Photo: A beneficiary of the Ampyr sustainable farming programme.
One resident of the village of Janenahalli, in a neighbouring area to the Ampyr Wind Farm, explained to us the role that the community development programme has had in transforming his farm and the income it can generate.
For years, Rajesh faced significant challenges with his farmland, around three acres of which remained fallow due to persistent flooding during the rainy season. He remarked, “I have about three acres of land which were not usable for 20 years due to flooding in the area during rains”, expressing regret at the loss of income he experienced from the unusable land.
Thanks to Ampyr’s community development programme, Rajesh has benefited from the construction of drainage solution to enable him to reclaim the land for productive use. Rajesh revealed the transformation stating, “After construction of the bund, there was no flooding and I have invested in a crop [for the affected area] this time.” His optimism about the future now the land is useable is evident as he goes on to detail, “I have a plan to harvest twice in a year. Each crop would yield a profit of Rs 70,000 (USD 850).”
Surprisingly to Rajesh, the benefits of the bund construction didn’t stop at resolving the flooding issues. He has also noticed an increase in water levels in his borewell, attributing it to the bund and the newly constructed drainage channel. He said, “The farm already has a borewell [but] the water level has increased after the construction of the bund and the drainage channel has helped recharge the groundwater.”
With the improvement in his farm's profitability, Rajesh is now looking to diversify his income and assets, sharing, “I plan to buy cattle once I have saved enough money.” It is this ripple effect of positive outcomes which CI1 aims to create through all of its interventions, improving not just economic wellbeing in the short term, but building the long-term sustainability of rural livelihoods.
