In the Mewat area the quality of soil is very poor and the ground water is saline in many places. This is affecting the crop yield significantly. The soil below the normal plow depth is impervious due to injudicious use of fertilizers, inhibiting water movement and root development. Moreover, farmers are not aware of the best practices that could enhance the quality and quantity of yield. They follow conventional methods of cultivation that they have inherited. Therefore, the Sehgal Foundation introduced chisel to the villages of Ghaghas, Rangala Rajpur, Agon, Goela and their clusters villages.

The Foundation's team from water management and income enhancement programs analyzed the annual rainfall, ground water quality, and soil testing results in these villages. They felt that chiseling the fields will have multiple benefits. By deep tilling, the restrictive layers will be broken allowing deeper water percolation, thus strengthening the roots. It also plays a role in harvesting the rainwater.

Use of chisel was promoted in the Fruits and Vegetables Growers' Association (FVGA), a platform created by the Foundation to address agricultural issues. The farmers seemed convinced with the technical aspect of using this new tool. Yet, there were just a few farmers' who stepped forward to incur that 'extra' input cost to use chisel.

The Foundation considered the farmers' inhibitions and the purchasing power, so it loaned an amount of Rs.7,000/- to the FVGA to buy a chisel, which can be used by its members at a subsidized rate. However, this effort also did not encourage the desired participation. The second phase of promoting chisel started in June 2004 as the monsoons approached. The water management team was keen to harvest rain water in all ways possible to raise the ground water table and reduce its salinity. It was crucial to take an immediate action.

The Foundation then launched a scheme of sharing part of the chiseling cost with every farmer, who would be willing to chisel two or more acres. The positive effects of using chisel were addressed widely in all the platforms. They were also informed that fields should be chiseled only once in three years; else, excess moisture retention will delay the sowing and transplantation of the crop. A sense of competition was generated among the farmers, and before the onset of monsoons, more than 400 acres of land was chiseled.

Post chiseling remarks from farmers:

Ram Kishan Sain , 65 years, owns eight acres land in Agon. Like many other farmers, he has grown wheat, Millet (bajra), and mustard for many years. But, for the last three years, he was growing carrots on part of his land to increase his income. This new crop enhanced his income, but marginally. "The quality of carrots was not up to the market standards; they were pale colored broken carrots, so I had to sell the produce at the lowest market prices of Rs.120/- per bag," said Ram Kishan. In June 2004, he availed the Foundation's subsidized scheme and chiseled two acres for carrot cultivation.

The effect of chiseling was soon evident to Ram Kishan when he noticed the vigorous crop. He was excited to harvest long, thick and deep-colored juicy carrots. "This year, I sold my produce at Rs.320/- per bag, which has increased my income by more than 50%," said Ram Kishan. He added, "I used to irrigate the fields 10-12 times, but this year the land stayed moist so I had to irrigate only 6-7 times, which helped me save further.

Ram Kishan is one of the farmers who enthusiastically participates in all the agricultural trainings and demonstrations organized by the Foundation. He soon wants to diversify by growing other vegetables such as eggplant, squash, and cucumbers and adopt the new cultivation methods he learned.

Farooq is another young farmer from Agon, who owns two acres of land at the end of the village, which is close to the foothills of the Aravalis. His fields often were destroyed with standing water during the monsoon season. He said, "I felt unlucky to have my land closer to the terrain, but this deep tilling has broken the hard layers beneath the ground, absorbing the rain water and keeping the soil moist for many days.

Ahmed Hussain is an unusual farmer who works as a teacher in the government school of Rangala Rajpur and does farming during the remaining part of his day. "In spite of being educated, I had very little knowledge on agricultural practices. I attended many trainings organized by the Foundation and learned about pest control, seed variety and quality, vermi-composting, bed-making and use of chisel," said Ahmed.

He was one of the few farmers convinced about the benefits of using a chisel, prior to observing its actual results. He purchased a chisel and a bed-maker on his own. He had a good yield of tomato and onion, both in terms of quality and quantity. In an interview, he said, "Before, standing water damaged my onion fields during the rainy season, but chiseling helped percolate rainwater within half an hour, which saved my crop. I had the best produce of onions from my village this year". He further added, "My crop looked so beautiful that neighboring farmers and people passing by frequently stopped to inquire. The Pusa Government Institute also videotaped my fields". He earned the entire cost of the chisel and bed-maker within one season by leasing the two instruments to other farmers.

In spite of seeing a significant impact of chisel in the villages of Ghaghas, Rangala Rajpur, and Agon, it was not a big success in Goela. However, the talk of lush green chiseled fields is becoming contagious in the cluster villages. Therefore, motivating the farmers' of Goela and its cluster villages has become an easy task.

Chisel: A farm instrument about 18 inches long toothed. It is anchored to a tractor to loosen the soil without inverting and with a minimum of mixing of the surface soil. It shatter restrictive layers below the normal plow depth that inhibit water movement or root development

For further information please contact:

Pooja O Murada
Institute of Rural Research and Development
A Sehgal Foundation Initiative
Plot No. 34, Sector 44, Institutional Area
Gurgaon, 122002 (Haryana), India