Current status of L.I. Project, Bagbahali
In the year 2002 a lift irrigation project was installed by REACHD at Bagbahali village of Balangir district in Orissa with financial support of SEEDS.
In this project 32 poor S.T. farmers are selected and around 50 acres of land was provided with irrigation facilities. Due to rainfall from the month of June to October, the lift irrigation point is not currently used and the pump set was disconnected because of floods in the river every year.
In Kharif season the farmers are cultivating paddy, pulses and vegetables on their lands. Some years they are faced with drought due to uncertainty in rainfall in the month of October as paddy is harvested in the month of November and December. With this project they are able to protect their crop from drought in Kharif season.
Bishi Bhoi harvesting mixed crops including Brinjal (eggplant)
Niranjan Bhue weeding Sunflower
Niranjan Bhue ready for harvesting Banana
In Rabi season the farmers cultivate Dalua Paddy, edible oil seeds (Sunflower) vegetables and pulses. Last year some of farmers cultivated Banana in their lands also. Sometimes we also provide technical support to them by providing agriculture scientist and expert to them. We promote use of organic manure/pesticides on their lands; in this regard we popularised and installed vermin compost preparation in this village. We also trained some of the farmers to do sundry work repairing and maintenance of Pump set and electrical operation.
Showing Earthworm for vermin compost
Gunanidhi Rai preparing vermin compost
32 farmers in this project have small patches (1-2 acre) of land each. In this land they are able to cultivate 2 or 3 crops annually and have secured their livelihood throughout the year.
The basic objective of the project was to provide sustainable livelihood to the poor and to check migration, for which SEEDS has provided assistance is realized to a great extent. It's hoped this will encourage people in the nearby villages to learn from and practice the model implemented in Bagbahali.
Editorial Note by Priyadarsan Patra: The above is derived from report by Ramachandra Behera, REACHD (Bolangir,India) in May of 2010.