Experience in Nagarukhra

Nagarukhra is the gram panchayet in Haringhata 2 block of Nadia district. I collected data from the farmers in the panchayet office. Shri Dhiren Bhowmick, farmer and school teacher and Shri Anil Majhi, office bearer of Panchayet assisted to conduct training there. Here, the farmers need the followings:
1. Soil testing: Most of the farmers apply chemical fertilizer without considering the soil quality analysis. This results in loss of land fertility.

2. Training: Here farmers are highly motivated to cultivate and most of them reported profit in cultivation. They want training. They are misguided by middle men due to lack of knowledge about creation of new consumers and new bazars.

3. Purchasing bill: Some farmers complained of non return of cash memo after purchase the fertilizer, pesticides etc.

4. Stopping faulty campaign: Due to faulty information, some farmers started multiple profession along with agriculture.

Psychology training to farmers

Training Psychology to farmers






Training in field and collection of data

10 principles of suicide prevention

Suicide among experienced farmers is a great loss today. Based on my researches and field experiences, I like to share some principles of preventing suicide among the farmers.

1. Develop competency in reading, writing and arithmetic

Basic knowledge about above 3 will help you to develop competency to overcome current challenges in societal transformation. People around you can misdirect from agriculture or land cultivation.

2. Do not be blind followers

Patient hearing to lessons provided by the trainers, dealers and neighbourers is important. But do not be blind followers. Always think that you have long years of experiences developed out of your experimenting mind.

3. Be good experimenter

Make small plot of land for your experiment. Do not spread fertilizers or pesticides over whole plot. Do experiment and then use it. Your experiment will prevent you from blind administration of pesticides. Remember that all insects are not dangerous for the plant. Some insects help the plants to grow, some insects can kill bad insects. Plant grows out of bio-diversity.



4. Routine accounting

Maintain one ledger book and write each amount of income, expenditure and excess expenditure.

5. Use medicinal plants

Medicinal plants within intervals of plants can stop your excess expenditure for pesticides. This will stop damage in bio diversity. Allow more air and light for growing plants. Air can control bad gases coming out from soil.

6. Change your value

You always think of profit. No, profit is not your value. Always think of social responsibility as your value. You are ploughing lands not for individual profit but for providing daily foods to larger society.

7. Develop social networking

Do not keep yourself within your walls during depression. Engage yourself social networking. Form social network among farmers in your village.

8. Motivate others to plantation

People around you may not like plantation. Motivate them towards plantation. Do not pay attention to the words that farming has no profit. It is a loss.

9. Education through gardening

Encourage garden based education in your place. Teach your kids through gardening, or plantation.

10.Control bad cues

Always control the cues that can demotivate you from agriculture.

Mixed feeling

For the sudden demise of Ex-chief minister, Late Jyoti Basu, I canceled my visit to Bagjola on 18th January. Getting appointment and organizing the farmers are very hectic process. Shri Gain took all the troubles. He told me that farmers will take procession tomorrow to show their grief.

Hingalganj experience

Recently, I went to Hingalganj near Sundarban and Bangladesh. I met 53 farmers and noticed their failures in following five areas:

1. Inability to create customer;
2. Unorganized crop production;
3. Lack of diary writing ;
4. Lack of knowledge about risk analysis and financial management;
5. Lack of knowledge about project analysis and goal setting.

Their educational level ranged from class VII to B.A.

My visit was arranged by Shri Nilangshu Gain of Swanirbhar.
Ardhendu Bhattacharya was with me.

comment from orkut friend

Some of the problems faced by small farmer are;

Lack of knowledge: Lack of knowledge about modern farming techniques, Lack of knowledge about abt various govt measures, availability of farm loans and knowledge about use of pesticides are common among farmers. They are many farmers ( I guess more than 60-70%) who never approached agriculture department. Many of them are not even aware of existence of such institution.

Lack of better price: Most of the farmers do not get good prices for their produces. There is involvement of many intermediaries in between which result in less prices for the agri produces of a farmer. There are many farmers who are not even aware of APMC. People approach local dealer and sell their produce at the price quoted by the dealer. Since small farmers cannot afford to transport their products to mandis, they don't get a good deal.

Cost of farming : The cost of farming has increased substantially over the years. It is quite natural that the workers demand higher wages as they get similar salary outside. However we didn't see such a similar rise in the income of farmers. Earlier small farmers used to do most of their farm work with the help of family members. Since we don't have many joint families, the labor cost in farming has increased substantially.

Non availability of Labor: Non availability of Labor is one of the problem now and going forward it will be one of the biggest challenge for the farmer. People's attitude towards farming, the hard work involved in farming and other lucrative opportunities available are some of the reasons for that.

Dependence on single crop: Most of the farmers are small scale farmers and they rely on single farming and in case diseases or fall in prices incur huge losses.

I think multi tasking is one of the best way to become a successful farmer. Rather than depending on a single crop farmer should try multi produts. NGOs should come forward and help farmers in logistic issues and NGOs must try to educate famers..

Value change

Farming is basically based on collectivistic values. Farmers are interacting with each other. They maintain a good social network system through which they learn different procedures of farming, and develop market.

This is noted that farmers are moving from collectivistic values to individualistic values possibly due to market competition as is noted in urban based industries.