Tura, July 11: The residents of at least 20 villages in the South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya have availed benefits under a project titled Farm (Facilitating Agriculture Rejuvenating Measures) North East and are set to create a farming revolution in the region.

Bakdil, a Catholic Church-based organisation, has initiated the project with financial assistance from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

"The project lays thrust on better livelihood and food security through multiple cropping. Formation of farmers' clubs and promotion of integral farming system have been done," said Father Sunny Joseph Mavelil, director and secretary of Bakdil.

The project was introduced in 2013. All the 20 villages have formed farmers' clubs. Two farmers' federations were also launched in the South West Garo Hills district.

Through farmers' federations different economic-development activities are undertaken. The project has provided training on organic farming apart from formalising net planning for mixed farming. In the past three years, the farming community has realised that it needs to act together in order to address the critical issues that are bottlenecks in their development.

"We have come together and have formed farmers' clubs and federations. Through the clubs and the federations, we take decisions on economic activities," Garagre village headman Jenon Ch. Marak said.

The project has empowered the villages and today they are approaching different financial institutions and government agencies for aiding their project. "Horticulture, agriculture and watershed departments have released funds for different projects in our village," the secretary of Farmers' Club, Garagre, Barning G. Sangma, said.

"The project has helped us create forums for the community to act on their own. The farmers' clubs are forums for the community to come together and link with the government's line departments. Once the community is empowered through information sharing, knowledge building and the methodologies, the communities begin to act on their own," Fr Mavelil added.

Through the project, wastelands, which were left out after shifting cultivation ( jhum), have been rejuvenated. The villagers of Garagre under Zikzak development block have put to use the wasteland in Simlakona village for mulitple cropping.

In the past three years, more than 50,000 fruit-bearing trees, including 20,000 mango and 15,000 litchi trees, have been planted. The villagers have formulated development plans and are submitting proposal to different departments.

"We sell our vegetables and fruits to nearby local markets and even supply to Tura," Dingme Sangma, member of Digligre Farmers' Club, said.

A report prepared by Bakdil said of the 1,467 farmers in the project villages, about 720 families have adopted sustainable agricultural practices, including rainwater harvesting and use of organic manure. The project also supports value addition to local produces. Under Zikzak block, the project has supported two turmeric-processing units. The farmers' federation has also purchased a pick-up van which aids in transportation of local produces to markets.

At Digligre village, the border area development department has constructed a bridge after the farmers convinced the department the need to do so. Children were facing a lot of hardship in the absence of a bridge in the rainy season.