The Balgito CLF is located at Chichotcheng village in Resulbelpera Block in the North Garo Hills District. Better connected by roads than many other villages in the Garo Hills districts, the CLF is about 4km away from NH 51 and 18 km from the district headquarters at Resubelpara. The seed bank consists of 265 members from 26 SHGs, and covers six villages – Bollongpang, Nokwal A’ding, Chichotcheng, Rongtnapal, Sorapara and Chisim Apal. The group was formed in October 2008, through the support provided under Meghalaya Livelihoods Improvement Project for the Himalayas (MLIPH). The seed bank under the Balgito CLF is a model seed bank in the Garo Hills. In addition to this Seed Bank enterprise, the Balgito CLF is involved in a number of other activities and undertakings. It owns a Training Centre which is utilised for various community-based training programmes. The CLF has a power tiller that can be used by the community on payment of rent. A turmeric grinder machine has been similarly installed as a livelihood option for village community members. The CLF has also created a fish sanctuary to protect the local varieties of fishes and act as an attraction for eco-tourism. On October 27, 2008, IBDLP programme implementation teams first met with the CLF’s leaders to discuss the possibility of launching a seed bank in enterprise mode at Chichotcheng. Trainings and knowledge programmes commenced in 2014. Facilitation and regular supervision activities are being provided by the IBDLP team as well as representatives of ANNADANA. Three community members from the Balgito CLF undertook a training–cum- exposure programme at Bangalore and four CLF members were a part of a Seed Bank Workshop held at Shillong.
OPERATIONAL DETAILS
Till date, MBDA has invested Rs. 1,37,785 to the CLF towards labour costs and infrastructure set up. MBDA has also provided water pumps, drip irrigation materials, mosquito nets, plastic pheromone traps, packaging, poly- bags sprayers and a number of other items required for effective seed bank operations. This is in addition to continuing technical training, handholding, and knowledge sharing programmes. For the development of this enterprise, a plot measuring 4,000 sq. mts. (1 acre) was negotiated by the CLF. Presently, only 93 sq. mts. is under cultivation. The land owner, signed an agreement with the CLF on the conditions that – 1) The CLF would utilise the land only for the purpose of a seed bank and for a period of 5 years. 2) A monthly rental charge of Rs. 600.00 The CLF makes implementation related decisions at its monthly meeting that is held on the 15th of every month. Each SHG within the CLF has an equal share in the Seed Bank and undertakes equal responsibility for its maintenance. The CLF has also formed a seed bank committee that carries out day to day management activity like tracking and monitoring, assigning work activities to the SHG members, and giving reports to the CLF for discussion at its monthly meeting. There are two master trainers in the cluster- Mr. Pinster Marak and Mr. Jamesworth. Selection of species is done by the community. The species grown in the first cycle include chillies, brinjal, okra (or lady finger), melon, pumpkin, cucumber, cowpea, sorrel, sesame, ridge gourd, maize (or corn), and local beans. Records are maintained in the form of an attendance register, labour-cum-activity register, meetings register, cash book etc. These records are verified and maintained by the secretary of the CLF who is also a member of the seed bank committee.
While harvested seeds are not quantified, the date of harvest is recorded. The current output from the Seed Bank includes Okra, brinjal, chillies, corn, pumpkin, cucumber seeds, varieties of beans, etc. Unfortunately, a batch of tomatoes planted had not grown successfully. The CLF has not started selling in the market yet as its output is still small in scale. Much of the problem with the scale of harvest this year was due to late planting of crops which was compounded by unusually heavy rains.
INITIAL CHALLENGES
One challenge is that of maintaining the enthusiasm of CLF members for continuing this activity. In the beginning as many as 26 members regularly participated in Seed Bank operations but since then many members opted to discontinue. At present only 6 CLF members are taking responsibility for the entire Seed Bank operations. Operational challenges being faced by the CLF are cited by CLF members during the field interaction include the following: - not getting input materials in time, - lack of a green house for setting up the seedling nursery, - severe difficulties in the transportation of cow dung (for manure), - lack of adequate storage facilities, - lack of support structures for climber & creeper plants, - lack of fencing materials (bamboo is temporarily available in the local area and can be prohibitively expensive), - difficulty of sourcing raw materials for preparation of Panchagavya (an input mixture recommended by ANNADANA) - Further need of tools for weeding and drip irrigation and the need for more pheromone traps. Further, excessive rain and flood this year has also contributed toward the members’ woes as it has resulted in destruction of standing crops. The CLF has also faced difficulties in opening a bank account, the lack of which has delayed the payment for labour. Conclusions from community engagement As of now the members of this CLF are not sure that their Seed Bank enterprise can be sustained in the long run. The participating members are not getting immediate returns to meet their family’s expenditure needs. This is a key reason that they have a negative attitude toward this undertaking. Many of the village community members who are not CLF members are also unaware of the seed bank activity and few have taken the initiative to find out more. However, as the earlier discussion noted, the CLF has been very active in undertaking a number of other activities for livelihood promotion in particular. Hence it is hoped that CLF members work with greater collaboration and get over these initial hurdles related to their Seed Bank.