Vegan Warriors

Living with nature is good for the soul and living off nature is good for the body! With many celebrities embracing the vegan diet, vegetables are suddenly in vogue. It nourishes the body, its waste replenishes the soil and its cultivation provides livelihood to the growers and that's what NABARD planned for the 150 SHG members of Yeraballi, Mustapur and Kothakonda village of Beemadeverapally Mandal with the help of Jana Vikas Rural Development Society (JVRDS).

Activity

Vegetable cultivation in Karim Nagar district, Telangana.

Nature of Intervention

These women farmers were growing Maize, Paddy and cotton crops but were often in debt. Due to crop loss, they were not even getting any return on their investments on cultivation. Therefore, it was felt that a switchover to vegetable cultivation may be more profitable. Hence an LEDP project on vegetable cultivation with outlay of Rs 4.21 lakh was sanctioned to JVRDS. The women were trained in 5 batches, each batch containing 30 women for 7 days as per training module decided by KVK Scientists and Horticulture officers. They were also taken for exposure visit to KVK Jammikunta and Centre of Excellence, Hyderabad for knowledge on organic vegetable cultivation, Stocking, Mulching and drip system, playhouse, Shade net cultivation, vermin compost, Nadep compost and nursery raising in tries.

JVRDS also set up vegetable cultivation demonstration unit financially supported by NABARD. This demo plot of 0.20 acre land is for organic vegetable cultivation of ten types of vegetable like leafy vegetables, Tomato, Lady's finger, Brinjal, Green chillies, Bitter gourd, Onion, Coriander leaves, Mint, Beans, Cucumber and organised demos.

Refresher Training Programme was also organised. NABARD and JVRDS arranged to supply high yielding hybrid vegetable seeds with certified seed companies. Currently the vegetables are being sold in local markets

The Impact

There is an additional income of Rs 10,000/-pm to the members and their children are studying B.Tech, B. Pharmacy and Degree studies due to improved economic status. Crop diversification has brought them out of debt trap. It has also led to availability of quality vegetables in local markets.

Critical Determinants 

• Baseline survey to assess market demand
• Huge demand for vegetables locally
• Mobilisation of inputs like seeds, mulching sheets, vermin etc.
• Subsidy from DRDA and Horticulture Dept. under Mana Uru – Mana Kuragayalu Scheme.

Source : Creating Livelihoods, Changing Lives