main occupation is agriculture, but they also work as daily wage labourers to supplement their incomes. Vermi-compost fertilizer was a totally new concept for them, and the women were afraid to use it. Only a demonstration could convince them. But who would try it first?

    Young and dynamic Urmila Singh agreed to use vermi-compost in her field, which already had 4-inch tall wheat crops. The field was divided into two parts – 75% urea and 25% vermi-compost mixture was added in one part, while the other part had only urea. Within a week, a marked difference was noticed. The vermi-compost area yielded green crops that grew considerably more. Seeing is believing… and the women of Chikor finally became believers. Now, they even sell their home-made manure to farmers of nearby villages and SHGs. All thanks to Urmila, who led the Green Revolution!