The two huge whitish tent like structures made of polyethylene make for a strange sight in the semi-arid tribal land in Adilabad district. The structures which are visible clearly from the higher ground of the degraded hill not far from Markaguda village in Indervelli mandal are polyhouses established by two local Adivasi farmers for cultivating horticulture crops in the technology driven modern method.
Establising a nearly ₹ 34 lakh project was absolutely unthinkable in the poverty ridden area but Kumra Keshav Rao and Arka Jangu have done the unthinkable, a first for Adivasis in the State, and went for one polyhouse each to cultivate horticulture crops on an unusually larger scale. What is more, the business they have done so far has given them the confidence that they will succeed.
“There was a lot of help we received from the then District Collector Jyoti Buddha Prakash in 2017 which resulted in erection of polyhouses in an extent of one acre each September-October last year. While the department offered a subsidy of 95 %, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Utnoor, under the then Project Officer R.V. Karnan contributed the remaining five % of the amount on our behalf,” recalled Mr. Keshav Rao, a Raj Gond aboriginal.
First crop
“Our first crop is cucumber of the kheera-dosa variety and we have sold about ₹ 1.5 lakh and ₹ 80,000 worth of it in the first month. The business has definitely given us hope that we will succeed,” asserted Mr. Jangu, a Pardhan tribal, as he talked of the project evidently comparing it with his earlier long experience as a farmer in the traditional mould.
“The polyhouse saves the crop from bird pestilence and dust, protects against any diseases,” the farmers were unanimous in their observation. “These factors help in the crop growing properly,” they added.
Trained farmers
“They are disciplined and hard working farmers which is why the department has sanctioned such a project in their names,” opined Adilabad District Horticulture and Sericulture Officer Sham Rao Rathod as he vouched for the farmers’ efforts. “We have not only trained them in every aspect but linked them with marketing avenues too,” the official pointed out about the seriousness of his department in making the ‘venture’ a success.
“We had first given them the green shade nets to get accustomed to raising horticulture crops in controlled climate. They were successful and deserved the help they got for establishing the polyhouses,” recalled Horticulture Officer G. Srinivas Reddy of his association with farmers in the tribal belt.