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Page 2 of 12
1. AGRICULTURE
1a) Kitchen Gardens / Bio-Intensive Garden (BIG) Plots
 268 families tended 4' x 20' plots near their homes to grow vegetables, with seeds and guidance from AID India. Children show anapakayi (bottle gourd) growing on vine
We supplied seeds of local vegetable varieties to landless and marginal landholding families to grow vegetables in small spaces of 4' x 20' near their homes and on their rooftops. Biointensive Gardening (BIG) is an intercropping technique designed to optimize yields from small-space kitchen gardens. AID-India guided the villagers in utilising the BIG technique on their garden plots.
Most low income families in the villages have a diet of rice, starch-water, and a dilute rasam (broth). They eat few legumes or vegetables. Once they make a habit of tending kitchen gardens, they take an important step in improving their family nutrition.
Before monsoon begins in June, AID Srikakulam workers motivate people to dig out a plot for planting vegetables. In every village, 8 - 12 families come forward and do the work needed to prepare the plots. They need to find a space near their homes that receives sunlight. The families must then loosen the soil and commit to watering and protecting the plants from animals. AID Srikakulam workers then inspect the preparations made. After inspection, families receive seeds for okra, beans, eggplant, spinach, tomatoes, birakayi, potlakayi, anapakayi, kakarakayi, etc.
Taste of success: Kitchen gardens!
2008: In 30 villages, 268 families planted vegetables with a yield of 30 – 100 kg per plot. At the local prices of Rs. 10-25/ kg, most families realized a benefit of at least Rs. 500 and up to Rs. 1500 worth of vegetables per family. The cost of seeds provided by AID India is Rs. 30 per family. |
Such a kitchen garden program is worth more than the few lakh rupees that the produce is worth (see box above). Since the benefit is in the form of food, it directly meets a basic need of all family members. Cash on the other hand can be spent on other things which may not necessarily enhance family nutrition and health.
Many families have also started collecting seeds and saving them for the next year. AID India volunteers also request families to give back about Rs. 50 worth of vegetables, which are then given to the old-age home or to families with malnourished children within the village. This way the families have a sense of paying back to the community, the price of the seeds that AID India invested on them. In case a family suffers a crop failure, then no vegetables are collected from them. From 2009 AID India also plans to collect seeds back in a systematic way to develop a seed bank.
Most people do not use chemical inputs in their kitchen gardens. We plan to build on this by introducing more local and organic varieties to improve biodiversity and food sovereignty.
1b) Organic Farm, Tolapi
Since 2004-2005, AID Srikakulam accepted the offer of Surya's family to use 1.5 acres of land for demonstrating organic farming. Since 2005-2006, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides have been used to grow things like ground nuts, kandi (tur dal), minapa (urad dal), jute, corn and other vegetables. Now that 3 years have passed without using chemical inputs, we plan to demonstrate organic farming on the plot.
In 2008, we got electricity connection to the farm, and built a pumphouse so to draw water from the well. Next year we plan to start nurseries as well as a seed bank aimed towards conserving local seed diversity as well as supply to the kitchen gardens.
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