Tribal Permaculture Project

This initiative involved introducing permaculture practices to tribal families in six villages. Methods were identified to complement their traditional farming practices with permaculture practices that could be feasibly implemented without compromising on ecological aspects. In addition, access to solar energy devices was facilitated for lighting, cooking and irrigation purposes. Support was provided for creating water resources too, like wells.

Goal:

To develop an intimate relationship with the Mother Nature and to reconstruct its deteriorating glory, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives have embraced “Permaculture”, the most traditional way of respecting nature and the best alternative to soothe the ecological crisis. Permaculture provides the human beings the real warmth of nature and makes the man feel her aura.

Introduction:

Aranya is implementing its Tribal Permaculture Project (TPP) from July 2012, Due to the erratic monsoon cycle activities got delayed to August 2012 yet all the activities were implemented as per the action plan and timeline except for one activity i.e. the fruit plantation Which was planned implemented in the month of June 2013.

Designing:

Aranya has organized a series of meetings and consultations in the course “Design”, which emphasizes on the concept “farm realities” as a traditional set up

  • Designing a farm includes the renewal of existing state and creating a new one, which results in the disturbance of well-established systems. Therefore, it is suggested to allow the existing setup and to incorporate the components that a system can absorb and thereby supporting each other.

Analyzing the solution and further examining on various fields and agricultural practices, Aranya decided to

  • Maintain the regular activities, which can strengthen the traditional practices without compromising on ecological aspects and to introduce missing components in a holistic way. Hence, the project is being implemented with existing patterns along with permaculture practices.

 Identification of the farmers in the villages:

Aranya has identified 6 villages for the Tribal Permaculture Project (TPP) and started the implementation with 30 farmers

Farmer were selected based on

  • Willingness to adopt the permaculture practices
  • A proper water resource
  • Farmers living under the poverty line and single woman.

A farmer who is keen on adopting the permaculture practice have to keep aside ¼ of his acre for food production. Following the guidelines provided by Aranya, so far 20 famers demarcated their land and another 10 farmers have completed the fencing. With the help of Aranya, all the farmers have initiated their work in the farms and are currently under progress.

Village and farmers list:

S. No.

Name of the village

Mandal

No of farmers

1

Pathasingapoor

Kadam

8

2

Adivi Sarangapoor

Kadam

5

3

Laksmipoor

Kadam

4

4

Gurrammadar

Kadam

8

5

Nagapoor

Khanapoor

4

6

Middechinta

Kadam

3

Total

32

Nagarao & Gangavva – Adivi Sarangapoor village

Orientation meeting on Permaculture Practices:

To spread awareness regarding permaculture and to clarify the underlying uncertainties of the farmers, Aranya organized a one-day orientation program for the benefit of the farming community comprising  of 80 participants.

These farmers have come from 7 neighboring villages of Lakshmipoor forest area which is the base of the whole activity. Overall, majority of the farmers are from 1) Rampoor 2) Dostunagar 3) Gandigopalpoor 4.) Islampoor 5) Kolamguda 6) Lakshmipoor 7) Middehintha.

The main objective of this orientation program is to make the farmers aware of the practices involved in permaculture and to explain them the significance of its contribution towards crop patterns and systems.  The program also targeted to explain how it maintains a balance between the eco systems and sustainable practices, which promotes diversified agriculture crops and supports the integration of forest and animal resources by using local species.

Other Activities:

  • Learning programmes
  • Exposure visits
  • Nursery Raising
  • Composting, Natural manure practices and tank silt application
  • Community solar project
Result :

Adding enrichment essence to the soil, purifying the enviroinment, and cleansing the soil water, permaculture practices are fulfilling  the needs of the locals in the natures way and maintaining  an ecological balance.