Sodic
Land Reclamation
Land is one of
the biggest resources of communities – especially for over 2/3rd
of who reside in the rural areas and are solely dependent upon the
land for their livelihoods. When a marginal or even a small farmer
looses a tract of his land to salinity it is treated equivalent to
death of an earning members. With deforestation and increased use
of canals for irrigation, large tracts of cultivatable land are being
continuously rendered worthless due to salinity. Kanpur is further
plagued by industrial toxic and wastes being continuously pumped deep
into soil, which spoils the agricultural land & thus deprives
the farmers of a sustained source of livelihood. Our efforts for reclaiming
the wastelands for making them available for cultivation are now over
a decade old.
Shramik Bharti
after identifying the patches of land to be treated facilitates the
farmers staking the land in forming a water user group. The water
user group is then helped in treating the land using gypsum &
structured irrigation – drainage to rid the land of salinity
in the soil. Democratic process is followed with community forming
a site implementation committee which makes all the critical decisions
regarding project inputs and investments. For supporting the farmers
Shramik Bharti is creating a cadre of service providers in agriculture,
animal husbandry, health etc. A total of 96 villages in Kanpur are
being presently covered under the programme. 10 Agricultural service
centre’s covering 33 villages & 22 Usar Suchna Kendra’s
have been established under the project. A total of 1148 water user
groups (WUG’s), 207 women SHG’s & 145 Male SHG’s
have been formed under the project so far. The groups are all linked
with banks for enabling access to credit for their various needs.
The project has also facilitated establishment of 4 farmers colleges
covering 34 villages and 475 members. Access to credit is again facilitated
for the farmers by enabling them in getting the Kisan Credit Cards
from banks. Focus of the project is also on enabling the beneficiaries
in accessing facilities being extended by other state departments
& accordingly access to livestock vaccination, sanitation facilities,
insurance schemes, adult pension, pump-sets (both on credit and in
cash) is facilitated.
Key
Achievements of Sodic Land Reclamation Programme
| Land
Reclaimed |
4225
hectares |
| No.
of farmers covered |
10812 |
| No.
of villages covered |
95 |
| No.
of Water User Groups Formed |
831 |
| No.
of Women SHG’s formed |
207 |
| No.
of WSHG’s linked with banks |
105 |
| No.
of members in WSHG’s |
1460 |
| No.
of Male SHG’s formed |
144 |
| No.
of MSHG’s linked with banks |
35 |
| No.
of members in MSHG’s |
1151 |
| Agri
& AH Animators Trained |
96 |
| No.
of WSHG Members involved in income generating activities |
592 |
