Success Stories

KB Drip - Shifting identities and enlarging roles for women
Case study of Chandrabhaga (village, Sunsgaon)

Fifty years old Chandrabhaga lives in Sunsgaon village (Block Jamner, District Jalgaon ) Her family consists of her husband Daneshwer Gaikward, son and daughter in law and two grand children. The family is very poor and owns 1/2 hectare of land in which they grow cotton and vegetables. The small well in their land has water during the rainy season, but the level goes down very low during summers and so they have very little water available for irrigation. The family takes two cash crops in the season- in the period from August to January they grow vegetables in one acre of land and cotton in the rest 1.5 acres in the months June to March .

The family moved in this village about 10 years back and grew only rain fed cotton as they could not afford a well in their small land. While men worked in their own field, women of the house hold worked as wage laborers which was also very inconsistent as it varied between 2-6 months in a year depending on the employment opportunities that were generated with the availability of water.

Inspite of the hard work, women suffered discrimination due to disparity in men and women wages. The women were paid almost half of what men got from the same work. The family could altogether earn a net income of Rs. 7-8 thousand per annum, bare enough for their survival.

Three years back the family took some loan and got a small well constructed in their farm. The well has water during the rainy season but the level goes down from November onwards and was therefore not enough for them to take another crop. Chandrabhaga working as a wage labourer had seen her employer using Drip system to irrigate his big farm. She soon realized the benefits of the system in terms of water and labour saving. The growth of the weeds was reduced and even during summers when the water level was low, he still managed to irrigate his horticulture farm by the use of drip system. She soon realized that if her family owned this system they could take up another crop or cultivate vegetables in their land. She realized that while the size of their land was enough to feed the family it was the water constraint that they suffered from.

Nurturing a dream of buying drip system she tried to find out the prices of the system. Her dreams came crashing down to a rude shock when she found that the system was much beyond their affordability and thus gave it up as a fanciful dream. Few days later Chandrabhaga along with her husband saw a video show arranged by IDEI at the fellow farmer's house, which was about how a very poor farm family using drip technology have overcome their water constraints and increased their income. The movie highlighted that the systems were low cost and specifically designed for very poor farm families. Chandrabhaga convinced her husband to buy a system for their own farm. The customized system cost them about Rs.1000 for half acre of land and used easy drip as laterals. They even attended a demonstration meeting conducted by IDEI to understand the technology better.

Chandrabhaga's family now grows vegetables, with the water pumped from their well which lasts for half an hour irrigating one acre of land. The well is recharged the next day and regains its original level. In last two years the family has made an additional net income of Rs.7-8 thousand in addition to their income from cotton. The whole family works hard on the farm. Both men and women of the household start together from their home early at 7.30am taking with them Jowar roti and a dish prepared from the vegetables grown in their own land. With increased work opportunities on their own farms, Chandrabhaga and her daughter in law have stopped working as wage labourers and attend to their own farms patronizingly. They are happy with their newly acquired self-esteem as they refer to it as "apna kaam" - their own work. They have increased flexibility of working hours and no fear of losing their daily wages during illness. No longer do they have to face the harassment or the humiliation at the hands of the employer. The daughter in law goes back early home to attend to the children who come back from school.

Chandrabhaga feels that Drip system is very easy to operate and maintain and she can do it on her own. It considerably reduces the time and effort due to less weed growth. Chandrabhaga still spends a lot of time on the farm but likes it, as she says that she learns and experiences new things everyday. Earlier as a laborer the only work she knew was weeding and picking cotton. But now she has learnt to apply fertilizers, stacking of the tomato plants, and making sapling from seeds and their transplantation. She even exchanges information with women in her village about vegetable cultivation. About 35 households have now bought Drip system and are mainly cultivating vegetables.

With their increased incomes in the last two years the family has bought a TV, two goats and also hired a 2 acre land where they intend to grow vegetables and cotton. Chandrabhaga attributes this increased income to the vegetable cultivation done by them which was not possible without using drip system. The satisfaction of feeding her family with nutritious food was evident from her statement made very emphatically that the children have now started drinking goat milk and eat two vegetable meals in a day.

Chandrabhaga has now come to know of IDEI's plan of introducing and helping farmers to grow high-value crops like tree-brinjal and turmeric. She wants to participate in growing these in her own farm as she feels that intercropping is a good agronomic practice and the best way to avoid risks like crashing of prices of a particular vegetable. She is well aware as she cited the example of her neighbor Ramesh P. Kulkarni whose papaya crop failed due to climate variation, and that of Atma Ram Rupchand Bhaumi who incurred losses due to crashing of drumstick prices. Her husband has seen the Vermiwash unit promoted by IDEI in an exposure visit to a farm and was very impressed with the quality of cabbage produced by the farmer producing and using the Vermiwash. He is now keen on setting up one on his own farm as he feels that they have to spend a considerable amount on the "NP" fertilizer.

First sight impression of Chandrabhaga is that of typical rural women who tend to invisiblize themselves as they silently and humbly attend to household chores. Such is the impact of technology that it can transform the inner self of a woman to take on new challenges with increased vigour and strength to keep the cycle of motivation and achievement rolling.

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