A

Project report
On

Village Schedule and farming activities of

Maduthuru village

Submitted by
Talluri Prasanth
Thunuguntla Sukesh Gupta
Batchu Govardhan Koushik

Bhagavatula Charitable Trust (BCT)

BCT is a nonprofit organization working towards the transformation of rural India. Active
in the villages of Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh since 1976, the organization believes in
a participatory approach. Through our integrated rural development programs, we have nurtured
change agents within villages and created model programs that have set standards across the
world. They work in the diverse areas that touch the day to day lives of villagers. Some of their
work areas include
Education
Rehabilitation of the Challenged,
Health Care
Agriculture Research,
Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)
Wasted land development,
Livelihoods
Revival of Folk Arts
Vision
To transform the villages of Visakhapatnam district into models of learning in a manner that all
people, physically challenged and able bodied are gainfully employed. Also to cause substantive
improvements in the state of literacy, health and economic sustenance. Finally to harness not just
natural resources but also human resources through leadership and motivation.
Mission
To promote continuous self-improvement in the quality of lives of the villagers by generating their
own leadership in solving their problems and by creating opportunities at their doorsteps for
utilising their resources most efficiently.
Values
Approach: Participatory.
Attention: Poor villagers.
Role: Motivation and facilitation.
Motto: Intrinsic capacity of every person, abled or challenged, to help themselves.

KRISHI VIGYAN KENDRA AT A GLANCE

The Education Commission (1964-66) recommended that a vigorous effort should be made to
establish specialized institutions to provide vocational education in agriculture and allied fields at
the pre-and post-matriculate levels to cater to the training needs of a large number of boys and
girls coming from rural areas. The Commission, further, suggested that such institutions be named
as Agricultural Polytechnics. The recommendation of the Commission was thoroughly

discussed: during 1966-72 by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Planning

Commission, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and other allied institutions.
Finally, the ICAR mooted the idea of establishing Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Agricultural Science
Centres) as innovative institutions for imparting vocational training to the practicing farmers,
school dropouts and field level extension functionaries.
The ICAR Standing Committee on Agricultural Education, in its meeting held in August 1973,
observed that since the establishment of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) was of national
importance which would help in accelerating the agricultural production as well as in improving
the socio-economic conditions of the farming community, the assistance of all related institutions
should be taken in implementing this scheme. The ICAR, therefore, constituted a committee in
1973 headed by Dr Mohan Singh Mehta of Seva Mandir, Udaipur (Rajasthan), for working out a
detailed plan for implementing this scheme. The Committee submitted its report in 1974.
The first KVK, on a pilot basis, was established in 1974 at Pondicherry under the administrative
control of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The Planning Commission
approved the proposal of the ICAR to establish 18 KVKs during the Fifth Five Year Plan. With
the growing demand for more such Kendras, the Governing Body (GB) of the Council approved
12 more KVKs in 1979 and they were established in the same year from Agricultural Produce Cess
Fund (AP Cess Fund). Owing to pending clearance of the Sixth Five-Year Plan scheme on KVK
by the Planning Commission, the GB of the Council again approved 14 KVKs in 1981, which
were established during 1982-83 from AP Cess Fund.
A High Level Evaluation Committee on KVK was constituted by the ICAR in 1984. After
thorough review of the programme, the committee strongly recommended for the establishment of
more KVKs in the country. Keeping this in view the Planning Commission approved the
establishment of 44 new KVKs during the Sixth Plan. Thus by the end of Sixth Plan, 89 KVKs
had started functioning in the country.
During the Seventh Plan, 20 more KVKs were established. The success of the KVKs at many
locations created a great demand for establishment of new KVKs in the remaining districts of the
country. Accordingly, the Planning Commission further approved 74 new KVKs to be established
during the period 1992-93. Again in the Eighth Plan (1992-97), 78 new KVKs were approved and
established in the country, taking the total number of functional KVKs by the end of the Eighth
Plan to 261. The number of KVKs increased to 290 during Ninth Plan with the establishment of
29 more KVKs.
On the occasion of the Independence Day Speech on 15th August 2005 the Prime Minister of India
announced that by the end of 2007 there should be one KVK in each of the rural districts of the
country. This resulted in 551 KVKs by the end of the Tenth Plan. At present there are 642 KVKs,

out of which 435 are under State Agricultural Universities (SAU) and Central Agricultural
University (CAU), 55 under ICAR Institutes, 100 under NGOs, 35 under State Governments, and
the remaining 17 under other educational institutions.

State
Andhra Pradesh
Telangana

Number of KVKs
-- 21
-- 13

BCT- KVK Partnership

BCT- Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) started in 1995 with the support of the Indian Council of
Agriculture Research (ICAR), Government of India, in the district of Visakhapatnam. ICAR is
mandated to start one KVK for every district in the country. The KVKs are mainly given to the
State Governments and Universities and a few to reputed NGOs. BCT-KVK is one of those given
to NGOs. Its main thrust is in:
Need based on-campus and off-campus vocational trainings for practicing farmers, rural youth and
extension functionaries.
Need based diagnostic and advisory services on specific cropping and allied problems as and when
required by the farmers.
On farm research and Front Line Demonstrations in the farmers field for transfer of technologies
to improve the yields and income of the farmers. In the majority of cases, the technologies
developed were found appropriate only in the area where they were generated. Even slight

variation in conditions turn the technology irrelevant. Keeping this in view a new approach is being
experimented for technology assessment and refinement through on-farm research trials.
Action in Small Agri Business Development (SABD) for promoting small entrepreneurs among
rural youth and farm women. Rural women are given prioritised treatment by BCT-KVK and
organised into Self Help Groups for employment and income generation.
The strength of the BCT-KVK lies in collaborating with various district, state, national and
international institutions in the process of its development efforts addressed towards the farming
community.
The KVK is endowed with a well-developed instructional farm with crop diversity to work and
demonstrate with a team of qualified and experienced Scientists in the areas of Agronomy,
Horticulture, Plant Production, Home Science, Animal Husbandry, SABD, Agriculture Extension
and Soil Science.
The Scientists have organised, during the year 2003, Front Line Demonstrations and introduced
pre-selected and promising variety along with improved management practices in Groundnut,
Sesame, Red gram, Green gram, Black gram, Niger, Chick Pea, Ragi, and Paddy in the mandals
of Rambili, Achyutapuram, Yellamanchili, S. Rayavaram, K. Kotapadu, Chodavaram, Kasimkota,
Munagapaka, Chintapalli and Hukumpeta of the district to increase the productivity in these crops.

Maduthuru Village
Basic Information:
Maduthuru village is located in Atchutapuram Tehsil of Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh,
India. It is situated 5km away from sub-district headquarter Atchutapuram and 52km away from
district headquarter Visakhapatnam. As per 2009 stats, Maduthuru village is itself a gram
panchayat. The village has good road transport facility connected by RTC bus and auto. The village
has got a main road connecting it to Visakhapatnam.
Women headed farm families
= 100 families
SC/ST farm families
= 200 families
Remaining families involved in farming
= 800 families
Total number of families (including landless) involved in farming = 1000 families

Farmer families Classification

100

Women headed farm

families
200

SC/ST farm families

Remaining Families

700

Farmer Categories:
Farmers are divided into four categories namely small, medium, large and
landless.
1. Small category farmers are those who possess a land below 2.5 acres of land.
2. Medium category farmers are those who possess land ranging from 2.5 acres
to 5 acres.
3. Large category farmers are those who possess land greater than 5 acres.
4. Landless category farmers are those who dont possess land but involved in
farming.

Farmer Category
Small (0 - 2.5 acres)
Medium (2.5 - 5 acres)
Large ( >5 acres )
Landless
Total

Number of farming families Percentage

450 families
25 families
25 families
500 families
1000 families

45%
2.50%
2.50%
50%
100%

Farmers Categories in percentage

Small
45%

Medium

50%

Large
Landless

2.50%

2.50%

Description of Farming Situations:

Total area of village Maduthuru in acres is 1500 acres out of which cultivable land is 500 acres.

Cultivable land
Remaining land
Total area of village
Percentage of cultivable land

Acres
500
1000
1500
33.33%

Cultivable Land (in acres)

500

Remaining land
1000

Cultivable land

Irrigated vs. Un-irrigated/Rainfed Land:

The source for cultivation in Maduthuru village is through bore and rainfall. 50% of the
source of water for cultivation is through bore and other 50% of the land depends on rainfall.
Famers not having bore facility depends on rainfall for agriculture.

Bore Vs Rainfall
Irrigation

Based on Bore water

50%

50%

Based on Rainfall

Soil Type:
Soil type in Maduthuru village is of two types namely, Red soil and Dry soil.
Topography:
The village topography of Maduthuru village is of three types namely,

Plain
Hilly
Coastal

-- 70%
-- 20%
-- 10%

Major crops:
Major cops cultivated in Maduthuru village are

Sugarcane
Vegetables
Boppay

Major problem faced by farmers while cultivating these crops is availability of labour.

Livestock Information:
Livestock is very common in most of the farming families. Majority of their expenses will
be covered by income generated from livestock. The details of livestock are

Details
Number Productivity (in liters)
Major Problems
Cows
400
2000 Lack of grass
Buffaloes
100
100 Lack of grass
Major problems identified in village:
General:
1. Water facility Water resources is a major problem to meet the household and agriculture
needs.
2. No English Medium School in village. The children of the farmers are facing problems in
going to schools in other villages or nearby town.
Agriculture:
1. Labour Though India is well known for its population but there are no availability of
labour for agriculture.
2. Cost of pesticides are increasing and subsidy given by government is not sufficient for the
famers.
3. Seed quality available in the market is not good and resulting in poor quality of yield.

Organizations working in the village:

Name of the organization: Sadhana
This organization provided water facility in the village and some sources of income to
farmers.

Recommendations and Solutions:

The majority of the money earned by farmers from farming will go out in the form of
expenses like tractor or machinery, labour, pesticides and middle man expenses involved in selling
the cultivated crop.
Minimizing these expenses will increase the profit for the farmer.
Current Scenario:
Maduthuru village has all the basic necessities but the only problem is labour and expenses
of pesticides and seed quality.

Possible Solution:
Farmers in India knows how to do agriculture in a better way but the expenses involved in
farming are stopping them in doing so and resulting in farmers making losses and making people
really think that agriculture is a non-profit activity and staying away from agriculture.
We need to bring some changes in the way farmers do agriculture which will reduce losses and
increase profits.
We need to bring all the farmers under one roof of community. For example say, Maduthuru

Grama Vyavasaya Sahakara Samithi (MGVSS) which is headed by the president of

the village.
How it works?
1. All farmers (including landless) and labour should be registered under this community.
2. MGVSS provides the labour for agriculture to the entire village.
3. MGVSS buys the tractors and other machinery to all farmers in village. MGVSS buys this
machinery either by bank loan or with the help of any NGO.
4. All agriculture inputs (labour, seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, machinery) and outputs (selling
crop and money received from selling crop) should be done through MGVSS.
5. Activities like soil testing will be taken care by MGVSS and they gives suggestions to
farmers.
6. Crop insurance will be provided by MGVSS.
7. This indirectly helps in data collection and helps government to design new schemes for
farmers.
Livestock:
MGVSS identifies the buyers of milk in large quantities around the village for example
hotels, chai points, corporate offices, milk companies and supplies milk to them. This avoids the
middleman involved in selling of milk and helps farmer to earn more money.
Vegetable Crops:
MGVSS identifies vegetable buyers in bulk quantity near the village and supplies the
vegetables grown by farmers in village and earns profits. Similarly it also supplies to households
in village at nominal rate this helps in reducing the food expenses of people in the village.
Water facility:
MGVSS identifies suitable lands across the village and digs canals for water storage and
refines them to supply water to households and farming activities.

MGVSS collects money from farmers and spends the profit earned for the welfare of farmers.