Diversification yields better food, income, health

On a sunny afternoon in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Modium Ramulamma is redefining drip irrigation. The 30-year-old belongs to the Koya tribe in a village called Dibbagudem within Telegana’s Aswaraopeta block.

As she talks to Village Square about her journey into natural farming, she tenderly ensures her young plants receive the perfect amount of water – just enough to thrive but not so much that the roots clog and the plants die.

Ramulamma has developed a careful drip irrigation system to carefully feed her saplings. (Photo by Amir Malik)

For this she uses old saline bottles to carefully drip the right amount directly into the roots of the plant – similar to a doctor administering fluids into a patient’s bloodstream. She has fixed wooden stakes adjacent to the saplings and adjusts the valve flow after putting water in the bottle, which has an opening from the rear side. This design allows for a steady, controlled delivery of moisture to her growing plants, which have become – thanks to her care – nurtured.

Trusting the tongue

Ramulamma grows around 60 types of plants around a small pond in one of her fields. On another two acres, she grows maize. She also grows indigenous varieties of paddy supporting her commitment to traditional agriculture.

That’s not all.

She also cultivates fish in her pond. Her efforts yielded significant returns – she received Rs 15,000 for her fish alone. This year, she has once again stocked her pond with fish, believing in diversifying her agricultural output and enhancing her income potential.

“I stopped getting dependent on the market. What I want, I grow and it is definitely better than the chemically grown food and vegetables,” Ramulamma said.

Earlier, I found it hard to tell the difference between natural food and food with chemicals. After I started growing food naturally, my tongue tells me that I’m eating nutritious food,

Profiting from diversification

This journey into farming diversification has been possible because of her hard work and the support of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Through its agroecology-based programme JIVA, supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Ramulamma received the resources and training necessary to establish an eco-friendly farm pond. NABARD worked with the Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN) to teach her how to prepare bio-inputs for the crops.

Read more: https://www.villagesquare.in/diversification-yields-better-food-income-health/