Pre-Colloquium - Day 2: September 23. Field Visits
The second day began with a debrief by Suresh on the trip ahead to those villages in Tamilnadu where the communities, the Change Management Group, water supply and irrigation officials and the administration have made a difference to the way water is collected, stored and distributed for the common good. Suresh also introduced the touring parties to the koodam concept, which he said would be a big part of the experience. It would be an experience, he stressed, and not a showcase. He acknowledged and dwelled on the contribution of the District Collector, talked about untouchables and the caste system as a variable, and rounded off the introduction to the trip with the practical aspects pertaining to our visit.
We reached Vizhukkam, a village in Villupuram District, only by noon, where we were in for a very warm and excited welcome. Fireworks, garlands and smiling school children greeted us to the sound of drums, as we were guided to the tent where the Collector, engineers and villagers sat. The function began with a Tamil prayer song by the girls from the village, after which some of the boys sang a song about the importance of trees which they had written themselves. The girls then came back to sing another Tamil song.
After this, our attention was drawn towards some banners and a photo exhibition which told the story of the programme in the village. We went on a walkthrough of the various pictures that spoke of the variety of activities that had been conducted by the Change Management Group (CMG) in the village. The formation of a koodam was the beginning of the venture that led to things as diverse (yet integrated) as new techniques of water conservation and health camps for the village cattle. After this, engineers and officials from all eight line departments included under the IAMWARM Project gave the delegates a preliminary sense of what their particular department’s contribution to the project was.
The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has been working on improving the productivity of sugarcane but at the same time farmers are also advised to grow less water intensive crops. The Agricultural Engineering Department focuses on improving irrigation, especially through micro-irrigation. The department has helped the farmers develop and use better drip irrigation systems. The scheme, subsidised for the farmers, has led to improved irrigation in the village. The Forests and Fisheries department has been working on rainwater harvesting through 900 sq m ponds in villages, introducing fingerlings such as catla, rohu and the common carp, besides shrimp, which utilize different layers of the water, thus enabling vertical breeding.
The Water Resources Organisation takes care of de-silting, cleaning and restructuring of the infrastructure. It has also been working on a bund, and more generally on improving the irrigation supply and capacity in the village. The Agricultural Department has been conducting tests on the soil to optimise the quantity and type of fertilizer to be used. It aims to promote growth of millets; dry land cropping which would lead to large savings in water. The Horticulture department has been actively promoting mango and sapota, the cultivation of which, using drip irrigation, leads to large savings in water. The Marketing Department has been ensuring that it does its bit and the Public Works Department was to host us the next day at the WRO conference hall within its premises.
Following the grand welcome with garlands galore, besides fireworks, instrumental music and tender coconuts, we got a chance to interact with the warm villagers after the presentations and ceremony. There was a chance to look around as well, though we did not really manage to go into the village, given time constraints. That would happen later in the day. However, there were a couple of things we did comes across that bear mention.
We saw an unusual paddy field – a water-use-minimizing one. Through the System of Rice Intensification the engineers are helping farmers realise a higher yield with a 40% saving in the use of water. The SRI gives an additional yield of 1750 Kg per hectare, and enables the planting of an additional crop each year. This translates into an additional income of Rs. 10290 per hectare. Both the crops require a lesser use of fertilisers and pesticides, are less soil-intensive and have lower production costs.
The international delegates were asked to plant seedlings on the occasion. That meant being introduced to a thorn-less variety of bamboo developed at the Oil Seeds Research Station of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The crop has a life-cycle of five years, achieving fast growth given sufficient irrigation. There is high local demand for the fast-growing crop, which increases one foot in height per day if irrigated, and is utilized by the paper industry. Both the crops require lesser use of fertilisers and pesticides, are less soil-intensive and have lower production costs.
Post-lunch, the group split into two and went to either nearby Endal village (drinking water) in Thiruvannamaalai District or to Pagalmedu village in Thiruvallur District. Despite the long road journeys, both groups returned satisfied and in some way touched by the sharing and the unique experiences of the day. At Endal, where the village well has a legend involving a cow linked with it, there was a power cut and the entire group sat chatting with the village folk (notably women) for an hour in the intimate space of a dark room. In Pagalmedu, the time spent with the villagers, though barely over an hour, afforded some insight into their way of living.
At the end of the day, participants came back tired, excited and full of questions. This last was in evidence during the half-day meeting with engineers that followed on Wednesday the 24th, when endless discussion was the order of the day.