The story of Narsimha
In the largest district of Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh, lies a small village called Chinna Jalapuram. This village is on its way to becoming a model for rural communities across the country.
The story of this village’s success dates back to four years ago when the Rural Integrated Development Society (RIDS) adopted this village. The first person to opt for natural farming was the leader of the villagers, Narsimha, who is now a vocal environmentalist. He and his son are practicing organic farming, and reap a good income, apart from its other benefits. These villagers are not aware of the fact that agriculture contributes to approximately 25 per cent of worldwide carbon emissions. They are also unaware of the fact that they are now a part of the solution for the same global crisis.
The story of Narsimha is not different to any farmer in India. With a loan of Rs. 50,000 on his head, he was living a hand to mouth existence. Then one night, four years ago, some RIDS members came to their village. They performed a play and facilitated an interaction between these farmers and those from other villages who were practicing sustainable farming. From that day, Narsimha became part of a true green revolution – an organic farmer – and a role model for the village. It was a tough job in the beginning but since then his income has increased five fold. In his own words, “I have become a rich man now.”
The organisation has brought sweeping change to the village. Narsimha and his friends now have access to a small seed bank and a micro-financing system to invest in farming practices has been started. They use only local materials such as Neem leaves, cow urine, jaggery, water and leaves of Ingua (local name of a tree with medicinal value) as pesticides and manure. Leftover food is also used to make compost. Drip irrigation, which reduces water consumption has also been implemented.
Speaking to his fellow farmers, Narsimha and his son Narayana said, “Providing food is a sacred profession, we should not spoil it by the mal-practices of chemical farming.”
This is just an overview of what’s happening in Andhra Pradesh. More than 15 lakh acres of the land of the state has been declared a pesticide- free zone. All of the credit goes to the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture which is paving the way by connecting organisations like RIDS with the farmers. India is truly in for a green revolution.
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