Theme

March 3, 2018

Innovative Technology: Clean Drinking Water in Villages

Finding a way to harvest rainwater by creating freshwater pockets in existing saline aquifers is a novel and creative way to solve the drinking water problem in the arid regions of Haryana, which have very few surface water resources
February 4, 2018

Collective Farming: Creating an Identity for Women Farmers

Applying their minds to adopting improved agricultural practices and shifting to vegetable cultivation on a large scale through collective farming, the women of Gaudaguda village unite to change not only agricultural practices but also show their potential at organizing themselves by bringing the market to their doorsteps, thereby streamlining processes
February 2, 2018

Samnapur: Cultural Change in Agriculture

Initiating new techniquesin farming, the women of Samnapur have started taking the lead in agricultural practices such as introducing the cultivation of vegetables, growing paddy through SRI, going to the market to sell vegetables and asserting their identity as farmers in their families and in society, thereby bringing about asea change in the way they are perceived and in their confidence as decision- makers.
January 5, 2018

The State-Society Interaction: A Developmental Debate

Do the changes being slowly inculcated in tribal life, represented by the adivasis of Kewlajhiri, add up to development? Do traditional practices, customs, beliefs need to be shed in order to bring about transformation in people’s lives? Does the government take into account the wealth of traditional wisdom when it determines how to develop a village?
January 4, 2018

Sustainable Farming: A Collective Learning Approach

Farmers collective shift from inorganic chemical based farming to organic NPM farming in their villages
January 2, 2018

Small Changes on the Road to Development

A story of how a barely literate woman was able to change her life and tap her potential when provided with opportunities.
December 6, 2017

Ambadahara: A Story of Transformation

Opting out of shift cultivation and work in mines, the lives of the women of Ambadahara village takes a turn for the better when they started experimenting with different crops with PRADAN’s help. Their success in the fields enhanced their confidence and helped them identify, engage in and solve many other development challenges in their village.
December 5, 2017

Cultivating Watermelons, Igniting Change

Moving away from the predictable traditional crop, eight Jaheraya SHG women’s decision to cultivate watermelons sprung from an attempt to prove their worth as independent farmers, who could take vital decisions regarding farming and marketing produce; it was a subtle defiance of patriarchy, of the annihilation of men farmer’s beliefs about a cash crop and of a small example of change that is unstoppable now
November 4, 2017

From the Field Diary of a Development-wallah: Arriving at a Cacophonic Harmony

Struggling to make inroads into a new community, the development practitioner swings between despair and hope, optimism and pessimism, enthusiasm and self-doubts, till perseverance pays off. Three years on, as many as 2000 women have been impacted by these efforts
November 3, 2017

Integrated Soil Fertility Management: Converting Subsistence Farming to Productive Farming

Maintaining or improving soil health is essential for sustainable and productive agriculture. ISFM strategies assist farmers in following a scientific process for cultivation without eroding the soil’s inherent capacity to produce more by maintaining its fertility level