[From the archives]

These are skilled farmers, with no land. So they grew food without soil. They had to grow something to eat. So they do - on the roof of their thatched huts. How? Find out in this short 🧵

ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/si…
He was a skilled farmer – but had no land. He said his family once had a small plot that they lost ages ago. Sibu Laiya, perhaps in his late 50s, had not lost his skills, though. 2/n
Like most of the Kahar community in Nonmati village of Jharkhand’s Godda district, Laiya was a labourer – and extremely poor. And, like many among the Kahars, he was also resourceful in the face of adversity. 3/n
As Sibu told @PSainath_org when he visited his home more than 2 decades ago: “Having no land doesn’t mean I don’t have to eat. And since we don’t have enough money to buy all our needs, we must grow something, somewhere.” 4/n
That ‘somewhere’ was the roof of his tiny house where he grew leafy greens and other produce. It wasn’t the elegant rooftop gardening of the urban hobby farmer. Laiya and his community didn’t live in pucca buildings with spacious roofs. 5/n
Yet, how effectively he managed his garden. The space available could not have exceeded 6 feet by 10 feet. Still, in his tiny, elevated ‘plot’ Laiya had very creatively grown creepers and small plants. As far as the reporter could tell, little or no soil was used as a base. 6/n
This is a practice prevalent among poor landless people (or those with tiny plots). You come across colonies that grow food in this way. @PSainath_org visited Nonmati before the state of Jharkhand came into being in 2000. Friends tell me the rooftop ‘farms’ are still there. 7/n

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with People's Archive of Rural India

People's Archive of Rural India Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @PARInetwork

9 Apr
With the number of women agricultural labourers rising, keeping their wages low benefits landowners. It keeps their wage bills down. Contractors and landowners argue that women perform easier tasks and are therefore paid less. A short 🧵

Full Story | ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/vi… Image
2 | Like transplantation which is a complex, skilled job.
Seedlings not planted deep enough or placed at the wrong distance could fail. If the ground is not smoothened properly, the plant cannot grow. Image
3 | Transplantation also requires bending over most of the time in shin-deep to knee-deep water. Yet, it is seen as an unskilled job and paid lower wages. Simply because it’s women who do it.

Would landlords hire so many women if they were less efficient? Image
Read 5 tweets
3 Apr
1914 | A small British port
1964 | A post-cyclone ghost town
Today, after being abandoned for all these years, the 400-odd fishing families are seen as obstacles to tourism. The what, when, and how of it. 🧵

📷Deepti Asthana | ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/br…
2 | After the cyclone, Dhanushkodi was left in a state of total neglect. However, 400-odd fish worker families still see this barren land as their only home. Some of them are cyclone survivors who've been living here for over 50 years without electricity, toilets or potable water
3 | Dhanushkodi is around 20 kms from Rameswaram. Tourists and pilgrims come here in vans that ply on the marshy terrain along the beach. The government is planning new and better roads to improve connectivity and draw in more visitors.
Read 15 tweets
2 Apr
Can't abandon, can't feed, can't sell.

The beef ban in Maharasthra in place since 2015 has had a direct impact on businesses that depend on cattle in Marathwada. The bovine is central to the rural economy and the impact has been debilitating. Watch | ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/no…
In 2017, @parthpunter found that across Marathwada in 45°C heat, farmers who were already trapped in the agrarian crisis walked many kilometres from market to market, trying desperately to sell their cattle to raise some money – a task made nearly impossible by the beef ban.
The growing water shortage in Marathwada and rising fodder costs have made it more difficult to maintain livestock. Added to this is a lack of cow shelters. When the beef ban was imposed, also promised were shelters where farmers could donate their cattle...
Read 9 tweets
18 Jan
Women are central to agriculture in India, and many of them – young and old, across class and caste lines – are present and resolute at the #FarmersProtests sites around Delhi. A photo thread this #MahilaKisanDiwas

ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/wo…
Bimla Devi (in red shawls), 62, with her sister Savitri (60) reached the #SinghuBorder on Dec. 20 to tell the media that her brothers and sons protesting there are not terrorists. "I started crying seeing how the media was talking about my sons.” 2/n
Vishavjot Grewal’s family owns 30 acres of land in Pamal village of Ludhiana district, where they mainly cultivate wheat, paddy, and potatoes. “We want the reversal of these [farm] laws,” says the 23-year-old, who came with relatives to Singhu in a mini-van on December 22. 3/n
Read 11 tweets
18 Jan
She paused, exasperated by the mid-day sun in Vizianagaram. But remained bent over. She knew she would resume work in moments – in that very posture.
Working in the same cashew fields were 2 other groups of women from her village. All were bent over. 5/n Image
‘Manual’ planting, sowing and weeding involve a great deal of time spent in painful postures. Agricultural tasks show a strong gender divide. Women are barred from ploughing. But they almost exclusively do the transplanting, weeding, harvesting, threshing and post-harvest work. Image
Most of these activities mean a lot of bending and squatting. In Nuapada in Odisha, the rain did not stop this woman from weeding. Besides, many of the tools and implements used were not designed for the comfort of women. 7/n Image
Read 7 tweets
18 Jan
On #WomenFarmersDay, a photo story on the incredible hard yards that women put in each day in agriculture.

The landowner here in Anantapur is standing tall while the row of 9 women workers doubled over, are doing transplantation work on his field. 📷@PSainath_org | 1/n
He said he paid them Rs. 40 a day. The women, all landless workers from Rayagada, Odisha said it was Rs. 25. It is a typical case of visible work, invisible women. In India, even women from landed families have no rights to the land. 2/n

Full story: ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/vi…
These 2 young girls in the field in Anantapur, AP, are hunting for pests. It’s about all the paid work there is in their village. They get Rs.10 for every kg of red hairy caterpillars from the landowners. This means they have to catch over a thousand to make that much 3/n
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!