Experiences of Farmers in India Experiences of Farmers in ... - AgSri

Madhya Pradesh
Shivji Kushram
Moiyanala (Forest village)
Dhudhava
Madhya Pradesh
Contact: Mr. Sandeep Khanwalkar,
MPRLP, Bhopal, M.P.
Ph: 9425303566.
Paddy cultivation
46
Age: 45 years
Education: Literate
Family size: Five
Occupation(s): Agriculture
No. of years in farming: 20
Shivji possesses 10 acres of total agriculture land. He practices rain-fed agriculture
in both seasons. Agriculture is mainly done to meet the food requirement of the family
and livestock. If there is surplus production, he sells it in the market. To meet other
requirements, his family depends on forest produces. Rice is the main food for his
family. Therefore, paddy cultivation is done in a big plot. Due to limited availability of
good quality land for paddy cultivation, he could take paddy only on 4 acres of land
out of 10. Rain water is the major source of irrigation. He takes water from a stream
using diesel pump on rent. Remoteness of his village does not provide opportunity
to him to apply quality inputs in his field. Average yield in flooding method ranges
between 5 to 7 q/acre.
SRI adoption
MPRLP team, a local NGO, is working in this village to address the issues of
livelihoods through Panchayat Raj Institutions. As agriculture is the main source of
livelihoods, it was decided to put extra energy to enhance agriculture production.
Farming system approach was adopted to understand existing agriculture practices.
After that MPRLP prepared plan of action. When the team discussed about overall
production of paddy in his field, it came to know that it was very low. After that he was
told about SRI method for paddy cultivation. He was told by Agriculture Department
also about this method last year, but he could not adopt it because of the fear of
failure. When the team enquired him about SRI, he could not explain it clearly. He
knew this method as “Medagascar method of rice cultivation”. First time he was
explained, oriented and trained on SRI by MPRLP team. A detailed discussion on
the benefits of SRI was done with his family to bring them into confidence. This
took two to three rounds of discussion with the entire family and they agreed to