Thirty-two-year-old Heera Sinh Jodhasinh Patwal lives in Todhara Village, Dwarahat Block, Almora District. He has completed his BA and his main occupation is farming on his 30 naali (7200 square yards) land and animal husbandry (he has 2 jersey cows). He also runs a grocery shop in the village. He mainly cultivates vegetables such as potato, pea, radish, cucumber, spinach, cabbage, and cauliflower and sells these at the local Dwarahat market. He earns an annual income of INR 50,000/-. He sells 6 liters of milk every day and earns a yearly income of INR 45,000/-. He manages to earn INR 15,000/- per year from his shop. Through these cumulative earnings, he is still barely able to take care of his family’s basic needs.
In 2015, he was selected by INHERE to lead the village Youth Agricultural Program Group. Dedicated to sustainable development in the Himalayan mountain region–its people, environment and economy, the Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education (INHERE) focuses on conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, diverse safe and nutritious food, sustainable rural livelihoods, water and sanitation and above all community empowerment. INHERE is one of the farmers’ organizations that are part of MTCP2 India.
Heera Sinh actively participated in various meetings, workshops, training, farmer fairs, educational field trips, and other activities through INHERE. Consequently, he started employing good practices in his farms such as sowing certified seeds, line harvesting, application of adequate water, and soil. He also initiated modern techniques such as deploying drip and sprinkler technology in irrigation to reduce water wastage as well as applying organic pesticides to stall pests and diseases from infecting the crop. Because of these, Heera Sinh’s profits from his vegetable sales have doubled.
Furthermore, the Value Addition Training and the problem being faced by his villagers in grinding grains and spices motivated Heera Sinh to install a flour mill in his grocery shop. Under the 15% Discount Project, a 3 HP flour mill was procured from Madhya Pradesh (Nagpur). Now, the 65 families residing in the village grind their grains and spices at Heera Sinh’s shop. Not only does he earn INR 5000/- per month from this, but the labor, time, and resources of the villagers are also saved.
Heera Sinh also put up a request for a different poultry breed. Upon noticing his interest, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly decided to provide him with three poultry breeds (Kadaknath, Cari Upcari, and Cari Devendra) thrice at 4-month intervals to serve the objective of multiplying the breed and selling it off. Heera Sinh initially started with 30 chickens. Now, he has 10 cocks and 30 egg-laying hens. He now earns regular income from selling eggs, chicks, and hens.
Heera Sinh informs that right from the beginning, his main occupation has been farming and animal husbandry, but he was not able to earn a decent livelihood through these. Under INHERE, he received various training courses regarding allied occupations like poultry, value chain, and modern farming techniques which led him to double his income.
His interest in allied livelihood options is continuously developing. He is very happy and satisfied with his livelihood because he can now take care of the needs of his family.
After seeing the results of the alternate occupations and application of new farming techniques, young farmers from nearby villages are also approaching Heera Sinh to gain an understanding of these best practices and apply them to their villages. #
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