Reviving lives & landscapes

Twenty years, 35 villages and over 10 lakh surviving trees. Harshavardhan Sheelavant narrates a community initiative in Dharwad district that has converted hundreds of acres of fallow land into green orchards and transformed the lives of farmers.

It was another monsoon day without rains. But the dry spell didn’t quench the spirit of residents of Belligatti village in Dharwad district who assembled near a small hillock on the outskirts of the village early in the morning. The entire village was in a festive mood as hundreds of farmers along with their families, friends and relatives had gathered.

While kids were excited about the event that would unfold in a couple of hours, elders were hoping that they would get timely rains. Their thoughts and conversations centred around Agi Habba — the festival of saplings. This celebration, where nature is revered and rural life is cherished, has become an annual feature in many villages of Dharwad district for the past two decades.

It all started in 1997 when an initiative to ensure sustainable livelihood opportunities for deprived rain-fed farmers in 22 villages of the district was started by BAIF Institute for Rural Development. Tree-based farming system or integrated farming system, which stressed on the integration of horticulture, agriculture and livestock, gave a new dimension to rain-fed farming. It could have been like any other project, which focuses on short-term result and monetary benefit, but for the person who led the initiative in the region. 

Community initiative
Prakash Bhat, who anchored the initiative, took it to a different level by making it participatory. Prakash says, “I was clear that we implement the activities with the involvement of the community, though the initiative aimed at helping individual families.” To ensure active community participation, his team facilitated formation of self-help groups. Later, a federation of these self-help groups, Sarvodaya Mahasangha, was formed to strengthen village-level groups.

The dedicated work of the team to make people understand the necessity and advantages of integrated farming system yielded results and many farmers came forward to take it up. Farmers were happy with the new possibilities that this system brought with it to ensure sustainable livelihoods. While everything was going smoothly, Prakash foresaw the necessity to give a proper structure to the initiative to help people own it.

To achieve this, his team held discussions with self-help groups and thus the festival of saplings, Agi Habba as it is called now, was conceived. They thought that they should make tree planting a celebration and a spiritual experience. Hence it was called a habba (meaning festival).  People took to it with enthusiasm and they were given space to design it, like a pageant of poorna kumbha, worship of any deity that happened to be near the planting site or vanadevate. Tying kankanas, taking oath of planting and protecting trees became part of the rituals.

Ups and downs
It is not always easy to convert open fields into green orchards. “Initially it was difficult to convince farmers to plant trees on their field as they had their own inhibitions. They had always considered that trees were detrimental to farm yield. It is only after they realised the impact of our efforts that they became active and spread the message to other villages too,” recalls Prakash. In fact, Prakash went beyond the professional limitations and took the initiative to his heart. He organised camps for farmer families in his house regularly and tried to understand their circumstances and helped them improve their living condition. Counselling, struggle against alcoholism, women empowerment activities are some of the offshoots of the initiative.

Raising necessary seedlings was the next challenge. Farmers initially favoured water-intensive crops like eucalyptus seeing the commercial gains. Prakash and his team, after a series of deliberations, convinced farmers to plant species that are either native to the region or cater to the needs of the farmer, than the ones that could affect the ecosystem negatively. Gradually the focus shifted from mono crops to mixed crops. About 15 species that catered to the varied needs of farmers like food, biomass, fodder, fuel and timber were planted. Forest species like subabul, moringa, gliricidia, pongamia, neem, teak, eucalyptus, gooseberry and cashew were planted on the bunds. These plants formed a live fence, replacing the traditional thorn fence. Mango, sapota, guava and tamarind were planted inside while grains and pulses were grown in a patch. When they found it difficult to source preferred seedlings at the Forest Department on a regular basis, they trained women to raise seedlings in nurseries. Now, the awareness has spread and people do not opt for eucalyptus or acacia.

In the initial years, it was difficult to protect crops without traditional fencing. Farmers also found it difficult to source water for protective irrigation of horticulture plants. But their motivation was so high that they monitored plants consistently to ensure that their farm passed through the tough phase. The new system brought with it the additional advantages of soil and water conservation. Water conservation structures like trench cum bunds, farm ponds, and check dams helped the land hold water. Trees and fodder grass on bunds helped in soil and water conservation. Then there were additional activities like vermicomposting and goat rearing that brought some income. Exposure to successful models in different parts of the State sustained their enthusiasm. Farmers also took up social work like shramadana to build check dams, buildings, sanitation work etc.

More than 1,500 farmers, with over 100 plants per acre, have taken up this system successfully. There is a perceivable improvement in the water table and tremendous improvement in the micro-climate of the area. Mulching with available biomass has improved the texture and fertility of the soil enhancing its water retention capacity. With many farmers gradually shifting to predominantly organic farming practices, natural regeneration is happening in fallow lands and one can see these farms green even during harsh summer.

Many benefits 
Basavanneppa Angadi of Surashettykoppa village has seen the benefits of this initiative both in the farm and within the family. Water level has increased in his farm while soil erosion has stopped completely. He is also confident that the value of forestry trees planted on the border of the farm continues to increase every year. “Scarcity of rain hasn’t affected my farm this year. Drought situation doesn’t scare me anymore,” says Basavanneppa. Basappa Mangalagatti, another farmer who took to integrated farming three years ago, has seen an improvement in soil fertility.

When the cluster of 22 villages reached the point of sustainability, Prakash extended the initiative to 13 more villages of the district through another organisation called Society for Community Participation & Empowerment (SCOPE), which he heads now. Over 30,000 saplings are being planted by farmers of the district every year with the support of the
organisation since 2010.

All the villages, which have been introduced to this practice in the past two decades, continue to celebrate planting of saplings and practise integrated farming system, which has helped them dare drought. The initiative has motivated others too to do something in their villages either in tree planting, or in saving water. For instance, Channabasappa Kombli of Kakola village in Haveri district attended the first such event and was motivated to start a similar activity in his village.

Apart from individual farms, people have planted saplings in school and temple lands. The survival of forestry plants is estimated to be around 60 per cent overall — over 10 lakh — despite frequent droughts. The practice of planting saplings continues in most farms and there is natural regeneration by seeds too. The effort has contributed to improving the vegetation in the district besides providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to many.