A Green Respite

Sunita Das,

Women’s Polytechnic, Kolkata

We all know that a chance is an opportunity and for most, opportunities do not come everyday in our life. But on 22nd March, 2014 one of those rare opportunities came my way and I am happy that I did not decline it. It was an invitation from PUPA to visit Durbachati, a village in Patharpratima in South 24 Parganas, on one of their field visits. My lazy Sunday suddenly turned into a joyful and heart touching experience.

PARIBESH UNNAYAN PARISHAD (PUPA) is working on a two years project on Conservation & Enhancement of Agro Biodiversity in Sundarban areas of West Bengal (under the GEF/UNDP/SGP). Besides, it is also engaged in two other livelihood improvement projects in Sagar Island. The first is livelihood improvement of Schedule Castes (supported by Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India) and the other is supported by Integrated Coastal Zone Management, West Bengal.

It was a Sunday. We started in the morning at 7 am for Digeswar. Digeswar is a village in Diamond Harbour Block II of district South 24 Parganas. PUPA had a formal meeting there with the members of Digeswar Farmer’s Club. Dr. Amalesh Mishra, the Secretary, and Dr. Santanu Mitra, the President of PUPA exchanged ideas with the farmers regarding farming techniques and planning for agro-biodiversity. Sri Soumen Mondal, an experienced farmer, who is recently focused on breeding of a high yielding variety of Egg Plant, said that he practically discovered this plant in his farm house and is trying to cultivate it on a large scale. Though the Brinjal looks like Lurki or Kuli Brinjal, he named it as “Mili jhuri” after his daughter, Milli. Seeds of this variety of brinjal and some seeds of traditional paddies of different varieties were collected from the farmers for experimentation. As the most pest affected plants are Egg Plant, and Ladies finger, Dr. Mishra suggested to the farmers to cultivate 3 or 4 plants of each variety inside mosquito nets on an experimental basis, without using pesticides.

During their discussions it came out that the farmers use over 20 kgs Urea per Bigha of land while the Government records show that it should be around 5 kgs per Bigha of land. The excessive use of Urea makes the land infertile with time. So PUPA took the responsibility of letting them know the actual requirement of Urea for their land and collected soil samples from their lands for testing in the laboratory.

The main objective of PUPA is to provide support to poor farmers of Sundarban areas and also to provide salt tolerant paddy seeds and organic fertilizer to the farmers whose lands have suffered from saline water intrusion during AILA. Already work on experimental cultivation of salt tolerant paddy seeds has been started by PUPA on a salty land of two bigha, leased out by Dhablahat Lakhsman Parabesh High School of Sagar Island.

After this meeting the team of PUPA moved towards Kashi Nath Mondal’s house where the members of “Provat Surjo” SHG were waiting eagerly. While talking to them, we came to know that at present the group is inactive and they want to initiate new activities and renewed vigour.Dr. Mishra advised them to start with kitchen garden & poultry farming. He assured them of seeds for the plants and also chicks for poultry farming. Members of Provat Surjo group have shown considerable interest in the proposals & suggestions given by Dr. Mishra .

On completion of meeting with the SHG, our car rushed towards Patharpratima to attend the Agro Fair 2014. Dr. Mishra & Dr. Mitra purchased one day old chicks along with medicine and feeds from Kakdeep Bazar for distribution among one SHG members of Durbachati .

Finally we reached to the fair at 3 pm. Experts on agriculture and poultry farming delivered lectures on organic paddy cultivation and rearing of chicks . Sri Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey , the main organiser of the Agro Fair was also present there.

Dr. Mishra & Dr. Mitro were invited by the organisers to grace the stage. They delivered their speech on biodiversity programme, integrated farming and micro financing. I was also requested to take the stage to hand over chicks to the members of a self help group of Patharpratima.

There were about eight stalls in the fair, specially designed to make the community members aware about bio farming, conservation of water, energy conservation, vermin composting and rare paddy seeds, some of which were salt tolerant in nature.

Beside the main entrance a photo of Rabindranath Tagore was placed on a chair as a token of respect and beneath that a beautiful design was made on the ground with paddy seeds and colourful flowers, which added a touch of local culture to the fair.

The fairground was surrounded by lush green paddy fields and breathtaking sunflower plantation which was no less than paradise.

The tour to Patharpratima was like a tune, still humming in my mind. I saw the villagers through the eyes of PUPA’s soul, their hospitality, their simplicity and the spark in their eyes to accept the new venture for a better livelihood. I am sure, PUPA trough it’s sincerity and dedication will win the hearts of the villagers. For me, it was a patch of green respite from the daily mundane of city life in Kolkata.