Teaching farming to over 1,000 families in India

Namaste from Kolkata!

My name is Tapas and I am one of Shivia's Livelihood Service Providers working with marginalised farmers in the villages near Kolkata.  My job involves helping farmers like Meghrai make farming affordable.  

Meghrai has always farmed the land to earn an income but he was finding it harder and harder to make ends meet and provide for his family.  His input costs kept rising and, like so many small holder farmers, he resorted to using chemical fertilisers and pesticides to try and increase his crop yields.  But, over the years, all that did was degrade the soil on his small plot of land and the result was the opposite - poorer yields and less profit.

We met in November 2019 when I came to Meghrai's village to talk about Shivia's AMS programme and how we are helping local farmers make farming not just affordable but really sustainable via a number of interlinked interventions.  Meghrai was initially skeptical but I convinced him to join our programme and give me a chance to make a change!

18 months on and Meghrai is a very happy farmer! After testing the soil on his plot I showed him how to make bio-fertiliers and pesticides using readily available produce such as cow dung and urine.  He has been growing tomatoes and mustard and getting great yields resulting in more profits - over 25% more than previously he happily tells me.

Farming has become Meghrai's sole occupation now - he no longer has to look for casual labouring jobs to supplement his income.  And he is able to provide for his family and also his two grandchildren which makes him feel happiest of all.

"When I was a poor small farmer, I could not maintain the daily expenses of my household. With the knowledge gained from Shivia’s team, especially my LSP Tapas, I am now confident to carry on agriculture as a full time occupation. I am especially happy for my grandchildren. Thank you so much for this!"