Towards sustainable agriculture
BalaVikasa is making efforts to ensure food security to the rural poor and economic wellbeing of the small and marginal farmers in rural Andhra Pradesh. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has immensely increased the crop investment cost. The farmers are unable to get good returns due to high investments. This situation is leading them into debt traps, driving many farmers to suicide. The excessive use of chemicals besides affecting the farmers economically and socially is also causing damage to soil fertility, affecting human health and the environment.
In order to address this issue effectively, Bala Vikasa is promoting an alternative farming method to make farmers self reliant in agriculture. The results achieved in the last two years are very encouraging and lessons are being learnt from experience.
Continuous depletion of ground water tables, scarcity of ground water and unreliable rains are becoming a grave threat to small scale farming. Secure irrigation is very important for agriculture. Inorder to address the issue of scarcity of irrigation water, Bala Vikasa encourages small farmers to use drip irrigation as it helps in using limited amount of water in the most economical and effective manner and ensures secure irrigation to the crop, thus guaranteeing crop yield.
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