'Lockdown was a blessing in disguise': From migrant daily wage labourers to profit-making farmers
Two years after the nation-wide lockdown was imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, migrant workers who returned to their homes in Jharkhand, have taken up farming and are growing a variety of crops, including lemon grass and exotic vegetables like broccoli, and reaping profits. Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society is training and supporting these farmers.
Manoj Choudhary 18 April 2022 3:55 PM GMT
Rupali Mandi and her husband Surya Mandi working on their farm. All photos by Manoj Chaudhary
Dhalbhumgar (East Singhbhum)
Two years back, despite daily putting in eight hours of hard labour at a brick kiln, Rupali Mandi barely managed to feed her two children and meet other household expenses. A resident of Raotara village in Jharkhand, she worked at an eent-bhatti (brick kiln) located about 10 kilometres from her village in East Singhbhum district.
Meanwhile, her husband, a daily wage labourer, toiled 2,000 kilometres away from his family in Bengaluru, Karnataka, but barely had any savings to send back home.
To make matters worse, or so the couple thought, 34-year-old Rupali Mandi and her 37-year-old husband Surya Mandi lost their jobs two years back when a nationwide lockdown was imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus. However, that was a big turning point in their lives.
"Lockdown was like a blessing in disguise for me, as I returned to the village and took up cultivating a variety of crops apart from paddy," Surya Mandi told Gaon Connection.
Prior to their experiments with mixed cropping, the couple owned two bighas of land which was used for the cultivation of paddy once a year.
For availing better production from their agricultural fields, villagers approach the block administration for technical knowhow and training.
"For two years, we have been growing vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, pea, bitter gourd, pumpkin, green leaves, watermelon and other seasonal vegetables. Now we cultivate paddy only on a limited portion of our field which fulfils the rice requirement of the family for a year," his wife Rupali Mandi told Gaon Connection. "The profits earned from selling these vegetables help us earn at least twice of what we earned before the lockdown," she added.
The couple's success at earning a better livelihood from farming is not the only such case in the area as almost 12 such families in the villages of Raotara, Chatro, and Chukripara in Jharkhand's Dhalbhumgar block are reaping better profits from switching from conventional farming to mixed cropping. The Mandi couple, however, were the first to take up mixed cropping.
Finding inspiration in their success, other villagers, who had been working as daily wage workers in different parts of the country before the lockdown in 2020, are also cultivating diverse crops and reaping greater financial benefits as compared to their daily wage jobs.
From migrant labourers to proud farmers
Bhim Das is one such farmer from Chatro village who previously migrated to far off cities in search of work. Das owns almost a couple of bighas of land and cultivates a variety of vegetables ranging from gourds, cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkins and brinjals.
"I couldn't have imagined that I'll be able to live with my family and earn far better incomes than what I earned in cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru. It's like a miracle," a teary-eyed Das said.
The rural residents' success in Dhalbhumgar block of East Singhbhum district is supported by state government's Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) — a poverty alleviation scheme started in 2009 for promotion livelihood of the economically marginalised sections of the state population.
For availing better production from their agricultural fields, villagers approach the block administration for technical knowhow and training.
Also Read: Rural women trained as agri entrepreneurs to support farmers in Madhya Pradesh
Niyaz Ahmad, JSLPS block project officer (BPO) in Dhalbhumgar told Gaon Connection that the scheme motivates villagers to transform their cultivation practices by optimum utilisation of their lands.
"The society provides seeds to farmers, trains in advanced techniques to protect crops from insects, provides irrigation facilities through solar energy, regular training for advanced cultivation and marketing facilities," Ahmad said.
"We are pleased that rural people are taking interest in implementing new methods of cultivation and getting fruitful results with huge profit from cultivation on their land that used to remain barren as many of them migrated in search of work", the official added.
Surya Mandi of Raotara village is happy that he no longer has to migrate to a large city in search of work and stay away from his family for months at a stretch.
"In the past two years, we have learnt to grow various vegetables and earn better profits. I earn almost Rs 200,000 in a year by selling the produce from my field and it has improved our livelihood. Above all, the happiness derived from watching my kids grow is priceless," Surya, the father of two, told Gaon Connection.
"Now I have taken three bigha (almost a hectare) more agricultural plots on lease for cultivation from villagers while other local residents have been offering their plots on 50 per cent share of produce," he added.
Advanced farming techniques for higher returns
The use of techniques like yellow sticky trap, pheromone trap and other advanced methods for protecting agricultural products from insects, which are provided by the local administration, has been vital to achieving better earning by the migrant-labourers-turned-farmers.
Farmers of Chatro village, who had difficulty irrigating their fields, now have adequate water for their fields through the use of solar panels.
"Villagers contribute Rs 50 for irrigation for one hour, once in four days. The charge is being taken in order to maintain the solar panel and other expenditure. These solar panels produce the power needed by the generator which is then used to run the borewell pump ," Ahmad informed Gaon Connection.
When Gaon Connection visited the agricultural fields of these farmers, it was observed that these farmers have also started cultivating crops such as lemon grass which have a far better market value than the traditional crops.
"We are growing mango trees in our plots along with vegetables. Lemongrass has also been brought from Uttar Pradesh and was a new crop for us initially. But once we understood that grass was being used as medicine, oil and tea, we started producing it at a large scale," Champa Mandi of Chatro village told Gaon Connection.
The middle aged woman had planted 4,000 lemongrass saplings on her agricultural plot which is spread over half a bigha (almost half an acre) of land. Now she has 40,000 saplings on her farmland.
"I am earning huge money from it as each sapling is being sold at 80 paisa (Re 0.80) whereas one lemongrass produces upto 80 other saplings. I wonder why we hadn't been cultivating such crops before," Champa Mandi said.
Soma Rani Mutu of Chatro Village Organisation (a self help group) said that villagers are no longer interested in migrating for earning opportunities as they are getting financial help from the block administration.
"They are also learning advanced methods of cultivation. We are also getting marketing opportunities and adequate prices for our produce. New earning opportunities like installation of lemon grass oil making machines, food processing and packaging are ensuring prosperity to these villagers. We could overcome the tragic days of joblessness after lockdown by paying special attention to our traditional profession of cultivation".
