Sumitra Devi is a farmer belonging to the Rakhiniketan self-help group of village Betulkhurd, Gola, in Jharkhand. Her family owns 3 acres of cultivable land but due to lack of irrigation facility and shortage of water they could not get production as per the potential of their land. She also faced challenges of procuring quality agricultural inputs from local market and selling her produce in the local market. Her family annually earned INR 70,000. When the FPO Unnati Mahila Kisaan, registered as part of the LEAP project interventions, started its village level membership drive for women, she became a member by contributing INR 500 as membership fees, in December 2020.
The FPO, with support from PRADAN, helped instal solar based lift irrigation (LI) system in that village and Sumitra Devi was one of the beneficiaries along with 25 other members. The LI system helped irrigate a total of 15 acres of land in that patch. With the FPO’s support Sumitra Devi was also linked with PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna), the state irrigation scheme, that facilitated installation of drip irrigation in one acre of land. In this drip irrigated patch she cultivated watermelon in 50 decimal of land during summer season for which she got good quality agricultural inputs (Seeds, Pesticide and Fertilizer) at her door step at a reasonable price through the FPO. With the support of FPO she also got technical training on watermelon cultivation and proper package of practice which ensured enhanced production. Having sowed watermelon seed in the end of January 2021 to target Ramzan (month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community observed by Muslims worldwide) period market price, she sold a total of 3.8 tonnes of watermelon in two plucking and earned INR 20,000. The FPO helped in the marketing of the produce at a good price, despite the lockdown due to COVID-19 and the resultant fall in watermelon demand and price.
Sumitra Devi happily shares that while previously they could not cultivate crops during the summer season due to lack of water availability, this year they managed to cultivate Watermelon, Maize, Onion and Chilly in a total of 2 acres of land after the installation of drip irrigation and solar based lift irrigation system. This has resulted in an additional income of INR 80,000 in one season. Sumitra Devi proudly mentions that her daughter and son are studying in school and the additional income will help her to continue their higher education.
Going forward , she has planned to cultivate Brinjal and Chilly through 50 decimal of land this year in Kharif season for which she has purchased seeds from the FPO and prepared her nursery. Sumitra Devi is very excited about the interventions of the FPO and she has encouraged many other women in her panchayat to join the FPO.
As Sumitra Devi proudly proclaims, “ Now that we are earning in excess of INR100,000 annually, we will also encourage other women farmers to register themselves as members of the FPO.” A total of 60 women have enrolled from her panchayat.
Sumitra Devi’s case makes it very evident that systemic irrigation support and door step market support can increase farmers’ income beyond INR100,000 per year, and help individual farmers visualize a better future for themselves through agriculture. In her own words, “Till we do not do collective farming, we cannot hope to prosper and progress.”
*”The Millionaire Farmer”
Special inputs by : Sudhir Sahni, New Delhi
Founded in 1983, PRADAN has been at the forefront of innovations in rural development and has played a significant role in the design and implementation improvement of major rural development programmes. Given the deep deprivation in rural pockets, particularly among tribal and vulnerable groups, we promote sustainable livelihoods, integrated with work on issues of Gender, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Climate Change, Skilling and Governance. We currently work across 8 states, reaching out to 2.8 million households in collaboration with more than 100 NGO partners. PRADAN is an equal opportunity organisation. To learn more, please visit us at: www.pradan.net.
As an Executive (Communications), the incumbent is supposed to be a knowledgeable, self-motivated and passionate individual with a creative bent of mind. The major focus area would be to promote and help flourish the practice of reflective writing and process documentation. The role involves content generation, curation, presentation and publication of articles for internal forums and external agencies including mainstream media. The person will also be responsible for organising training events for the same. Creating and implementing the media strategy to showcase PRADAN’s successes and challenges will be another key aspect of the position.
The qualifying degree is a minimum of 16 years of education (A Master’s degree in English literature, or any other social science stream).
A degree or diploma in Mass Communication from a reputed institute is preferred
Nature of Engagement: Regular position with a probation period of six months.
Remuneration: Based on qualification and experience the CTC would be in the range of INR 8 to 10 lakhs per annum. The CTC includes basic pay and other allowances. Apart from this, provision of deferred benefits such as PF, Gratuity, NPS, Insurance (Term life insurance, hospitalization insurance for self and dependents and accident insurance policy) are provided.
Place of posting: In PRADAN locations (possibly district town or state capital)
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Those shortlisted will be invited to a selection process in Noida, tentatively in the first week of September 2024.
PRADAN is an equal opportunity employer. Women candidates are encouraged to apply.
Interested candidates with the relevant background and fulfilling the eligibility criteria are visit our website https://www.pradan.net/join-us/#careers and fill the ‘Application for Executive (Communications)’.Applications close by August 31, 2024.