Kottapalli (Ranga Reddy):
For the entire village of Kottapalli to adopt organic practices and succeed in getting a bumper yield is by no means a small achievement. In the last four years, this remote village with a population of 800 in Doma mandal in Ranga Reddy district has become self-sufficient.
About 600 acres come under the village limits and farmers grow mainly paddy and maize apart from all types of vegetables. Unlike other villages, where the farmer goes to the market to seek marketing channels, individual buyers throng the village during harvest time to buy the produce which is organically grown here. The villagers do not depend on outside support for farming.
The uniqueness of this small village’s agricultural culture is that all farmers belong to SC community, who cultivate vegetables in oneacre land. There are about 300 farmers and most of them own aborewell. Vegetables like bottle gourd, tomato, ladies finger, bitter gourd, coriander are grown in abundance. “We are able to maintain a healthy lifestyle ever since we started eating organically grown vegetables,” N Narsaiah, a farmer, said.
Four years ago, farmers in possession of 2-3 acres were finding it difficult to sustain their families with the low incomes from farming. With the intervention of state SC Corporation, 95 farmers were selected and given organic inputs like vermin compost and neem oil free of cost. Impressed with high yield and better quality of the produce, many others took to organic farming.
“When paddy was harvested or vegetable crops were grown, the cost for cultivating one acre was Rs 15,000. But after switching over to organic farming, the cost has come down drastically. They spend only on manure now,” Venugopal, horticultural officer, pointed out.
But one worrying aspect is that the lifestyle of a farmer has not changed much. Experts reason that in spite of subsidies and financial loans extended by the government, the rates the farmers get for organic and vegetable yield is not sustainable yet. “We don’t have market linkages and are forced to sell the produce in our village market,” rued an organic farmer S Ramulu.
For the entire village of Kottapalli to adopt organic practices and succeed in getting a bumper yield is by no means a small achievement. In the last four years, this remote village with a population of 800 in Doma mandal in Ranga Reddy district has become self-sufficient.
About 600 acres come under the village limits and farmers grow mainly paddy and maize apart from all types of vegetables. Unlike other villages, where the farmer goes to the market to seek marketing channels, individual buyers throng the village during harvest time to buy the produce which is organically grown here. The villagers do not depend on outside support for farming.
The uniqueness of this small village’s agricultural culture is that all farmers belong to SC community, who cultivate vegetables in oneacre land. There are about 300 farmers and most of them own aborewell. Vegetables like bottle gourd, tomato, ladies finger, bitter gourd, coriander are grown in abundance. “We are able to maintain a healthy lifestyle ever since we started eating organically grown vegetables,” N Narsaiah, a farmer, said.
Four years ago, farmers in possession of 2-3 acres were finding it difficult to sustain their families with the low incomes from farming. With the intervention of state SC Corporation, 95 farmers were selected and given organic inputs like vermin compost and neem oil free of cost. Impressed with high yield and better quality of the produce, many others took to organic farming.
“When paddy was harvested or vegetable crops were grown, the cost for cultivating one acre was Rs 15,000. But after switching over to organic farming, the cost has come down drastically. They spend only on manure now,” Venugopal, horticultural officer, pointed out.
But one worrying aspect is that the lifestyle of a farmer has not changed much. Experts reason that in spite of subsidies and financial loans extended by the government, the rates the farmers get for organic and vegetable yield is not sustainable yet. “We don’t have market linkages and are forced to sell the produce in our village market,” rued an organic farmer S Ramulu.
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