Nkwareu village
in Peren District of Nagaland is one of the project villages under FARM North
East. Development Association of Nagaland (DAN) during the beginning of the
project (FARM North East) had much difficulty in convincing the people of this
village & they were not cooperating at all. But hard work of Team DAN with
the community finally helped them to come out with good results. As of date
Nkwareu is one of the best performing villages under FARM North East & DAN
is proposing to develop the place as a model village under the project. “We
were not happy with DAN in the beginning as we could not trust them but after
witnessing the goods that they intended to bring our village, we extended our
full cooperation”, said Chunjanglung.
Nkwareu village
is dominated by mixed population of Zeliangrong group, consisting of Rongmei,
Liangmai & Zeme tribes respectively. A framers’ club by the name Reku has
been set up in Nkwareu village during 2013 consisting of 33 members. “After
its formation, the farmers’ club was moving in the right direction &
promoting agricultural activities among the villagers”, said Martha,
Team DAN. The communities were using chemical inputs partially in their agricultural fields
but now it has been replaced by organic practices to a great extent. “We
realized through our friends from DAN that using chemicals in our fields could
adversely affect not only our environment but also our health”, said
Asua.
It was heartening
to observe that farmers in this village were trying to return to their
traditional agricultural practice that is fully organic. More encouraging is to
see that the farmers were resorting to use of local landraces of crops in their
fields. “We understand now that hybrid seeds are not only bad but also
requires more investments compared to the local ones”, said Immanuel.
From time to time as a regular practice, Team DAN kept on visiting
Nkwareu & tried to help them in every possible ways. During one such visit
in June 2014 the framers expressed their desire to grow Naga Dal (a variety of pulse) in their
field. Naga Dal occupies a special place in the society as one of the
staple foods & also used in different traditional activities or rituals.
The cost of this Dal could be anywhere between Rs 80 to Rs 90 per Kg. Team DAN
that was already encouraging organic agriculture was right behind the community
in taking the cultivation ahead.
“Fifteen of us
from the farmers’ club decided that we would cultivate Naga Dal in 3 acres of
our village land & share the income equally”, said Ms.
Meiduanthuiliu. These 15 members then started off clearing, ploughing &
subsequent sowing of seeds (Naga Dal) during July-August 2014 &
continued cultivation until they harvested in December 2014. “We
experienced the beauty of coming together as a unit & realized that it
simply benefits”, said Ms. Luthuanliu. The farmers shared
responsibilities in turns while taking care of the growing crops during the
cultivation period.
It was stunning
to observe that the group harvested 40 tins (600 Kg) of Naga Dal from 3 acres
of land in a single season. The farmers were more than happy to share that it
was a blend of traditional knowledge & modern organic agricultural
practices like weed composting & organic pest repellents (introduced by DAN through Caritas India) that brought about
such remarkable harvest.
Christmas for
these poor farmers, who would otherwise borrow money brought in good times as
they earned Rs. 36,800.00 & shared equally among themselves.
It doesn’t simply
end here! The farmers donated Rs 1000.00 to the account of their own farmers’
club. “We desire to set examples for
others in our village to follow so that they may also be able to raise their income”, said a vividly happy Dereha.
Contributed by: Martha Dukru, DAN, Dimapur, Nagaland
Edited by: Prabal Sen, Caritas India, Guwahati
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