Mannem Buddaiah hails from Mannemvaripalle village in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. He ekes out a living by farming on his 5-acre farmland. Most of the farmlands in this region are largely rain-fed and as there is no surface water sources in the village, farmers depended solely on groundwater for irrigation. Prior to APFAMGS project, Mannem Buddaiah irrigated his farms through two borewells and raised sweet orange, chilly, rice and cotton on his farmland. 

APFAMGS project implementation focused on the needs of farmer managed groundwater systems. “CARVE, the NGO in our area conducted several meetings to share and explain the concept and components of the project. Apart from establishing a rain gauge station in our village, they identified four borewells for measuring water levels and discharge. One of my borewell was also selected, after I expressed my willingness. They trained me ways to measure rainfall and groundwater and that is how I got involved in project activities”.

Mannem Buddaiah and his son collected water level data regularly (once in fifteen days) and promptly recorded in the Hydrological Monitoring Record, provided by the project. Additionally, they volunteered to collect and record rainfall data. Observing groundwater levels, he came to realize that rice cultivation consumed excessive amount of water and lowered water level in borewells. In the 2005 drought, his orange orchard survived as it required lesser water than rice crop, which failed and finally led to huge financial loss. The project also organized Crop Water Budgeting (CWB) exercise at HU level to estimate the quantity of groundwater available for next Rabi cropping. 

Mannem Buddaiah’s wife participated in the CWB workshop and shared the observation that water level in general in their (Yadalavagu) HU was lowering fast, corroborating with his observation of his borewell. She also mentioned that changing crops dramatically changed the quantity of groundwater pumped. “After long family deliberations, we decided that the most suitable crops for our family are vegetables, because not only do they provide us food for self-consumption but can also fetch us good prices in the market, contributing positively to our income. And most importantly, they consume much less water than rice crop”. They now plant vegetables (bitter gourd, beans, tomato and lady’s finger) instead of rice and save 3200 m3 of groundwater approximately. Additionally, our investment also came down from INR 10,000/- per acre on rice to INR 5,000/- per acre on vegetables. 

After the season, we made a profit of INR 4,000/- on vegetables apart from ensuring nutritive food for our family. They also took training on SRI method of rice cultivation organised by Farmer Field Schools, which drastically reduces water use. “What satisfies me the most, apart from profitable farming is that project gave us a feeling of becoming part of a community effort to manage our groundwater resources in a scientific and sustainable way”.

Published: March, 2016
Project: Programme Support to Nationally Executed (NEX) Land and Water Programmes in India.