Fields of Green
Wahhh so much is happening!
To quickly recap: my project is on agricultural interventions in water scarce regions. The first phase of introducing/rejuvenating water management practices, such as rainfall harvesting, lake deepening, etc., is complete.
The second phase is to introduce water-efficient, highly-profitable Ayurvedic, herbal, and aromatic plants for villagers to restart farming. Due to marble pollution and severe water scarcity, many villagers here have abandoned farming and the intention of my project is to not only increase income for existing farmers but also to motivate others to restart farming.
The first plant I introduced is lemongrass. It is highly water-efficient (it requires bare minimum watering once a month), will grow beautifully on any type of land, and is pest-resistant (stray animals will not eat or destroy these crops). Moreover, dried lemongrass is going at ₹200-300 per kg while lemongrass extract is demanding ₹1200 per liter in the wholesale market, making it much more profitable than the wheat and corn traditionally grown here.
And the lemongrass is here! Our partner, the Indian government’s Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), sent me about 3 lakh (300,000) saplings to distribute in my block and here’s how that went.
LEMONGRASS ARRIVES FROM UTTARAKHAND
On September 9, 3 lakh saplings arrive from CIMAP’s nursery in Uttarakhand. I was caught completely unprepared as I had expected the truck to come with labor to help with the unloading but alas, it did not. A bunch of helpful farmers who had come to pick up their lemongrass end up helping me unload the whole damn truck. It takes us around two hours and we were drowning in our own sweat but the feat was done. Everyone was too exhausted to distribute anything the rest of the day so we decided to close shop after lunch and officially start the distribution the next day. The one exception was one elderly woman farmer, who was so excited that she took a bundle to her farm that very day and started sowing.
The Sarpanch came to visit and symbolically handed over a bundle of lemongrass to a few farmers.
(Pssst: click on a photo and hover to get a more detailed description.)
farmers collect their lemongrass
Over the next two weeks, farmers came to the panchayat building I turned into a distribution center and picked up their saplings. I cannot describe the happiness I felt as I watched my farmer friends, giddy with the rush of starting something new, express shock at how heavy the bundles were, joke with one another about how they were going to get this done, take their bundles to their farms. For farmers who lived far away and could not afford their own transportation, I hired a tractor to drop off their bundles directly onto their farms.
farmers plant their lemongrass
Farmers plant the lemongrass saplings. And I go farm-to-farm on my old, beat-up scooty, dropping off any more bundles of lemongrass they need and getting dirty right alongside them. All my t-shirts now are completely stained with dirt and cow dung (yes, cow dung) but there is nothing in this world better than squatting, digging in the dirt, and planting something that I know will grow for long after I’m gone.
the school gets down and dirty
So, a funny story. The day the truck from Uttarakhand with all the lemongrass was supposed to show up, it was a few hours late. So I wandered into the village school, which is right next to the panchayat, to say hi to some kids who were waving at me from their classrooms. Turns out, a total stranger walking into a school to interact with children is extremely concerning to all staff and I was soon in the principal’s office, surrounded by staff who were angry and confused. Oops.
As I explained that I work for Seva Mandir and I was here for an agricultural project, the tone completely changed. The principal herself had gone to a Seva Mandir-funded school when she was little and had a soft spot for our NGO. One thing led to another and soon, we had both planned out a school activity with the kids to plant lemongrass, along with other interested teachers. We decided that whatever profit this lemongrass would yield would go toward the school.
I showed up a few days later with some other Seva Mandir paraworkers and all interested kids and staff planted lemongrass around the garden and in front of the school. Some of the kids had even helped their parents sow lemongrass in their farms - these kids took charge and showed everyone else how the job was done.
Serendipity, what can I say.
Side note: the caste dynamics of children are so interesting. I should note that simultaneously, the village was celebrating Ganapathi. So, during the days, I would work on the farms and during the evenings, attend village festivities. In common spaces, caste dictates every interaction and where everyone can physically be. For example, during festivals, Brahmins sit closest to the temple and tribals sit far away. Within each caste group, men sit on top of temple steps or chairs (physically higher) and women sit on the ground. Because of this deeply-ingrained mapping of where everyone is supposed to be in proximity to each other, children across castes do not have much interaction.
However, away from the watchful and policing eyes of their parents, children in the school across castes interacted freely with each other. “Untouchable” tribal kids played and held hands with their upper-caste counterparts, something that never happened on temple grounds, where unspoken laws and harsh words from parents stopped children from playing with each other. Of course, casteism still exists insidiously in the school as well but it was still surprising (and hopeful?) to see children come together like this.
behind the scenes with my helpers
While I was sitting in the panchayat storage building, a bunch of kids (and adults) kept me company, brought me black tea and sitaphal, and made me food when I got hungry. It truly takes a village. ♡
what’s next
Next, we will be introducing chamomile, palmerosa, and geranium, with turmeric and tulsi in the pipeline. Currently, I am working on constructing the distillation unit and processing plant needed for the locals to extract value from their crops. But more on that later, with time. Now, I’m just wandering farm-to-farm, floating in the scent of lemongrass.
