Also:
Meet a Vermicomposter from Ganadulu Village | Meet a Vermicomposter from Boranakanive Village | Vermicomposting Project |
Vermicomposting Training Manual | DA Activities in Tumkur District

DA Activities in Tumkur District

In 1992 Development Alternatives (DA) established an office in Bangalore, India. Towards the end of November, 1993, Development Alternatives (DA) visited Tumkur and in particular Chikkanayakanahalli (CNHalli) taluk, on the invitation of the then Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat. Tumkur was selected as a DA field station, because it was very degraded. There was no other NGO working in the district at the time.

The field station was set up in CNHalli taluk. The first projects initiated in the region involved wasteland development. DA carried out a situation analysis and needs assessment for a group of villages in Huliyar hobli. The entry point for action was a five year wasteland development project supported by the National Wasteland Development Board (NWDB) to afforest local wastelands and improve the natural resource base.

During 1994, DA prepared the first draft of a "Resource Atlas" for Tumkur district. In 1995, DA in collaboration with the Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre (RRSSC) of the Department of Space, prepared an "Action Plan" for the development of CNHalli taluk. The taluk had been identified by the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment as one of the 90 blocks in India falling under the Action plan for Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD) programme.

In addition, Development Alternatives was chosen by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to develop methodologies to assess progress towards sustainable development. This work is being done in three pilot countries - India, Columbia and Zimbabwe. DA used this opportunity to interact with the gram panchayats to better understand the perceptions of local communities on development and take into account their priorities for development.

DA is also working with marginal farmers to study the possibilities of introducing new and improved agricultural implements for small and marginal farmers through a collaborative project with TOOL, The Netherlands. The objective of this project is bring appropriate tools to Tumkur for testing under local conditions.

The IMSD project provided a good opportunity to interact with the local communities and study the state of agricultural development and socio-economic situation in CNHalli. It also helped DA to understand the socio-cultural context of the region and the reasons for underdevelopment. While developing the IMSD action plan, the DA field staff also carried out local experiments on vermiculture and vermicomposting.

The vermiculture project was initiated in June, 1996. This was done on a small scale using mixtures varying from farm yard manure (FYM), agricultural wastes, and cowdung collected locally. These experiments confirmed that this technology package could be used for developing micro-enterprises. It is evident that in addition to being able to generate incomes and help in the agricultural development of the area, this activity will help in reducing the organic pollution load in the village habitat areas.

Also:
Meet a Vermicomposter from Ganadulu Village | Meet a Vermicomposter from Boranakanive Village | Vermicomposting Project |
Vermicomposting Training Manual | DA Activities in Tumkur District