The Report - North 24 Parganas

some temporary interim project that these people can fall back on while waiting forthe pond and soil to yield results.He has plans to plant ‘macca’ or ‘bhutta’ as well. Sardar calculates that he wouldbe able to get Rs. 72,000/ at least from the macca that he plants in two harvests.Each harvest takes about three months to be ready. He also adds that it gets difficultif one does not know the agents who buy the macca. Apart from this he also has aplan for watermelon plantation which sells well in the local market. According toSardar, bananas, guava and macca are harvests that give him a very goodincome. Sardar is of the opinion that due to over cultivation, some of the plants arebeing attacked by viruses, never seen before. He also says that farmers are usingmore chemical fertilizers than natural ones which could be another cause to theviruses.Another point to be looked into is the fact that the depths of the ponds are eightfeet deep as per the project’s norms and this was done keeping rain harvest in mind.However, it seems that the villagers prefer the natural underground water insteaddepending on the rains and would like the ponds to be few feet deeper in order toget the level of underground water.