Mini Integrated Farming for Punjab

A project of PAGRI
Lamba_Photo of Self_1.JPG Harinder Lamba
Oak Forest, Illinois, US
$4,573pledged of $10,000 goal
$4,573goal: $10,000
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Ongoingannual goal
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Please Support Our New Mini Integrated Farming Project in Faridkot, Punjab

 

Punjab Agricultural Rejuvenation Initiative (PAGRI) has helping small and landless farmers with very low incomes in Faridkot, Punjab. We are distributing desi chickens to these farmers to raise, testing soil to advise farmers on the specific fertilizers to use, and providing training to farmers on organic kitchen gardens to grow healthy food for their own families - all saving costs.

  • We have two very dynamic sevadars, Manjit Singh and Jaspal Singh, who have been distributing 1,000 desi chickens (Rhode Island Red variety) to the farmers to raise for eggs, as well as providing training.
  • We are helping more than 300 farmers with organic kitchen gardens by giving them free seed kits and instructions. These farmers and their families can now eat clean, healthy food.
  • We are also providing them training on planting fruit trees and vermicomposting.

These projects are financially helping a lot of landless and small farmers and with support from donors, we will be growing these projects.

 
The Problems
 
Small and landless farmers have been suffering with very low incomes. At the same time, they are caught in the wheat-rice trap with conventional “green revolution” agriculture. Also, because of the big use of chemical fungicides, pesticides and herbicides the food they eat is often not healthy.
 
So, What is PAGRI Doing?
 
PAGRI has taken up the challenge of increasing the income of these farmers by various mini-projects that help both landless and small land holding farmers. The second part is to reduce the costs of their conventional agriculture methods by use of less chemicals, which are expensive. The third part is to transition them to more organic and integrated farming. The fourth part is to increase their income by better marketing of their fresh produce, as well as their processed food.
 
Our Approach
 
We are excited to inform you that in Faridkot, Punjab we have added this project to mainly help landless farmers and laborers increase their incomes. We have started by procuring 1,000 baby desi chickens of the RIR (Rhode Island Red) variety from the Punjab Agricultural University and these have been distributed to farmers based on the condition and capacity of their "Khuddas" or small enclosures to look after the baby chickens. These were distributed to various farmers in July and by November 2023, the farmers will start having an income as these chickens will start laying desi chicken eggs, which are in higher demand.
 
Then this new project has initiated a very extensive program of soil testing, the results of which will be used to advise farmers, so they only apply the fertilizer they actually need - hence saving them money. These soil testing results have already been used to do this.
 
Next, the farmers are being helped with organic kitchen gardens to make sure that they grow good, healthy and clean food for their own families - this will also save them money. Seed packages for these vegetables have been distributed for free to these farmers, along with training on how to grow these crops organically.
 
More Specifics
 
This project is being headed up by an expert farmer named Manjit Singh with a very able assistant named Jaspal Singh. They hold regular early morning farmers meetings and have expanded their activities to several villages.
 
Manjit has cooperated with Jaspal Singh in registering farmers, holding farmers meetings, creating posters and flyers as needed, and producing T-shirts and jackets with Pagri logo. He has also cooperated with Jaspal in providing relief activities to farmers such as flood relief, fodder and medical camps, after the catastrophic floods that hit Punjab in July-August 2023. Help expanding their dairy farming and then starting a new activity with goats are also being considered. The two of them will continue to implement the approach as described above and expand it as needed.

  • 11/03/2024

    Mini-Integrated Farming Has Added Activities

    Dear Pagri Supporter,


    Please support us by donating during the November 8-17, 2024. During this time Dasvandh will match your donations 100% up to $400, until their matching funds run out. So please donate early on November 8-10 to be sure your support is doubled!!


    Our great coordinator in Punjab, Jaspal Singh Madhak is coordinating and managing all our projects in Punjab. For poultry farming we distributed 1,000 chicks of the Desi variety (RIR – Rhode Island Red) to about 30 farmers for free. These chickens are a lot more robust, do not need commercial feed and have little need for anti-biotics. Now we are using the lessons learned to do an even better job of helping farmers with poultry farming. Farmers can use biological wastes from kitchen and farm to feed the chickens and earn by selling some chickens and desi chicken eggs. This has led to significant increases in their incomes!

    From Fardikot we have expanded to Muktsar and Bhatinda districts. We now have three dedicated farm leaders in each place that are doing good work diurectly with farmers to help and guide them.

    Jaspal Madhak has also conducted training activities to teach them marketing of their fresh produce and processed products. Pagri volunteers also helped flood relief victims in the Jalandhar and Mansa districts. In 15 villages doctors gave free medical advice and supplied medicines.


    The Pagri Team

  • 10/02/2024

    Expansion of Activities - Organic Farming Poultry

    Dear Dasvandh members and Pagri Supporters,

    In addition to Faridkot area, we have now expanded our activities to the districts of Mukhtsar and Bhatinda. We are helping and educating farmers on organic kitchen gardens as a way of helping farmers to transition to organic and natural farming. In this way, the farmers can grow clean food for themselves and their familes, and save themselves money on food expenses, that they might otherwise spend in the market.

    In addition we have also learned from and helpinhg farmers in the raising of traditional Desi varieties of chickens, from baby chickens, that can mostly eat food and left overs from kitchens, as well as eat insects and greenery from organic kithcen gardens and farms. This helps farmers esoand their incomes through sale of eggs and some through sale of chickens when they mature.

    Please continue to support and donate so that we continue to help these farmers.

    Harinder Lamba

    Secretary, PAGRI

  • 07/02/2024

    Mini Integrated Farming Progress

    Our respected supporters, our President Lal Singh visited our Faridkot location and held a meeting in which he honored farmers that had done well in their adoption of Desi chickens for eggs. Also honored were farmers who had done well in developing organic kitchen gardens from seed kits and training we gave them. This happened in January 2024.

    Then on April 6, 2024, our secretary Harinder Lamba visited Kotkapura area near Faridkot and held severla meetings with farmers and tried to chart a course as to what the future activities should be so as to continue to benefit the farmers directly by increasing their incomes.

    Two other activities being considered are teaching farmers the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique so that farmers do not use the water intensive water puddling technique of planting rice that also makes the rice plants more susceptible to fungi. 

    Another activity is to engage a Punjab based organization called Roundglass Foundation to help villages with solid waste management by building a shed and brick lined pits for trash and compostable green waste separately - making the villages cleaner and enabling them to use kitchen and other green wastes from the village as compost for farming. There will also be a parallel activity for the planting of indigenous varieties of trees for greenery, local biodiversity and possibly some economic activity.

     

  • 04/01/2024

    Good progress with increase in Farmer Incomes

    Pagri activities in Faridkot have helped small and landless farmers in signifciant numbers. This has been as follows:

    1. A thousand chicks of the desi RIR (Rhode Island Red) variety were distributed last June 2023 to about 40 farmers. They have benefitted by the sale of some grown chickens (mainly roosters), sale of eggs (that sell for a premium) and an ability to geta hen to sit on hatch on eggs so they do not need to buy baby chicks any more. This project will be expanded.

    2. About 400 farmers got seed kits for growing organic kitchen gardens and got training. These gardens have enabled amny of them to grow good clean food for theri families, save money as they did not need to buy this produce, plus got some exposure to organic farming. This program will be expanded too.

    Pagri will look for such similar activities in 2024 to grow these efforts.

  • 01/14/2024

    Small and Landless Farmers Benefit a lot

    This project has benefitted about 40 farmers by getting them into raising desi cheickens for eggs. They have started now selling theses Desi chiicken eggs of the RIR (Rhode Island Red) variety. The great thing is that they will be able to produce their won chicks in futiure by getting hens to hatch fertilized aggs.

    About more than 400 farmers were helped with seed kits and trianing for organic kitchen gardens, which these farmers have started growing so that they can feed theri own families with organic fresh food! 

    This project will be looking for similar actions in 2024 to help small farmers,

  • 11/08/2023

    We have benefitted many small farmers !

    We have two very dynamic Sevadars in Manjit Singh and Jaspal Singh, who have distributed 1,000 Desi (RIR  or Rhode Island Red variety) chickens for laying eggs and arranged training.
    Have helped more than 300 farmers with organic kitchen gardens by giving them free seed kits and instructions.  They can now eat clean healthy food.
    Horticulture or fruit trees are next. This activity has financially helped a lot of landless and small farmers and will be growing in an exciting way!
    Pagri’s activities and name is spreading in many villages in the district of Faridkot.

  • 11/08/2023

    We need your Support - Donations used effectively

    Please View the new photos we have added!

    PAGRI Needs Your Support
    (Please donate on Dasvandh Nov. 9 to Nov. 19, 2023)

    Dear Pagri supporters and well-wishers,
     
     Dasvandh is matching all donations dollar for dollar up to a limit of $ 400 per donation from November 9 to Nov 19, 2023.
     
    To donate to the Pagri organization please click on the Donate button.   Thanks!
     
    We have used your donations very judiciously, keeping the overhead to the bare minimum.
    All office bearers are doing voluntary service and thus overheads are almost zero. With the grace of God, Pagri has an exceptional talent pool and thus we are able to keep overhead to the minimum.

    But this is only the beginning.  The needs of Punjab's agriculture are immense, both qualitatively and quantitatively.  So, please continue to support us! Thanks to your support.
    Pagri has grown and is adding activities and directly reaching out to farmers to help them. 

     

Name Donation Date
Match Fund $400.00 November 2024
Harinder Lamba $400.00 November 2024
Baljit Singh $11.00 July 2024
Harpal Jhawar $50.00 July 2024
Baljit Singh $11.00 March 2024
Jasjeet Thind $201.00 December 2023
Administrator Dasvandh Network $500.00 December 2023
I. S. $400.00 November 2023
Match Fund $100.00 November 2023
Sarwan Singh Bolina $100.00 November 2023
Match Fund $400.00 November 2023
Narinderpal Singh Sood $400.00 November 2023
Match Fund $400.00 November 2023
Inder Mohini $400.00 November 2023
Match Fund $400.00 November 2023
Lal Singh $400.00 November 2023
J. K. $10.00 October 2023