Nowadays India has attracted a great deal of world attention as a member of BRICs. Actually the economic growth is remarkable. But we should say real India can be seen in farm villages. Because 72% of Indian population lives in farm village and agriculture account for 58% of the working population.
In Dediapada villageres main work is also agriculture. Many of them own very little land from which they manage to get crop a year, which is the monsoon crop. During summer months, many people leave their villages because they have no food left, and go far away cities in search of work as manual laborers at construction sites and the small industries. Although they have to put in eight to ten hours of hard labor, they can get a mere pittance of Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 per day. This is equivalent to only 50 to 60 Japanese yen.
The Land in this area is very hilly, uneven and poor as far as cultivation is concerned. Being rocky and uneven, the soil is easily washed away when the rains are heavy. Small areas in the valleys however are flat and produce crops. This of course depends on the rains, which are irregular and insufficient due to deforestation. This has also resulted in tremendous soil erosion and because of pronounced slope in the land. And since the surface soil suitable for cultivation is thin, soil erosion is a matter of life or death. Moreover, the capacity of the soil to retain water is so meager that land productivity is low.
Where irrigation facilities are available, the farmers get a winter crop too. But the area is limited. Although irrigation, fertilizers, tractors and other scientific methods of farming which were not existent till a few years ago, they are slowly picking up in the most fertile areas of the region. But mostly farmers still have very primitive methods of farming. Because their labor wage is low, compared with the cost using machinery and science method of farming.
(This content is based on http://www.geocities.com/vasava_bhil/)
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