INDIA - $4,000

Organic Gardening

Project Director - Mrs. Eswari

25 women from Salem District, Tamil Nadu are participating in this three-year project. The women will lease ½ acre of land. Training will be given in cultivation, harvesting, vermi-compost production, land reclamation, watering, manuring, pest control, and intercropping. Maravalli is the main crop, but vegetables and flowers will also be grown as intercrops and caster plants will be planted as natural pest control. Two vermi-compost pits will be prepared for each woman. Loans will be repaid in one year. Anticipated economics are:

 

GROSS ANNUAL INCOME	EXPENSES	REPAYMENT	NET INCOME
$1,635 (Maravalli, $625; Vegetables, $200; Caster, $110; Seventhi, $300; Compost, $400)	$270 ($195 for cultivation and $475 to lease the land)	$200 per year ($16.67 per month)	$1,170 per year $95 per month

 

From Dr. Kannan's site visit report: “Bhasam Trust is a small and developing organization. BT has formed 10 women self-help groups. The target villages are remote and poor. The trust has two trained staff. Mr. Xavier Antony has a rich experience in the field of tribal development and community organizing.”

 

Project Completed: June 30, 2011