CSR Success Stories

Illuri Venketa Reddy (Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh)

From Subsistence farming to an agri-entrepreneur: Illuri’s way

Living in Peddakomerala village in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh is a family of 4 headed by Illuri Venkata Reddy. Illuri is a small farmer owning 4 acres of land. Despite having a tube well, his land had largely been rain-fed as the water table had receded more than 250 feet below ground level over years because of lack of water conservation practices. Cotton and Bengal Gram were the two major crops that would barely earn him enough to feed his family well. Despite owning the land, he had been left with no choice but to find work as a labourer to earn enough to meet his family’s needs.

In 2017, Dalmia Bharat Foundation and NABARD jointly picked up a watershed project, which incidentally encompassed Peddakomerala village as well. As part of the treatment of the watershed, a Check-dam and Check- Wall were constructed upstream of his land. Later, a farm pond with a water harvesting capacity of 800 meter3 was also dug on his farm. All of this resulted in improved soil moisture and an increase in the water table. In fact, with supplemented by good rain last year, his defunct tube well is functional once again and he is able to irrigate his crop. Expectedly, his annual income from agriculture has increased two-and-a-half times over the previous year. Mere availability of water didn’t make Illuri complacent. He sought DBF’s assistance to avail Government subsidy to set-up drip irrigation on 2.5 acres of his land. With this string water management practice, he has diversified now to cash crops like chilli along with cotton, and expects his income to grow further.

Illuri Venkata Rao is now a shareholder of the local Farmers’ producer company and pursues agriculture as an entrepreneur. He has been an inspiration to hundreds of other farmers in the vicinity, who are following his footsteps.