Like many farmers across the East Jaiñtia Hills district, Kyrsiew Ryngkhlem from Wapung Skur village struggled to sustain livelihood activities and support her family on account of farmlands becoming infertile because of coal mining.
This is a story shared by the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA) with Highland Post on how 40-year-old Kyrsiew was able to counter the challenges with a unique innovation that has since become her own low-cost solution to mine-spoiled farmlands.
Initially, the organic manure-making activity was small scale. The process involves collecting the grass that grew in and around her kitchen garden and drying them for two weeks. Kyrsiew would then crush the dried grass into pieces and place them in a pit with cow dung and swine manure for another thirty days, after which she would mix them with weeds that grew in the garden, the outer layers of the areca nut, and any other biodegradable waste that she could find. Once dried, her organic manure was ready for use.
But after seeing how well it worked, she wanted to expand activities and explore the potential of her homemade organic manure. She bought a plot of uncultivable land measuring approximately 700 sq. meters in 2015.
Kyrsiew was convinced that the experiment would in due course result in soil health restoration and water retention. She started by tilling the ground and using limestone to neutralize the acidity of the contaminated soil, and waited patiently.
Within three years, the innovation had reaped rewards. Vegetables were growing copiously and Kyrsiew was able to sell them at the local markets. She also became a member of a community Ginger Producer Group under the WapungSkur Integrated Village Cooperative Society Ltd. (IVCS) to avail collective marketing benefits and improved returns.
The World Bank-funded Community-Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP) of MBMA soon took notice of her activities. She was provided with support funding worth Rs. 3.3 lakhs to sustain and upscale activities. She utilized this to build 3 compost tanks, a cow shed, a piggery shed, and a goat shed.
Since December 2020, Kyrsiew has produced about 7100 kilograms of organic manure of which 2956 kilograms have been sold to farmers within and outside the State at the rate of Rs. 49 per kilogram.
The East Jaiñtia Hills district team of CLLMP arranged for her participation at the two-day Skill Mela conducted by Meghalaya State Skill Development Society in West Jaiñtia Hills in June 2022 and the 2nd North-East Buyer-Seller Meet in Guwahati the following month organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
At the latter event, Kyrsiew was given a big opportunity to showcase her innovation, interact with other entrepreneurs and farmers, and exchange learning and knowledge.
MBMA’s other externally aided project, the IFAD- supported Meghalaya Livelihoods and Access to Markets Project (Megha-LAMP), also recognized her good work and invited Kyrsiew to be part of the Knowledge-Sharing Event on community best practices where she was felicitated.
Back in Wapung Skur and away from the spotlight, Kyrsiew prefers the quiet life. The organic manure-making activity aside, she spends her free time imparting training to other farmers, producers, and community members of the Village’s NRM Committee.
