“All our lives, we were dependent on agriculture for our livelihood. We have faced a lot of problem in accessing drinking water and irrigation due to shortage of water. During the summer months we had to walk around 3 km to collect drinking water from a nearby forest spring for which we had to suffer many hardships”, says Madhaba. He never expected that a small initiative of minor irrigation support through a dug well on a small piece of farmland would one day change his fate and ensure sustained income for his family.

Madhaba Muduli is a small tribal landholder from P. Sujuli village in Nandigam Gram Panchayat of Koraput district. With technical support and guidance of CYSD programme team, he along with a fellow villager Chittam Paraja decided to dig a well of 25ft depth on his own land for better irrigation. In the FY-2019, along with support of Rs.138500/- from ITDA, Koraput under the MGNREGA Plan, the well was successfully dug.

In tribal hinterland of Koraput, agriculture work mostly depends on the rains. Given the facilities of micro irrigation, the people here can irrigate their farm land throughout the year and bring better yield. “Better irrigation facilities have brought us more yield and has improved our lives,” says Chittam Paraja. “The dug well helped us irrigate approximately 5 acres of our own land and improved our cultivation along with ensuring the availability of clean drinking water. With expert advice, we applied cow dung for the revival of the soil nutrition; took measures for preserving the soil erosion; and made the soil suitable for varieties of crops as well. Last winter the farm land brought good yield of vegetables, like beans, cauliflower, tomato, zinger and eggplant, etc., which helped us to earn around Rs.28000/- in both phases of the season. This dug well has become one of our permanent assets, and we look forward to cultivating seasonal vegetables. The endeavours have changed our lives for good and enabled our children to get proper education too,” says Madhaba.

Madhaba and Chittam have set an example for rest of the village farmers. It is path breaking to see such efforts come to fruition and this would pave the way for the rural farmers and those whose earning is based on agriculture to improve their lives.