Solar energy changes the lives of rural women in Rajasthan

Solar energy changes the lives of rural women in Rajasthan

The lives of rural women from Dooni village in Rajasthan have changed for the better since 2014, thanks to a women-led dairy cooperative that has been growing due to availability of electricity at low cost that has helped keep the milk chilled from the heat, and provided a regular source of income for the women.

It was in 2014 that women from the village got together to form the Dooni dairy cooperative. Women from the village had cows and buffaloes, which they had received as a dowry according to local tradition, when they were married. Women decided to pool their resources and sell the extra milk that remained in their homes that their families did not consume.

There was a problem though.  Electricity needed to refrigerate milk to prevent it from getting spoilt from the extreme heat in Rajasthan was both expensive and unreliable, cutting into their profits and making it hard to keep the milk chilled. Frequent power outages meant the milk that didn’t sell quickly often had to be thrown away. 

Everything changed after the women got solar-powered refrigerators in 2021. The dairy’s monthly electricity bill fell to Rs 5,000 rupees and reliable power helped them double their income by sending in more milk, which could now be saved due to refrigeration if it was not sold that day. Women make Rs 400 per day each, that has not only improved their lives, but also elevated their social status in the community. 

Many, like these women in Rajasthan who have formed the Dooni cooperative dairy have benefited from solar power by starting self-help groups – collectives formed under the aegis of the government’s National Rural Livelihood Mission to empower rural women and reduce poverty. The scheme, started with support from the World Bank, was launched in 2011 and provides a mechanism for the government and developmental organisations to channel aid and train rural women (Scroll).

Kashmir's farmers switch from apples to growing greens

The apple orchards, which were a source of livelihood for nearly half of Kashmir's population suffered due to the long political and pandemic lockdown in 2019-2020. Fruits rotted on trees as no one was available  to pick them. With the farm supply chain in disarray, farmers were unable to get goods to the market.

This drove farmers in the region to think of alternative sources of income. Relief came in the form of exotic vegetables that fetched more money than seasonals and it was thought to be a lucrative option. More than 12 fruit growers in Tahab and adjacent villages have thus switched to organic vegetable farms over the past year. Integrated farming using homemade manure and compost has now become the buzzword in the orchards. Growing fruits and vegetables on the same farm has opened a window to a regular cash flow as farmers can produce three to four crops of greens a year.

The demand for organic vegetable produce is increasing in Kashmir and farmers in other districts, such as Ganderbal and Budgam in central Kashmir, and Bandipora and Baramulla in the north have also expressed interest in joining the effort. More than 50 hectares of land across the valley are under now under cultivation of exotic vegetables (The Village Square).

Tribal women from Chhattisgarh join hands to turn fallow land fertile

Residents of Biladi village, some 40 m from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, faced an uncertain future as lack of irrigation in the region put limitations on farming. Men routinely migrated outside in search of work as aresult of this while the women left behind had to live a life of poverty and hardships.

However, change happened when women in the village got together and decided to do something to change their lives. They came up with the idea of collective farming and twenty women from the Dalit and tribal communities, approached the Gram Panchayat and asked them for a piece of land. They were granted 15 acres of land on lease through a resolution passed in the Gram Sabha.The women registered themselves as the Biladi Mahila Mandal and started with cultivating millets and selling them at 10 paise per kilo.

Over the years, the prices of their products increased and their businesses improved. The soil required a lot of work in the beginning, but millets provided an advantage as they are climate resilient and did not require a lot of water and proved to be the best option for the initial years.

The women gradually started bringing in other crops and opted for multi-cropping to make the soil adaptable and fertile. Natural fertlisers and traditional methods for pest control were used. Simultaneously, the women also worked on reviving the water table. Maintaining water capacity at the farm was always their biggest challenge and the women started planting trees to bind the soil better and also experimented with various low-cost mechanisms to harvest rainwater.

Water trenches currently wind through the land. The once-arid land also has medium-sized soak pits for rainwater harvesting, dug by the women themselves. Work on the land belonging to the panchayat is carried out under the MGNREGA and women earn wages from this work. More and more women are joining the collective and helping in making value-added products like jams and pickles and contributing to the revenue earned. Last year, the earnings from jams and pickles alone were to the tune of some Rs 2 lakhs. 

Now in their sixties and seventies, the women who started this initiative have now been joined by their grandchildren. Starting with millets, this sustainable and growing collective today grows 20 different kinds of herbs, shrubs, vegetables, and fruits on the land (The Village Square). 

Tribes in Dibang valley love tigers, but do not want the tiger reserve

The National Tiger Conservation Authority has proposed to notify the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (DWLS) as a tiger reserve, which will be India’s first high altitude tiger reserve. However, this has been staunchly resisted by the indigenous Idu Mishmi tribe, as they feel this will hinder their access to the forest.

The Idu Mishmi is a sub-tribe of the Mishmi group in Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring Tibet. The other two groups include Digaru and Miju. The community is known for their expert craftsmanship and weaving, and they primarily live in Mishmi Hills, bordering Tibet. The Idu Mishmis have a strong connection with the region’s flora and fauna and believe tigers to be their “elder brothers” and thus killing tigers, for the Idu Mishmis, is a taboo.

The DWLS, which is surrounded by international borders in the north, east and west also has rich faunal diversity and many endemic and rare species like Mishmi takin, red serow, gorals, clouded leopard etc other than tigers.

While authorities claim that the tiger reserve will mean greater protection for the species in the area and that although local people of Dibang Valley are conservation oriented, there is a need for more forest department officials for proper monitoring and protection to limit illegal trade of animal parts, considering Arunachal Pradesh’s vulnerable location.

The tribals argue that the area of the DWLS is not demarcated properly and presently it encompasses almost half of Dibang Valley district. While this remains unsorted, the idea of the Dibang Tiger Reserve (DTS) proposed by the government is problematic. There cannot be a tiger reserve, unless the legal process of recognition, determination and settlement of the legal rights of the indigenous communities in notifying the DWLS are addressed.

The locals fear that if the tiger reserve is notified, it will occupy even more land than that is currently demarcated for the sanctuary, impacting the lives of those who live in the region as the tribals have a very strong relationship with the jungle and if that becomes restricted, their survival would be difficult.

A recent study in the area argues that while the Dibang landscape harbors more tigers than designated tiger reserves in the state, the Idu Mishmi tribes threats will not pose a threat to tigers considering their strong cultural bond with tigers. Thus, any proposal for the tiger reserve needs to be done with the consensus of the local communities (Mongabay, India).

The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard struggles for survival

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), a bird with a black crown on its forehead, a pale neck and head and a brownish body, is a critically endangered species and only four female specimens remain live in the Abdasa region of Kutch district in Gujarat.

The Supreme Court has ordered for power lines to be laid underground to protect the rare birds in the region, but a new Central Electricity Authority notice has been issued seeking to allow power lines through Bustard habitats across India.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has estimated in 2018 that there are fewer than 250 GIBs left in India, their only home, a drastic reduction from 1,260 in 1969 and 300 in 2008 with their largest numbers being in Rajasthan (128), and fewer than 10 in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka each. Thus, 

Without any males left to procreate, the future of the four remaining female Bustards of Gujarat is already uncertain and the presence of power lines has further endangered  their survival in the region. Other riks exist as well including habitat loss and degradation of grasslands due to widespread agricultural expansion and mechanisation of farming, infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electricity towers, wind turbines and construction, mining and industrialisation, improper habitat management and lack of community support for conservation efforts,

While plans to breed bustards to increase their populations are being proposed, experts question the wisdom of breeding GIBs in large numbers, when they still would be exposed to the risk of being killed by powerlines and argue for the need to make the area safe before releasing the birds into their enviroment (IndiaSpend).

This is a roundup of important news updates from May 1st to May 15th, 2023. Read our policy matters this fortnight here.