Like many other tribals in Jharkhand, Janno Devi had “lent” her fallow land on which little grew to the brick kiln owner in return for daily wage work.
“If you succeed in growing tomatoes on this barren land, I will shave my moustache!” Thus declared the brick kiln owner to Janno Devi, who wanted her land back from the brick kiln owner.
Like many other tribals in Jharkhand, she had “lent” her fallow land on which little grew to the brick kiln owner in return for daily wage work.
But a few months ago, she sought 25 decimals of her land — about 1,000 square metres. Reason: a small team led by entrepreneurs Ranjan Ghosh and Kapil Deo, backed by Jharkhand rural development secretary Satish Satpathy, had convinced her and 45 other tribals that with the right technology and knowledge (see box), their land would produce enough to sustain them. When the duo got to work at Nagri village in Ranchi district, Janno knew her time had come.
Incidentally, Janno Devi’s husband refused to risk losing his daily wages to work on the farm. So she worked all alone. Three months later, Janno Devi and the 45 farmers reaped their first crop of tomatoes, bitter gourd, cauliflower, and chillies. The farmers earned between Rs25,000-40,000 in early August from the sale of their first harvest.
The news of their success was electrifying. Neighbouring farmers took note and the UN Development Programme offered to finance another 25 farmers. Today, Janno Devi walks with a confident stride, almost a strut. And did the brick kiln owner shave his moustache?
“No,” says the 40-year-old with a girlish giggle. “He just ran away.”
It all began a year ago when Satish Satpathy exhorted Ranchi businessmen to prepare schemes to help the people instead of only making money for themselves. Hearing him was Ghosh, director, Maati Agrotech Pvt Ltd.
He and his partner, Deo, decided that technology was the key to get farmers out of poverty.
Satpathy promptly allocated funds for a pilot project to help 100 poor farmers. The funds came from the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, a government-sponsored programme that seeks to generate self-employment among the poor.
With inputs from firms like Netafim India (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global micro-irrigation company), Ghosh and Deo calculated that a husband-wife team could take care and earn decently from 25 decimals of land.
The first challenge was to get the tribals to get their own land back. In Jharkhand, tribals cannot sell their land to non-tribals.
This depresses the market price of tribal land and banks are unwilling to accept tribal lands as mortgage. Impoverished tribals are forced to “lend” their land to businessmen and work on them on daily wages. That is how Janno Devi ended up as daily wage worker on her own land.
But today, she is a success story. While her husband had joined her as soon as the first crops sprouted, now, buoyed by her success, some 190 tribals in Ranchi and Bokaro district are following in her footsteps.
Farmers earn at least Rs25,000 every three months and are being taught to time their sowing so that the produce hits the markets when prices are favourable. While this steady cash flow has delighted the community, the concern now is to teach them not to waste their money.
Janno’s experience could herald an agricultural and social revolution. An elated Jharkhand government is looking at extending this project to cover 100,000 farmers.
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