Hot Sun and Cool Lemonade: Koorada Durgarao

Raju walking ahead of me

It was mid-afternoon on a scorching summer day. After travelling for two hours, I had reached a sign board on the side of the road that said I was nearly at my destination. An organic village- where almost all farmers were engaged in organic farming. I had been cut off from main road a long time back and there was no signal on my mobile. My field contact ,Raju, was to guide me to another village for my planned interviews with organic farmers. With a little difficulty, I could finally contact him and we decided to follow the schedule. The village that we had to go to was 4 km away and there was no transportation available.

We decided to walk all five km though it was a rocky and hilly area. I'm always happy about walking! But, this time, I was in a hurry and a little apprehensive about the availability of farmers at that time. With hope in my heart and a bag on my back, I started walking in silence besides Raju. It was mid-day and there was nobody around. There was absolute silence all around us, broken only by our footsteps. After travelling this way for maybe half the distance, we stopped for a few minutes under the shade of a tree to save ourselves from the sun. After that small break, we continued our journey under the angry sun. Our footsteps created clouds of dust once again. But we started talking to each other and left the silence behind under the shade.

Talking to Raju, I was surprised to find out that the very person walking next to me cultivated around 23 varieties of crops on his three acre plot of land. He depended on his own labour and lived off his own land. Raju shared with me the satisfaction he got from shifting to organic farming:

'In each village, farmers formed co-operative groups. We brought changes in cultivation practices in by bringing changes in our lives. Each farmer would cultivate at least eight to ten varieties of crops in their three to four acres of land. With the increase in income and by saving costs on fertilisers farmers became self-sufficient and their economic condition improved. All this came together to improve social relations between us and created a sense of collectivism.'

With improved economic conditions and social capital, Raju's community got together to fight against alcohol production and consumption in their villages. They created new social norms around drinking and other such social problems. I thought of Maslow's hypothesis. Improved economic conditions after the fulfilment of basic needs appeared to have given rise to a new set of social needs in Raju and his community.

As I was lost in his narration, the distance shortened and sun could not do anything to stop us from travelling. In the near distance we could see the village and after climbing a small hill we reached the village and interacted with the farmers. I was already convinced that something good was happening here, that their farming practices were improving for the better. But as a duty bound researcher, I opened my questionnaire and filled in their responses.

By the time I completed the interviews; one farmer brought thick lemon juice and offered it to us. After such a long walk in the sun, the lemon juice brought us to heaven.

With data sheets filled, taste buds satisfied, and content deep inside because of Raju’s narration of the change they could bring to their villages – development in its truest sense- I started my journey back. But this time, the road seemed joyful like never before.

Durga is a second year student of the MA in Development Studies programme at TISS, Mumbai. He did fieldwork for his dissertation in the Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh where he interviewed sixty organic farmers with the help of the Chetna Organic Organization.