EHA

Though Kasiram called himself a Baba and lived in a temple, he was not always one. Four years ago, when his crops failed, Kasiram out of desperation, left his family and went to live in the temple. But that was not the end of Kasiram’s story.

The members of HBM Community Health & Development Project in Lalitpur contacted Kasiram and encouraged him to take up farming.

Using the inputs provided by the project, Kasiram and his family labored hard in their field. They made dykes all around the field and across the slope to store the rain water. To prevent erosion and degradation of the soil, they made gully plugs. Kasiram became a member of the farmer’s club and seed bank. He first purchased chick peas and planted in his field but the yield was not satisfactory. Next rainy season he got maize seed and sowed it in the low lying land. He was surprised when he reaped a bumper crop.

Encouraged, Kasiram sowed a second crop – wheat, during the rabi season, to meet their annual food requirement. He was rewarded with another bumper crop. He later went for integrated cropping using wheat, chickpea and pulses. Through the family’s hard work, they reaped eight quintal pulses, three quintal wheat and four bags of Chickpea. With the extra income which he earned, Kasiram returned the seed loan to the club. The whole family now lives and works together and has become self-reliant.