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Honey bee publish details |
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Institution |
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| Title |
Coping with Drought: Collectively and Creatively |
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| Details |
Genesis
There is a shallow pond situated on the outskirts of the Vaghura village owned by farmers of three villages. Earlier, the villagers from the other two adjacent villages i.e., Kudrodi and Sasra used to grow Sorghum on the residual moisture in the common pond after rain water receded. A check dam had also been built for storing water which is shared by the downstream village users. About 30 years ago, villagers of Vaghura and Kudrodi thought of taking the custodianship of their share of land in the common pond and thus approached the villagers in Sasra. But the villagers here did not agree to their plea. Eventually, the villagers of Vaghura and Kudrodi met the mamlatdar (Revenue Inspector) and requested him to intervene in this matter. The mamlatdar visited all the three villages and discussed with the villagers and finally distributed the land equally among the three villages. People of Vaghura got a share of approx 22 acres of pond land and they decided to use this pond to collectively grow fodder. Every year 10-12 acre of land is cultivated and the remaining part is kept unused. The persons who initially helped in mobilising collective will in favour of this decision were: Bhimabhai Radhubhai Jaru, Pabubhai Sakhayabhai Chavda, Lakhubhai Virabhai Chavda, Bhimabhai Ratabhai Chavda and Ravabhai Heerabhai Jaru.
Kudrodi, village next to Vaghura, owns 10-12 acres of land. The Mahajan (local money lender) of this village has leased in the land for cultivation of Sorghum which is used for similar purpose. Villagers at Sasra have divided the land among themselves, farmers grow Sorghum in their share of land individually.
In extreme dry season when the availability of fodder declines considerably, villagers harvest the fodder collectively and store in a godown as a reserve stock to meet the local need. Such situation arises generally due to inadequacy of private fodder stocks due to severe droughts. There are mainly three kinds of local varieties of jowar available in this region: ‘gundri’, ‘tothdi’ and ‘sashatiyo’. The villagers of Vaghura grow ‘gundri’, which is supposed to be more palatable and disease free than the other two varieties. In none of the other villages in nearby places except Vaghura, Sorghum is grown collectively by villagers.
Socio-economic Context
Vaghura (Mundra taluka, Bhuj district, Gujarat) is inhabited mostly by Ahirs followed by Harijan, Muslim, Kohli and Bawa. There are approximately 300 households in the village. The farming households keep a sizeable herd of livestock mainly cows, bullocks and goats. The crop residues and fodder harvested from individual as well as common land supplemented by purchases from the market at a rate of Rs 105 per tractor are needed to feed 450 cows, 50 bullocks and 300 goats in the village. A shepherd is appointed to look after the goats. He charges Rs 15 per month. Almost every farmer owns at least two cows in the village. The milk produced is used mainly for household consumption. Average land holding is about 8-10 acres. Some of the important crops grown are millet, green gram, til (Sesamum indicum), wheat, sorghum, cotton, castor etc. There are 40-50 wells and 5-10 borewells in the village. People work on their farms during the monsoon period. In winter season many people migrate to neighbouring areas to work as agricultural laborers. They receive Rs 50-60 as daily wage. Some people also work at government sponsored relief work sites, where they are paid Rs 40-50 per day. There is no canal irrigation facility in the village.
Decision Making Arrangements
After the monsoon, as the water dries up in the pond, it’s time for the villagers to plant jowar. The village elders fix a day for a meeting and all the households are invited to attend the meeting to plan out the cultivation of the crop on the common land. Following issues are discussed in the meeting: i) cleaning of land and soil treatment, ii) collection of seeds, iii) sowing operation, iv) protection of crop from stray animals, v) employment of wages for appointing the caretaker, vi) collection of funds etc.
One member from each household takes part in cleaning and leveling the field before sowing. In this task, the participation of members from labourer families is higher in number. Sowing is carried out generally by the collective efforts of all the villagers, but mostly by members those who have not contributed in the cleaning and ploughing work. Usually, seeds are preserved from the previous year, but in the absence of a good rain, seeds are purchased from neighbouring villages or from Mundra taluka.
Next, the village elders decide on the caretaker who would supervise the crop till the period of harvest for five months. Usually Muslims are appointed as caretakers, but it’s subject to change according to their performance. They receive a monthly remuneration of Rs 2000 for this task. The caretaker may be appointed from within the village or from the neighbouring village. This year Shri Ramjubhai Kasubhai Luhar (although he is from a Muslim community, but his name indicates his profession rather than religious identity) from Kudrodi village was appointed as the caretaker.
Village leaders keep visiting the plot off and on to keep track of the development after the sowing operation. As they notice that the crop is ready to harvest, they fix up a day to start the operation that continues for 5-6 days. When the operation is about to begin, the village elders appoint a supervisor to plan and execute the whole operation smoothly. The supervisor sends a messenger to announce the day and time and intimates 10-20 members from different households to take part in the harvesting operation, each day. Likewise, each member from every household has to keep their turn in the operation. If any member is unable to attend the operation then he must send a labourer to compensate his/her absence. Men and women take part equally in the harvesting operation. After the operation is over, members start collecting the fodder into bundles. The participation of women seems to be higher in this task. In addition to this, members also offer surplus fodder voluntarily from their own field when there is good rain, which is stored in the godown.
Some farmers who keep goats get the fodder from their own field, but the Ahir community owning cows goes for this collective action.
The catchment area of the check dam where jowar is cultivated, is never desilted. During good monsoon, the stored water in the check dam is shared by downstream villages Kudrodi and Sasra.
Water Management for Drinking Water of Livestock
Just at the entrance of the village, one would find four troughs (aveda) attached with an oil engine. The basic purpose of maintaining these troughs is to facilitate drinking water for cattle but not for human consumption. At the end of the day, the villagers leave their cattle for consuming fodder around the godown situated near the trough. The cattle remain there till late evening and then return to their shelter on their own. The water in the trough is strictly consumed by cattle and nobody else is allowed to use it for any other purposes. If a person is found to break this rule, he/she has to purchase five litres of kerosene for the engine as a punishment. The villagers have found a unique method for finding a suitable person who could be assigned the responsibility of managing these troughs. Every four months, the manure is auctioned in the village premises. The highest bidder would have to shoulder the responsibility of managing the troughs of drinking water. S/He will have to carry out the task of getting the troughs cleaned once in a week. If s/he uses the engine to draw water from the well, then the expense of fuel and maintenance of the engine as well will have to be entirely borne by him. Since the person has right to collect the manure of the entire cattle holding of village, he might also sell the manure to anybody within the village.
Resource Allocation
When there is good monsoon, about 10-12 tractors load (each tractor carries load of 5000 kg) of sorghum are produced and the stock is kept in the godown. Harvesting of sorghum starts in the month of January end and continues till about mid February. Cows consume this fodder till monsoon after which enough green fodder is available. Remaining fodder is stored in the godown. If private stocks of fodder is not sufficient, then this stored fodder is used for the cattle. Fodder is never sold to anybody within or outside the village. An auction of the manure is held every four months (Rs 3500-5000), and the money thus acquired is kept as a common fund in the bank and is used for giving salary to the caretaker and for any other purpose that may emerge as an emergency. Funds are acquired through other sources also, viz.,
§ During marriage ceremony of son, families donate money for charitable purpose
§ The youth club of the village performs cultural programme in other villages and towns. The income thus generated is deposited in the common fund. The youth generally performs during the drought season, since villagers are unable to grow sorghum in the subsequent year because of less water, thus compensating the shortage of fodder.
§ The landless labourers also contribute according to their capacity.
§ A small part (Rs 5 or 20 kg) of the produce (grains or cash crops viz., cotton, castor etc.) from individual private fields is contributed by farmers.
Funds so collected from various sources are thus deposited in the common account, which may be operated by two village leaders as a joint account. All the expenses related to fodder management are debited from this fund. The gramsabha elects two persons and assigns the responsibility of handling the joint account. During 1980-1990, election was held only twice for electing the sarpanch. For last five years, Naranbhai Harshubhai Jaru is the sarpanch of Vaghura The members who are presently responsible for the management of fodder and water in Vaghura are: Ransinhbhai Ambabhai Majethiya; Dudhbhai Pabubhai Chavda; Lakhubjai Virabhai Chavda; Naranbhai Harsurbhai Jaru; Karsanbhai Bhimabhai Jadu and Rudabhai Ramjibhai Chavda.
No major conflicts or disagreements among the villagers were reported to have taken place in the village so far. Possibly because, villagers do not seek any personal gains from their effort. They collectively carry out this task with a voluntary spirit just for the sake of ensuring that cattle of the village do not suffer. It does not matter who owns how much private land, every body cattle have access to the stored fodder. Since no body sells fodder, collective stock is used only after private stocks are generally exhausted.
It is an unique institution to manage collective cultivation, harvest and storage of fodder and also management of water troughs for animals. It is obvious that in dry regions, such models have enormous implication for survival collectively without having to depend upon the largesse of state or voluntary organisations during stress period. |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 12(3):7-9, 2001 |
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