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| Sunday, 23 October 2005 |
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Dry Zone farming... : A success story (Continued from last week) by Jayampathy Jayasinghe Assistance for Internally Displaced and Conflict Affected Household (AFIDACAH) is a European Commission-funded project implemented through the government to reintegrate, internally displaced persons and war affected families to their places of origin. The total cost of the projects was Euros 1.52 million. It covered 1100 conflict affected households in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Puttalam and Mannar. Eighty per cent of the members of the project are women. On the second day of our visit to Anuradhapura we were accompanied to the Baladaksha Mawatha at Horowpathana by CARE officials, Chamila Jayashantha, Chandima Pinsiri, Sathan Bandara, and Roshan Jeevanand when met Veenetha, a woman farmer who explained to us about the prosperity of farmers, now that farmers have taken to poultry farming in a big way and have made profits of Rs. 1500 a month. CARE Sri Lanka had given them Rs. 40,000 to start a poultry farm in the area. "We felt the need to put up a loan of building to house our own farm society and discussed the matter with CARE officials who gave us Rs 100,000, with which we put up the Foundation. and received an additional sum of Rs 100,000 for the second stage from CARE Sri Lanka. The villagers too collected Rs. 60,000. and helped them with free labour to put up the building. CARE had also donated farming implements worth around Rs 50,000 and set of books containing valuable information on farming methods. Today the farmers make use of the building to run a pre-school for their children, to house a library and to conduct their day-to-day businesses, she said. Their projections for the future is to set up a paddy mill and a computer centre in the village. Renuka, another farmer woman at Baladaksha Mawatha related their success story about how they were able to start a poultry farm with an initial capital of Rs. 40,000 granted by CARE Sri Lanka. We then came across Mrs. Champika, the Agricultural Officer, who told us that farmers during those days, met only at the village agrarian meetings. But they meet often and discuss problems relating to farming after the farmers society was formed. Sometime back farmers encountered a lot of problems politically as well as from others in the village. But as a result of training and guidance given by CARE they were able to counter most problems. However she bemoaned that the Pradeshiya Sabha do not respond to their needs. The bureaucratic foul up has made matters worse for them, she said. According to CARE officials, agricultural extension work in dry zone areas is hampered owing to a dearth of staff in the Agriculture Department. Only one officer is available to attend to the needs of about 300-4000 farmer families. Having understood this problem CARE had introduced an animator program to train farmers to work as village level extension workers and to serve as coordinators. CARE was able to train Veneetha, a woman in soil conservation methods and crop management. In her home garden she demonstrates low cost agromic practices like pitcher irrigation and organic fertiliser applications. Veneetha has now become an expert and her services are very much in demand in the neighbouring villages. Having visited the border villagers of Poowarasankulama, Helambagaswewa, Baladakshemawatha in Horowpathana areas, we left for Mannar after a sumptuous lunch given by the farmer community at the Resource Centre at Baladaksha Mawatha. We reached Isamalaithalu village in Mannar Nanttan DS division around 5.00 p.m. having travelled a distance of almost 160 kilometres. The road from Anuradhapura to Mannar was not as bad as we expected although it was a bumpy ride. After arriving in Mannar the CARE Project Coordinator Mohan Sundaram explained to us in detail the projects initiated by villagers after the tsunami. Several villages in the Mannar costal belt were ravaged and fishermen lost their livelihood when their fleet of fishing boats were destroyed. Flushed with cash today their deprivation, despair and misery have been turned into hope. Several villagers have been able to earn their living by growing perennial crops and taking to goat farming. We met the President of the farm organisation, Nesarajah in Karambaikulam. He said their farm organisation has been named as Tsunami. He said several farmer families hope to settle down in the village after the water tank is rehabilitated. Of the 16 water tanks in the Mannar district, four have already been rehabilitated. We came across a woman named Margaret, an animator trained in poultry farming by CARE Sri Lanka. She said along with veterinary surgeon they were able to vaccinate 700 fowls in their area. Another woman animator named Antonia who fled to India 14 years ago during the civil war had returned to Sri Lanka recently. She is actively involved in poultry work after being trained by CARE Sri Lanka. Karupiah Ponnamma is an another woman from Karambaikulam who have been taught to rear goats in a scientific way. The goat cage is built above the ground to avoid goats being exposed to rain. This prevents goats from contracting pneumonia during the rainy season. We visited the house of Vinchiyapillai Ponrose, who has been successful in manufacturing and selling Murukku and other sweet-meats to boutiques in the Mannar town. She earns around Rs 6000 a month and hopes to further increase her income. According to an European Commission (EC) project report, Sri Lanka's dry zone covers almost 75 per cent of the total land area, while water scarcity is a major problem that contribute to low yields and poor returns. Minor irrigation systems in disrepair, inappropriate farming practices and poor access to farmer support services and networks are the contributory factors. |
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