Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
CASE STUDIES OF SUCCESSFUL AGROFORESTRY
Box 5: From subsistence farming to agroforestry and prosperity
“We have found our treasure in trees,” declares Ramanathan, a 70-yearold
farmer of Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu. Farmers in his locality have
found prosperity in agroforestry, the practice of growing trees and crops in
farmlands, instead of just cultivating crops. Agreeing with Ramanathan,
Jesuraj shows his rice field juxtaposed against a grove of coconut, banana and
jackfruit trees.
Pudukottai is considered a dry area. In spite of being close to the Cauvery
delta, and in spite of Pudukottai’s Aranthangi taluk falling under the Cauvery
delta, the district does not receive water from the river. Even as the delta
farmers are financially distressed, reeling under a severe drought, the
farmers in the southern taluks of Pudukottai district have not been affected.
The farmers attribute their success to agroforestry, though they rely solely on
deep borewells for irrigation.
Elderly farmers recall the mummaari days, when they had three rainy seasons
in a year. The period that the monsoons became irregular was also the time
bore wells were introduced. Many farmers recall that bore wells were first
sunk in their region in 1972. Ramanathan recalls the initial days of euphoria.
Suddenly there seemed to be plenty of water. Combined with the green
revolution practices of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, farmers
enjoyed good farm income for the first time. However, their success was
short-lived. After a decade, their expenditure on the farm inputs increased.
Beyond a point, the yield not only did not increase but started decreasing.
Most of the farmers grew two crops. Those with more acreage grew more
number of crops such as groundnut, pigeon pea, and black gram. Yet,
it was limited to two cropping seasons and the farmers found it hard to
make a living out of farming. The present shift to agroforestry seems to
Annexures
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