Courage to adopt the vegetable farming leads to.....
Semeriya Paswan Tola is a small village located in the Baikunthwa Gram Panchayat, South of the district headquarters of Bettiah, Bihar, India. The village is predominantly inhabited by Dalits, who are mostly landless and work as agricultural laborers or migrate to other districts for work. In September 2023, a team from the SLIDE project visited Semeriya Paswan Tola. They met with the villagers and discussed the benefits of vegetable cultivation. They also suggested that the villagers take land on lease from landlords and start vegetable farming. As they were inducted into the project activities, they were provided adequate training and exposure to make them skilled in vegetable cultivation. They were also provided with improved vegetable seeds to start with
Initially, 20 villagers agreed to take up vegetable cultivation. They took land on lease and were trained in vegetable farming techniques. One of the villagers who participated in the program was Mrs. Reena Devi, a 40-year-old woman with three sons and one daughter. Mrs. Reena Devi was very enthusiastic about vegetable cultivation. She took 2.5 kathas (0.150 acres) of land on lease and planted peas and maize in which peas seeds were provided from the project grant. She harvested 170 kg of peas, which she sold for Rs. 6,800/-. She also expects to harvest 500 kg of maize, which she expects to sell for Rs. 9,000/-. In total, Mrs. Reena Devi expects to earn Rs. 15,800 from her vegetable cultivation. This is significantly more than she would have earned if she had planted wheat on the same land. Reena Devi is very happy with the results of vegetable cultivation. She has used the money to pay off her debts and to send her children to school. She is now a role model for other women in the village and is encouraging them to take up vegetable cultivation. The case of Mrs. Reena Devi shows how vegetable cultivation can help landless Dalits increase their income and improve their standard of living. The SLIDE project is committed to providing support to Dalits and other marginalized communities to help them achieve their full potential.