Overview
Each day a small truck filled with
vegetables leaves MSS and makes its way to the local
market. “For the 6,000 people who live here, the market-bound
produce represents the difference between living at
subsistence levels and generating cash,” explains Partha
Das Gupta, Adviser, Syngenta
FoundationIndia (SFI).
Established years ago by world-renowned social reformer,
Baba Amte, MSS has grown into one of the largest communities
in the world of people affected by leprosy and physical
disabilities. MSS gives them a home and an environment
in which they can build self-confidence and self-sufficiency.
Although 30 hectares of agricultural land produces enough
to feed the community, income for health, education
and social welfare projects is always in short supply.
Our cooperation with MSS began with small demonstration
plots on basic agronomic practices and more effective
use of the available water supply. Then, with the guidance
of a full-time agronomist, the move to more market-oriented
production levels accelerated.
To improve crop productivity and reduce costs, hands-on
training took place in rice and soybean cultivation,
and plant disease and pest management. Led by experts
from local agricultural institutions, the workshops
have proven so successful they have drawn large numbers
of farmers from neighbouring communities, as well as
from the faculty of the Anand Niketan Agriculture College.
For the first time, crops were cultivated in the dry
season, with the project’s new 4.8 million litre capacity
reservoir. From October to March, over 24 hectares of
land were under irrigation, with farmers growing wheat,
maize, sunflower, hot peppers and other vegetables.
This year, agriculture at MSS rose above subsistence
level to become an incomegenerating enterprise. Overall
production increased over the previous year, with significant
gains in fine grain rice and vegetables. The higher
yields were directly associated with the improved irrigation,
proper weeding and timely planting. The results were
presented at a workshop, and consensus was reached on
the direction of the next phase of the programme. A
crop plan has been drawn up, with the selection and
timing of vegetables driven specifically by market demand.
Using the lessons gained at MSS, new projects were begun
with organisations in Orissa, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
Through farmers’ workshops and village-level contacts,
these projects aim to deliver appropriate agricultural
technologies that help generate income for these socially-similar
communities.
2005 Update
Somnath, its sister campus, now cultivates
crops on 500 hectares of land that was degraded forest,
cleared entirely by hand. In June work was completed
on a new water storage reservoir which will hold nearly
5 million litres, which in turn should ensure sufficient
water for the irrigation of rice and vegetables during
the coming dry season.
Water management was the subject of a Syngenta Foundation-sponsored
lecture in Basel, Switzerland. Dr Anne Powell, Director
of FreshwaterLife, an organisation that provides web-based
access to information on the organisms and freshwater
habitats of the world, delivered a lecture in Basel,
Switzerland on “Biodiversity in freshwaters: challenges
and opportunities”.
Dr Powell spoke on increasing communication and knowledge
on freshwater biodiversity in all part of the world,
particularly in less developed countries.
Appreciation
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