India
Programme Summary
The work in the North with partnering organisations distributed over 6,000 seedlings in 6 communities in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand. In Andhra Pradesh, nearly 100,000 seedlings have been distributed as well as nearly 200,000 seeds. In Tamil Nadu, Subramanian and his local partners have distributed nearly 100,000 seedlings along with over 75,000 seeds. In-country seed distribution is underway, and the hope to distribute over 2 million seeds as part of our programs in 2009.
Partners Network
The Rural Development and Afforestation Society - - VAIGAI River Conservation Trust - - -
Background
The contrasting climate and what this brings to the people of India is quite dramatic. For example the people in Tamil Nadu in Southern Eastern India struggle with drought and a lack of fresh water, other regions. North West India and Bangladesh experience regular flooding including Assam, West Bengal.
Southern people, 1000 miles away from the flood zone have severe problems as trees that have been cleared cause erosion stripping top soil form farmlands and with very little rainwater being channelled back into the aquifers, the problems for the these people amplify.
The great Tsunami of 2004 hit Tamil Nadu causing even more destruction to an ever increasingly struggling region.
India has also experienced a shocking number of farmer suicides whom it would seem simply lost hope. The desperation felt by these farmers may well have been a symptom from the vagaries of commodity prices and the weather, the high costs of pesticides and fertilizers, and declining yields. Simultaneously common lands continue to be degraded, as overgrazing and fuel wood harvesting destroy the remaining fertility.
However some sectors of Indian society have greatly improved their standards of living, but life for the average farmer continues to be a struggle for survival.
The Response
Partnering organisations are working with farming communities, schools, and women’s groups to address the water crisis that is punishing the region’s agricultural production and the health of the people. There is interest in planting a variety of fruit trees, timber and non-timber species suitable for the degraded red soil - with the emphasis being placed on planting fast-growing, multipurpose species that are supplying a wide array of products while serving as barriers to minimize further erosion.
The majority of all the work over the last two years has been in the region of Tamil Nadu, the south eastern region hit hardest by the devastating 2004 tsunami. Work has been recently expanded to Andhra Pradesh, a region that is suffering from prolonged droughts, and in 2009 work is starting a new program in the northern state of Uttarakhand, which will be working with villages and local governments to enhance the productivity of common lands.
During 2009, the year’s poor monsoon delayed tree planting work, eventually the rains came and the saplings were able to be distributed and planted.
Partnering organisations translated the Agro forestry training program into Telugu, and will soon complete the translation into Tamil. Partnering organisations continue to find new and innovative ways to plant trees, in a region that has extremely high population density. The India program continues to grow, and through contacts throughout the country that are ready to start planting trees in the coming year.