Case5-January-2013
Two fifty families in the villages of K.Chattirapatti, Kaadaneri and V.Ammapatti depends on the big tank in Kaadeneri which is the source of irrigation for 150 acres. For the past two years the tank remains dry forcing the farmers to give up cultivation. Karupaiah born to Samayan is 60 years old and resides in K.Chattirapatti village along with his wife Ms. Subbu. He has a son Mr. Mariyappan who works as a fitter after doing ITI education (Industrial training institute) and a daughter who is just completed her degree in Nursing and working as a nurse in Meenakshi mission hospital, Madurai . His son got married, living separately with his wife, providing no support to the elderly parents. Karupaiah being a hard worker, however never expects his support. He owns 60 cents of land irrigated by Kaadeneri Kanmai and 66 cents of rainfed land. Being innovative and trying his best with available water, Karupaiah used to grow green manure crop Sun hump in his field. When there are rains and water in the tank he used to raise paddy nursery, and while transplanting he used to plough sun hemp in the field and transplant. In his absence few villagers from Kaadeneri used to harvest the crop without his knowledge for feeding cattle. Also if there are no rains he was not able to get optimum utilization of the sun hemp crop if there are no rains which force him to give up paddy cultivation. So instead of sun hemp he started growing gingelly crop ( Sesame). Last year he cultivated paddy. This year there were no rains at all. Other farmers in the village were pessimistic and thought that they could not cultivate any crop in their field. Their land were left fallow. Karupaiah however took a risk.
| Expenditure ( | Income | |
|---|---|---|
| Land Preparation | 2,000 | Yeild - 30Bags |
| Seeds, land preparation and sowing | 3,000 | Price per bag = |
| Fertilizer, pest control and harvest | 2,500 | Income = |
| Total | 7,500 | Net Income = |
| Expenditure ( | Income | |
|---|---|---|
| Land Preparation | 2,000 | Yeild - 11Bags |
| Seeds, land preparation and sowing | 3,000 | Price per bag = |
| Fertilizer, pest control and harvest | 3,500 | Income = |
| Total | 8,500 |
| Expenditure | Amount ( | Income | Amount ( |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ploughing | 2,000 | Expected yield | 100 kgs |
| Seeds | 100 | Oil extracted | 41 litres |
| Fertilizer | nil | Expected Price /liter | 150/litre |
| Harvesting and thrashing | 400 | Gross Income | 6,150 |
| Total | 2,400 | Net Income | 3,750 |
He kept is land prepared using five duct foot plough and cultivator. Even using the slightest rain that fell that occurred during first week of September, he sowed gingelly in his field. He had plans of cultivating paddy by buying paddy seedlings from those who have prepared nursery using well water, if there were subsequent rains and the tanks get filled. As fate would have it, there was no rains. Hence he allowed the gingelly crop to grow, which came up well and reached the stage of harvest. They started harvesting the crop on 14.12.2012. His neighbors who have left their land fallow now started feeling that they have made a wrong decision. Karupaih says “Lot of villagers asked me with surprise, how I was confident of getting crop even in this extreme drought. I can feel the jealousy that some expressed. I never bothered about the external influences. With no support from my son and the rains, I have to earn something to maintain my family and educate my daughter. Though she got the seat by merit I have to spent a lot for her hostel and other expenses for three and half years amounting to `24,000/year”. His wife Subbu added “My son did not have any concern for our family. Whenever we grow gingelly we used to extract gingelly oil by milling it in nearby mill. They take gingelly cake instead of money and return us the oil. When we mill 12 kg of gingelly it gives 5 litres of gingelly. We expect 100 kgs of gingelly from these 60 cents. Per liter of gingelly costs `150-200/-. From this we expect a income of around `5,000-6,000/- We also retain some oil for family consumption. I used to give oil to my son’s family which he refuses to accept, fearing that we will seek some help later. Though his behavior disheartens me, we keep struggling to maintain our family” Karupaiah also adds “ Gingelly is very drought tolerant. It can serve as an excellent green manure for paddy crop. If paddy cannot be cultivated, I leave it as such. I wish that my fellow villagers also cultivate their land, at least part of their land without leaving it barren. ”
Karupaih is the role model for rainfed farmers. Rains may deceive, crops may fail but one should not lose his heart.