Farm Ponds Save Agriculture in Drought-Ravaged Navalgund

Deshpande Foundation’s initiative to help water harvesting and irrigation among farmers, Farm Ponds has succeeded in saving many farmers from the hardships of drought.

Eshwarappa Shekharappa Kumbar, a 65-year old farmer in Kadadalli of Navalgund taluk, has a farm pond to thank for the recent harvests that his hitherto barren land produced.

Until last year, Eshwarappa toiled desperately in parched farmlands under a scorching sun and was unable to make farming profitable. He owns 25 acres of land – in plots of 16 acres, 6 acres, and 3 acres. Without rain and owing to the acute droughts, the rain-fed agriculture failed often. Eshwarappa and most of his contemporaries incurred losses and slipped into deep debts.

yourstory-farm-pondsHowever, things began to look up for Eshwarappa lately. With the support of Deshpande Foundation, he dug a farm pond in his 16-acre plot last year. The farm pond helped him harvest occasional rains and store water, which he used to feed the crops at regular intervals. In the community that solely depended on the rain Gods for watering their crops, the farm pond made systematic irrigation a reality. Eshwarappa earned his first profit in many years, INR 3 lakh; a big change for a farmer who struggled to make both ends meet.

Today, he has got another farm pond dug in his three-acre plot. He is also planning to cultivate more profitable and water-intensive crops like papaya. So far, he had stuck to traditional crops like maize, cotton, onion, and pulses.

With the Foundation’s support, digging a pond costs Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000, less than half of what commercial operators charge. More importantly, the machine operators from the Foundation are trained professionals and do an effective job. The farmers consider the role of the machine operator as very important. It takes between 36 to 40 hours for an earth mover to dig a pond and the machines operate for 12 hours a day on an average.

“We always live with the hope of a better tomorrow and look for ways to sustain our lives. Deshpande Foundation has come to be the pillar of our strength,” said Eshwarappa, summing up the sentiment of the villagers in the taluk.

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