Jagannath Murmu with his farm pond
Jagannath Murmu is a tribal farmer with 15 acres land. One would think that with this much of land, his family member would be leading a happy life. But this was not the case as his land was upland, locally called dangar, on which little grew, not even sufficient for the consumption of the family.
He got selected under National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)’s Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) project being implemented by Badlao Foundation. A farm pond was dug on his land in summer of 2017.
That year the pond was almost full of water to the brink, nearly 10 ft. But next year the water level dropped by 6 ft because of poor rainfall.
Jagannath received training in fisheries. The organisation gave him quality seeds of onion, cabbage, brinjal, tomato, mustard, pumpkin, kurthi, pigeon pea, maize, etc. It also gave him information on many issues related to agriculture, allied activities etc. Compared to the year 2016, his income in kharif increased three-fold and doubled in rabi. Not only that, he got 35 kg fish in the very first year of the pond.
Seeing his success many farmers are eager to bring their uplands under cultivation and diversify their income by opting for activities like fisheries.
