Books in tribal languages help rejuvenate school learning in central India

Children issuing books at the Anandghar library in Kajrah village in Balaghat. (Photo by Cosmos Joseph)

An initiative that produces books in tribal dialects in an underdeveloped area of Madhya Pradesh is helping tribal children to not only become better learners in school but is also reconnecting them with their indigenous culture and traditions

Varoti villagers demonstrate the power of collective action

The villagers of Varoti contributed voluntary labor to build a well for drinking water. (Photo by Sunil Jorkar)

A new model of active engagement between villagers, the implementing non-profit and a corporate philanthropic foundation in Varoti village in Maharashtra shows a new way forward for development interventions through the corporate social responsibility route

Singur emerges as procurement hub for local farmers

Farmers weighing their produce at the weighbridge in Singur. (Photo by Dhruba Das Gupta)

Once the infamous political battlefield centered on the construction of a car factory, Singur in West Bengal has become a beacon of hope for local farmers, who sell their produce wholesale at fair prices at a state government promoted marketplace

Farmers in Maharashtra fear loss of kharif harvest, blame Met department

Marathwada farmers are fighting against all odds in the current kharif season. (Photo by Nidhi Jamwal)

Farmers in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra are expecting a decline in crop yield during the autumn harvest and are holding the India Meteorological Department responsible for incorrect forecasting

Grassroots innovation using curd reduces farming costs in Bihar

Farmer Dinesh Kumar of Machhahi village in Bihar has been promoting the use the curd mixture. (Photo by Mohd Imran Khan)

A curd mixture using copper has become popular in many parts of northern Bihar despite a lack of scientific validation because it has cut the cost of cultivation while increasing productivity for many small and marginal farmers

Tribal women of Sundargarh make organic farming a life-changing economic activity

Farmers of Nalapad harvest groundnut from their multi-crop field. (Photo by Basudev Mahapatra)

Tribal communities in Sundargarh district of Odisha have revived the traditional practice of growing food without the help of chemical fertilizers and made it viable economically by making pragmatic changes

Tribal village in Palghar ensures water availability through summer

Manjula Ganga Mirki (centered) of Bhetwadi village is confident that the embankment will harvest enough rainwater to last them through the next summer. (Photo by Nidhi Jamwal)

Residents of water-scarce village of indigenous people in Mokhada have collectively built a concrete embankment on a dry rivulet to harvest rainwater and become water-sufficient

Is direct benefit transfer really a panacea for the rural poor?

For poor rural people living on the margins, the system of direct benefit transfer show mixed results.

Given the complex and varied situations in rural India, the results of the direct benefit transfer method are so far mixed at best and debilitating at worst, as seen in the subsidies for farm equipment and fertilizers

Collective farm gate procurement offers solutions to cover price crashes

Procurement of produce is in progress at a market yard. (Photo courtesy MAHAPFC)

Farmer producer companies have started to play an important role in procurement from smallholders, which guards against price crashes that has been plaguing marginalized farmers across the country despite record harvests

Millets travel from tribal farms to dinner tables

Led by village headman Krusna Kadraka and Dasara Kadraka in an earlier mission to collect lost millet varieties, the women of Kadarguma prepare to walk to their clan families in remote hamlets. (Photo by Manipadma Jena)

The indigenous Dongria Kondh community in Odisha is helping to restore the popularity of native varieties of millets that can grow in droughty weather conditions, even as millet products gain traction among affluent consumers for their many health benefits

Tie and dye add color to women’s lives in Nosariya

Women of Nosariya village in Rajasthan at a workshop to learn the art of tie and dye. (Photo by Jigyasa Mishra)

Learning the traditional art of coloring fabrics is enabling many women in rural Bikaner to add an additional source of household income in an area where patriarchy makes it difficult for them to step out of their villages

For some more blades of grass

Cattle fodder in common lands and forests has become scarce in India due to weed infestation. (Photo by Shankar S.)

Instead of raising a hue and cry to protect cows, more immediate action is required to make fodder available to the large cattle population in the country by controlling the menace of unwanted shrubs and weeds in India’s pastures and forests

Marathwada farmers face bleak sowing season

Farmers protested and threw away their onion harvest as prices crashed. (Photo by Atul Deulgaonkar)

Although the Maharashtra government has announced a loan waiver, deeply indebted farmers of Marathwada still do not know how they will get the money to buy farm inputs this sowing season ahead of the monsoon

Facebook, WhatsApp curbing child marriages in Assam

The WhatsApp and Facebook groups to prevent child marriages hold regular awareness meetings. (Photo by Abdul Gani)

At a time when social media is being used to spread lies and malicious rumors, a group of young people in Assam are using WhatsApp and Facebook groups to prevent child marriages in the underdeveloped district of Darrang