Karnataka - Bidar   

Floods or drought don't bother this innovator

Staff Correspondent

`My wells have not gone dry after I began rainwater harvesting,' says Ishwarappa Chakote

Bidar: Floods or drought does not bother Ishwarappa Chakote. The progressive farmer from Kon Melkunda in Bhalki taluk has been able to tackle both of them by adopting rainwater harvesting in his field.

The rainwater is stored in an open well.

A percolation pit beside the irrigation pumpset recharges it. The canal network in his 20-acre farm runs to a total length of 3 km.

The one metre wide and one and a half metre deep canal runs along the boundary of the farm. It is also dug across the field where the land is not flat and the flow of water needs to be checked. This carries water to the well through the percolation pit.

No dry season

"I have not bothered to measure the quantity of water collected. I only remember that my wells have never gone dry after I began rainwater harvesting. This has helped me grow crops even during the drought. My fields have never been flooded during heavy rainfall and water does not flow out of my farm even when there is 12 cm of rain on a single day. By these methods I have been able to conserve so much water that even wells in my neighbourhood have not dried up in the last six years. All other farmers in my village got one crop. But my neighbours and I were able to raise two crops a year ago. We could also grow crops that need more water," Mr. Chakote said.

He is also President of the District Natural Farmers' Association and a member of Jaivik, an NGO aimed at marketing organic farm produce.

Organic farming

His experiments with organic farming have yielded fruit. He has converted an acre of land into a natural vermicompost pit. "It is like an evergreen gold mine. It keeps supplying the manure I need for the farm," he said.

Mr. Chakote has been able to grow sugarcane without using inorganic fertilizers or pesticides. He plans to produce and sell 1 kg packets of organic jaggery from this year.

The organically produced bengal gram and toor dal is well known in the local market.

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