11th trip: Distribution of blankets

On the 13th of December, PAKT made a visit to Chargheri for the purpose of distributing blankets to families in the 5 villages namely Chargheri, Santigachhi, Parasmani, Bidhan Colony and Lahiripur.


History:
Over the past visits to Chargheri area and especially during the brief surveys that we carried out over various visits during food distribution phase till trip#8, a large number of people had mentioned loss / extensive damage of their domestic belongings including mattresses, quilts, and blankets during the Aila fury. They had responded positively to queries from us (PAKT) on the utility of blankets being distributed to them at the onset of winter. That is how this activity took shape.


Criteria for distribution:
As suggested in an earlier post, PAKT chose to set a criteria for distribution of blankets.
Considering the recent history of activities carried out by PAKT (distribution of food followed by training for backyard farming / seed distribution), the basis of blanket distribution needed some sorting out and agreement. In the end we decided to provide a blanket for each of the families who are
(i) EITHER Card-holders from the food distribution phase (selected based on low family income),
(ii) OR non-card holding direct recipient of agricultural training for saline conditions arranged by PAKT who subsequently used seeds provided by PAKT to grow vegetables,
(iii) OR non-card holding indirect recipient of agricultural training (via other trained villagers) who subsequently used seeds provided by PAKT to grow vegetables,
(iv) OR some others who took an initiative after becoming aware of the training from word-of-mouth, collected seeds from PAKT and made an effort to grow vegetables with the seeds.

Evidently this led to significantly increased numbers. PAKT resources were stretched to provide blankets for all of these families. However assistance from well wishers of PAKT could enable us fulfil the aim of providing a blanket to each of these families.

The distribution process:
We reached the location early as communicated to the recipients through the agricultural community of 5 villages which was recently formed in the area as per insistence of PAKT. Dipankar's men helped with unloading of the stuff as usual. The blanket distribution was started after a declaration to the waiting masses on
(a) the distribution detail (one per family), and
(b) uniformity of quality of blankets being distributed.

Kaustuv and Sandeepan went a step ahead and made a demonstration of a sample blanket to avoid having people whispering their way into "his blanket is better" debates later on.

The distribution was done in 2 queues. As expected the queue for card holders, although longer, was cleared off very soon. The other queue was distributing blankets to people belonging to Cat-(ii) to Cat-(iv) of above types of people, based on lists created by the agricultural trainers Narain Bachar and Anjana Mandal over a number of their trips. It took a whole previous night's homework on these lists by Sandeepan followed by his on-site Herculean effort with the support of the local Agri-cooperative members. All of this simply to untie the mysteries in those sheets containing names of over 500 families who collected seeds from PAKT, and complete the distribution to the satisfaction of (almost) all who expected to benefit as per the criteria set by us.

This one-off effort on assembling the customised lists prepared by non-PAKT people once again highlighted the benefit of implementing the card system during the food distribution phase, particularly the trouble that it saved us over the period besides facilitating equitable distribution. Kaustuv can take due credit for prevailing on the rest of us and insisting on going ahead with an idea that seemed 'too ambitious' to the others.

More survey
This visit was also utilised by some in the group to carry out further survey of backyard garden vegetable growth in Chargheri. This area remained under-surveyed in the 10th visit when PAKT took a status report of growth of various vegetables in these 5 villages. Chargheri was one of the villages where the tidal waters kept rising and ebbing in the lands for months till the dyke was repaired.....hence the result was not expected to be exceptional. The results of some individuals like Bimal Gayen was encouraging for us and - more importantly - for the locals.

Bimal did an excellent job of raising vegetables in his garden as also his brother's garden, while also finding time to help some others to make best use of their pieces of land. In between the numerous stories of failed attempts in Chargheri, there were stories of some like Bimal who persisted even after failure and tried the trainer-taught techniques with their own innovations to conquer the circumstances.

A further round of survey on the fruitfulness of seeds distributed by PAKT was conducted at the queue for blankets. The general feedback from people of various villages supported the reports from previous week's detailed survey at all villages: many people were able to raise and harvest vegetables with most of the seeds distributed by PAKT by employing the anti-saline techniques, the same techniques that were emphasised in the training programs arranged by PAKT and conducted by trainers from Swanirvar. Some of the seeds did not produce results consistently across the areas and the lack of results was fed back to Swanirvar. They agreed to have further discussion on these failed seeds with PAKT.

Pictures:
HERE and HERE. In addition to the usual suspects, we had two new friends Arup and Apurba-da visiting with us on 11th trip. We also had a number of friends from Khelaghar making the trip for the first time to support the blanket distribution by PAKT. PAKT benefitted during the distribution as well as continued agri-survey due to their enthusiasm and their active participation.

10th Trip : Survey of Agricultural Initiative

Objective of Survey

Our 10th trip on 6th December, was a bit different. Nothing to distribute, not to train but to have a first hand assessment of what is the outcome of our agricultural rehabilitation initiative started on the 5th September,2009. So, on 6th December, a small PAKT team visited the Chargheri area.

It may be recalled that 14 training sessions, both theoretical and hands on, were arranged by PAKT for different groups of villagers. PAKT roped in agricultural trainers Mr Narayan Chandra Bachar and Mrs Anjana Mandal from the organisation SWANIRVAR, for imparting the training and planned, organised and financed the training sessions and related works. In mid October, 14 different types of seeds of vegetables, Spinach (Palong), Radish (Mulo), olkapi, Carrot(gajor), beat, dhone, lanka, kumro, barbati,Ladies finger (vendi), uchhe, Brinjal (begoon) lau, lalshak, were distributed among 560 families of the five villages covered by PAKT.

Seeds were distributed in mid October, 2009 and it was time to visit and review the results. We were eager to see the outcome of the application of different techniques (explained during the training) of growing vegetables in the lands affected by saline water intrusion during the Aila. After the Aila, many people predicted that these lands would be rendered fallow at least for two years. Our survey was critical for assessing the success of the agricultural rehabilitation initiative and deciding our future course of activities in these villages, specially in the agriculture sector.

The Survey

For covering the huge area in a single day, the PAKT team broke up in two groups. One group got down at the Lahiripur Boat Ghat RW and covered Lahiripur and part of Shantigachi. The other group disembarked at the Kakmari bajar ghat and covered Bidhan colony, Parasmani, part of Shantigachi and a few houses of Chargheri. In totality, we visited and interacted with 75 families during our five hour long walk through the villages and gathered substantial doceumentation in the form of videos and pictures (that link shows pictures taken at Lahiripur-Santigachhi; click here for pictures taken by the other team that surveyed at Porosmani-BidhanColony and part of Chargheri). Both teams were accompanied and supported by the representatives of the cooperatives (see later) from respective villages.

Observations

i) Almost all the villagers who took the agricultural training & vegetable seeds from PAKT, have attempted seriously to harvest the vegetables in their own lands. We hardly came across any family who has failed to grow anything from the seeds given by PAKT.

ii) We saw varying results. Not all could apply their trainings in a very effective manner. but those who has judiciously applied has generally got good results. However, we did not observe many cases where people has utlitsed the innovative techniques, like planting in the sack.

iii) Land condition and water availability has got a major impact on the outcome :

a) In certain area the land was flushed with saline water once, while some experienced long stagnation of saline water. The latter type, particularly the low lying field, has not observed a good yield in general (barring a few cases like Nirapada Sarkar) as the salt comes up during drying up process. Relatively higher lands which were not regularly flooded by the tidal cycle have better yield.

b) In general who used the fresh water from tubewells has got good results. But there are few tubewells in the village (particularly in Lahiripur/Santigachi area) and not many people could access them.

c) Interestingly, a number of people also got good yield by using the water from their own pond near the field. This water is likely to be saline (or nonta) to low-saline (or doodh-nonta), depending on two factors
• Duration of exposure to saline water, and
• If the pond was dewatered at least once after Aila.
A little investigation reveals that not surprisingly the ponds with favourable history of both the above events have successfully supported agriculture

d) Some villagers have used the pond water mixed with tubewell water or on alternate days with tubewell water. This should be the optimal solution , because the high iron content in tubewell water can cause impedance to the growth of the vegetables and the villagers are aware of this fact!!

iv) Several families have not utilized their total agricultural land due to the lack of availability of enough “good/fresh” water. A good option may be to take the risk of using the saline water from nearby pond and give it a try, as this has proved almost a sure option for the ponds dewaterd at least once after the Aila.

v) In a large number of cases palong shak is affected by some insects The training covered these issues. So we asked the cooperative members to convene a meeting in the village and again remind the vegetable farmers all the basics to get rid of it.

vi) We came across several families in Lahiripur who are living in temporary roadside shanties but have grown vegetables on the plot of land which was once the plinth of their house. Indomitable spirit !!!

vii) On an average, we have noticed excellent results for Palongshak, Mulo, Olkapi, uchhe, Lau & Kumro.

viii) Satisfactory results (with occasional cases of failures) have been noticed for Lalshak, Beet & Vendi.

ix) In most of the cases brinjal (begoon) seeds provided by PAKT was found to be a failure. Rather saplings procured from local markets have good results. Chilli (lanka) and barbati seeds also failed to produce good returns barring a few exceptions .

Conclusion

1. The villagers have regained quite a bit of their confidence and have started believing the possibilities of farming in the saline water affected land using the specialized techniques. The vegetable harvest this winter is a major step towards restoring their agriculture based livelihood. Even some of them are interested to try out paddy cultivation. When we asked a gathering of villagers whether they feel rice cultivation will be possible next year (precisely next monsoon), we were pleasantly surprised by a unanimous positive response. They also repeatedly requested PAKT to also consider distributing suitable seeds for repeat of vegetable cultivation before the rainy season.

2. Following our earlier suggestion and with guidance from the agricultural trainers, a 20 member agricultural community has been formed with representatives from five villages. Through this community they are trying to help each other and sharing their agricultural problems. The cooperative members are trying to take lead roles & ownerships in such cases.

Plan for Blanket Distribution

Both the PAKT teams, explained in detail to a good gathering of villagers regarding the modalities of the distribution of the blankets, specially the issue of bringing some identity proof.

To have a more detailed feedback from the villagers, we asked each of them (who took seeds from PAKT) to fill up a small questionnaire. The simple queries were about training, name of the vegetable seeds that got good and bad yields and what they want to cultivate in the coming monsoon. We explained respective representative of cooperatives to help the villagers in answering it.

Update of Agricultural Rehab - towards Success

Since our eighth visit, there had been no update, except a small note from Angshuman. You must be wondering that if we stopped our Help Sunderban Intiative in the five villages of Chargheri area (Chargheri, Parasmani, Lahiripur, parasmani and Bishan Colony) . The answer is NO – we are there – works were in progress but we were just waiting for some results before we inform you about the success of our initiative.

Last time we informed about our visit to Chargher on 10^th October for distribution of seed. Yes, we distribute seeds of vegetables (Begun, Lanka, lalshak, Palongshak, mulo. Gajor, beet, olkapi, uchhe,borboti, vebdi, lau, kumro) to 265 families. Next day the seeds were distributed to 150 families through our agricultural trainers. The remaining seeds were brought back by us and later again transported to Chargheri and distributed to a 145 families in the presence of our Agricultural trainers. This carrying back and forth was troublesome, but was necessary to prevent any misuse of seeds and to ensure proper preservation.

Last Saturday our Agricultural trainers were in Chargheri area for follow up training and reported that the results are encouraging. Begun and Lal shak is not so successful, some failures are also noted for barbate and seam but the overall results are encouraging They are expecting a good harvest. In all the situation is upbeat.

Another good thing is that following our suggestions and advise, the villagers have formed a cooperative (unregisted) with representatives form all five villages. They are supposed to communicate with the trainers about problems encountered during the post training farming and any related issues. We had regular contact over phone with some of these cooperative members and they seem to work well in coordination.

We suumarise our agricultural rehabilitation program:

• We arranged the agricultural trainings by the trainer from an organization SWANIRVAR,who has successfully carried out similar trainings in Aila affected areas of Hingalgunge. .
• Mr Naran Chandra Bachar and Mrs Anjana Mandal have imparted training for 14 days spread over their 5 trips to Chargheri. After distribution of seeds, another two days follow up review and problem solving session was held last weekend.
• Direct training was provided to around 260 villagers the five villages, trainings were arranged in different places of these five villages to facilitate uniform opportunity for participation.
• We encouraged the villagers to spread the training through “each one teach one” process and another 340 people get “indirect” trained by directly trained trainees. We allowed villagers who are not PAKT card holder (introduced during relief) to take part in the training program. Only requirement was the trainee should have his own land.
• The training not only taught techniques of vegetable faming in this type of saline water affected land but also generated asset maps of the villages, crop calendar etx. Trainees were enlightened on general cropping practices, problems of natural disasters and rising of sea water level.
• We only provided seed to the villagers who completed training. Around 600 villagers were eligible on this ground.
• We procured seeds from SWANIRVAR by paying them the necessary amount. Each set of seed packet (comprising seeds of 14 different vegetables) cost us 55 Rs (including packing). We asked the villagers to give 20 Rs for each set of seed packet. This was basically to get their commitment for pursuing the agriculture and to manage the three fold increase in the number than our initial estimate. It is worthy to mention that during distribution the villagers themselves admitted it would have cost them around 80 Rs, to get this quality and quantity of seeds from market. In total 550 seed packets were distributed.
• The training program so far cost us around 18,000 Rs. and the seeds around Rs. 34,000.

Update on distribution of seeds for backyard farming: Facebook style

We have not been giving you updates for long. We were actually waiting for the distribution of seeds to be completed. It is going to be completed by today. It may be recalled that PAKT had provided training to farmers of the five villages (Chargheri, Santigachhi, Lahiripur, Porosmoni & Bidhan Colony) for alternative vegetable farming in their backyards. Now we are backing it up by providing seeds to these farmers at heavily discounted prices.

This is what I wrote in a friend's facebook page, and I hope pasting it in a blog for your updation does the job for the time being.

"We have distributed seeds to 600 farmer families in Sunderbans for backyard farming to help them get over the mental block that their salinated lands are no good for farming and those are (reportedly) yielding good results. This proves to them that at least their backyards are back to fertility.
Next step: we plan to help a sample of 20 farmers to grow rice in salinated water logged paddy fields. Aim is to see that all farmers in these villages see the results and get over the same block for their paddy fields. If these bear crop in a couple of months, these can help prove to us - and more importantly to them - that they have hope for next rice season."

The number of families supported is actually 575 as per counting during today's final phase of seed distribution; we found that the number of seed packets were a little lesser than estimated.
Sandeepan will soon come up with a more detailed update on the seed distribution for backyard farming.

Still a Lot is Needed

Many times we repeated in our blogs that certain constructive initiatives by the administration could have made things lot easier. The basic two initatives we urged several times are:
i) Pumping out saline water from the low lying agricultural lands
ii) Disbursement of the government approved amount for the reconstruction of the destroyed houses.
The same view is echoed by a newspaper report, Aila survivors stare at winter without relief in The Telegraph.
The report is based on an area other than Chargheri, in the Sunderbans, but this is a general picture. This is exactly why we had to take up the agricultural training program in Chargheri in a more elaborate way than initially planned. Only aim is to show the villagers a ray of hope that some agriculture is possible here – they can find some livelihood.
But a lot more is to be done to bring them back to their normal agriculture based life.
Any advise, assitance and direct participation will be a big help for us.