Hard Work and Devotion Pay in the Long Run

Indian gooseberry boosts farm incomes

Sucharita Dhar

Appropriate Technology Vol. 32 No. 2, October 2005

The Udaipur district of Rajasthan is hot and dry. It receives about 500 mm of rainfall annually during a period of three to four months, so crop failure is high up to 60 per cent Experience elsewhere has shown that tree-based farming systems are the most appropriate. With this background, the Rajasthan Rural Institute for Development Management, an Associate Organisation of BAIF, examined suitable options for a tribal development project in the Jhadol block. Except for the scattered presence of a few date palms and anola trees, no other fruit trees are found in the villages of this block. The efforts of some farmers to grow mango grafts resulted in failure. Hence, the choices available to farmers were reduced to date palm or anola.

Although wild anola was found growing naturally and bearing in plenty, its improved varieties had never been cultivated on a commercial scale in this area. The silver lining, however, was the assured market for anola in Udaipur. In the absence of any other proven alternative, anola was introduced in the Jhadol block, and fortunately, it has turned out to be an absolute success. A typical example is Manas, one of the villages in Jhadol block. It comprises of 272 households, out of which 143 are participating in the project. These tribal families planted 4092 anola plants and 75% of them survived. During the year 2002-2003, 456 plants had reached the bearing stage and together yielded 5.7 tons of anola. The average fruit yield per tree was 12.5 kg.

In order to have an organisational approach to coordinate all aspects pertaining to anola production and marketing, the Anola Utpadak Sahakari Samiti Limited was formed. This cooperative has established three collection depots to explore market opportunities for raw anola. Out of the 35 tons of fruits collected by these depots, 33 tons were sold in the markets in nearby cities while 2.3 tons were processed into pickles, candy, squash and murabba. Market linkages are also being explored for bulk supply of anola to other states. Processing and trading of anola generated an income of almost Rs. 50,000 and provided 217 person days of employment for the landless.

The Sahakari Samiti conducted a market survey in Udaipur and Ahmedabad cities to ensure the best prices for the produce of its members. The other responsibilities of this Samiti are finalising prices with traders and arrangement for transportation. Recognition for the services provided by the Samiti came in the form of its president Mangilal Telli receiving the ‘Best Worker Award’ for development work from the District Collector of Udaipur.

Individually, every farmer who introduced anola on his or her not-so-fertile land has a success story to tell. Take for example the case of Vakta Rama Patel who got displaced from his native Adkalia village and settled down in Manas with his wife Manu Devi. He started off by working on another farmer’s land on crop sharing basis. Eventually, he bought 4.75 bighas of land, but the remuneration for his toil was meagre. When the opportunity to participate in the development project implemented by BAIF came his way in 1997, he enrolled for wadi plantation and dug 40 pits of 1x1x1m and surrounding them were 400 pits of smaller size. His relative was shocked and angry seeing the location of his land. He advised Vakta not to listen to the workers and spoil his land. Doubts about the intention of BAIF were also raised. But Vakta was fully convinced by the programme. He managed to convince and motivate his relative to join the programme.

Vakta established 40 anola grafts on his land. His income from anola in 2001 was Rs. 9000, and it has been growing every year. This year, with the increase in fruit yield and the effective marketing undertaken through the cooperative, Vakta has earned Rs. 28,000. The returns of Vakta from anola are supplemented with that from intercrops, cows and buffaloes. The returns of Vakta from anola are supplemented with that from intercrops, cows and buffaloes. Their consumption of curd, buttermilk and ghee has increased and he sells 9 kg of milk everyday. He is now selling about 200 litres of milk every year.

Many villagers who criticized Vakta are now very impressed by his wadi. Others are also planning to set up their wadis. Today, Vakta is very happy with his anola wadi. “My 10-year-old dream has come true. It is only because of BAIF and its dedicated workers that glory has been brought into my miserable life”, admits Vakta while sharing his story with all the visitors.

Establishment of an anola belt in Rajasthan is slowly becoming a reality. Cultivation of anola by the tribal families has demonstrated the suitability of anola as a horticultural crop in arid regions of Rajasthan. The farmers are confident of marketing the produce on their own.. Manas village has now been transformed into an anola colony.

The experiences of Vakta and others at Manas clearly demonstrate how an appropriate farming system supported by a cooperative arrangement for production and marketing can make a sea change in the lives of the rural poor.