Jalna farmer bags national award for innovation

AURANGABAD: A farmer's innovative idea and planning to keep his village out of the grip of severe drought has won him a national award. Uddhav Khedekar from Shivni village in Jalna district has been selected for the national Jagjivan Ram Innovative Farmer Award 2012, sponsored by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR). The award ceremony will be held on July 16, 2013 in New Delhi. Khedekar will receive the award in the form of a citation and award money of Rs 1 lakh. Khedekar, also a recipient of Sahayadri Bhushan award for water management, has set up his village as a role model by introducing efficient water management in its periphery. People's participation in Shivni village not only helped them sail through the drought condition but also ensure production of kharif and rabi crops. Marathwada region received less than 50% rainfall last year, with Jalna, Osmanabad and Aurangabad districts declared as the drought affected. Jalna is located around 105 km from Aurangabad. Shivni village, spread over 386 hectares, has a population of 750. The village has a catchment area of 668 sq km and receives only about 200 mm rainfall annually. "The village began facing water crisis a few years ago and became dependent on tankers. But in 2000, the villagers initiated a campaign that yielded results from 2006," said Khedekar. Khedekar is also a recipient of the ICAR award for taking an initiative for community watershed development to harvest maximum possible rain water to solve the water scarcity problem of the village. He was instrumental in making his village tanker free because of proper water management and auditing. He took an initiative for community watershed development to harvest maximum possible rain water. Various voluntary works such as loose boulder structures, water observation trench, plugs for water percolation and contour building, small bunds of soil and cement were built to facilitate water harvesting. No tanker is needed in the village since the successful completion of the project and the village became self-reliant in terms of water requirement. Khedekar did not stop here. After harvesting, he concentrated on water auditing. He stressed on efficient and judicious utilisation of water in the village. Measures for controlling soil erosion to maintain the soil's fertility were taken. "The rainfall caused a loss of two tonnes of soil erosion per hectare which resulted in the loss of fertility. Restoring the carbon nitrogen ratio in the soil from 0.30% to the ideal amount of around 1% was an important," said Khedekar. The Integrated Nutrition Management (INMG) to study and efficiently use the available land, water and money for agricultural activities was conducted. The study of water required for each crop and the available water in the area was conducted and accordingly the crops were cultivated with the help of available resources. Sugarcane requires one crore litres of water per acre, jowar requires one crore litres per 10 acres while gram requires one crore litres of water per 20 acres. A fertility map of the village was prepared to identify the types of crops that could be cultivated in the available soil. Six farm ponds, drip and sprinkle irrigation methods, and shed net houses were used for efficient utilisation of water. Priorities were set unanimously after every monsoon, first to meet the drinking water requirements of the village, then for cattle and lastly for agriculture. The village has been equipped with a rain gauging instrument and other technical support to facilitate water management and auditing of water. In spite of the severe drought situation this year, the farmers in the village harvested both kharif and rabi crops. But water for drinking purpose was priority and in case of rabi crop only jowar, which requires less moisture was cultivated, Khedekar said.

Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/Jalna-farmer-bags-national-award-for-innovation/articleshow/20852815.cms