The 17th of August, 2020 marked the inception of ALC Umsawnoldhi with 14 members. One member distributed the first compost among the ALC members of Umsawnoldhi, some members dived into training; they were Bah Phrangsngi Kro (Community Facilitator), Bah Ton Kro, Kong Tril Kro, Kong Etis Kro, and Kong Martha Ranee. This training took place at the Umwang Nongbah community hall and it was facilitated by a youth fellow, Bah Sisarius Phang Cho.
This training is part of the NESFAS project “Empowering Indigenous Communities through Agroecology Learning Circles (ALCs) for resilient, integrated and innovative natural resource management” supported by MBMA and funded by the World Bank under the Meghalaya Community Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP).
The main objective of this training was to eradicate the practice of chemical farming to promote well-being and to share traditional farming knowledge among farmers. Bah Phrangsngi Kro was one of the attendees who learnt the traditional processes through the training on composting which was conducted by NESFAS.
The actual process is quite simple and straightforward; it essentially involves adding dry and green leaves coupled with cow dung as fertilizer with water to the soil. Although such a method has been implemented for the first time, it is comprehensible that this kind of composting is much easier and affordable and can be conducted at any level. The ease of this method boosted the morale of the members to show the will to receive more training so as to reap the complete benefits of compost-making. They wish to implement more methods of composting and also using the same for crop plantation.
“We want to receive more training on composting so that we can improve in compost making, since the first experiment didn’t go very well.” shared Bah Phrangsngi Kro.
Fast-forward to January 2022, ALC Mukhap consisting of 10 members was formed; they focused on the chemical-free cultivation of vegetables such as mustard leaves, coriander, beans and more. A member of ALC Mukhap, Kong Phomly Langstang knew the benefits of composting, such as increased fertility of soil and nutritious plants which led her to start her own composting method. The method was very simple, involving potholes and cow dung. She, however, faced some challenges such as digging the potholes and transportation of the cow dung, but she felt this seemed like an important investment for the future.
Bah Pynphien Myria, who is a 65-year-old custodian farmer from Ksehrynchang, did his own experiment to make the soil fertile. He used all the waste collected after cleaning the field such as biomass – leaves and other debris- to make buns using pig dung to plant in his 500 square feet garden. He confirms that this experiment has benefitted him since the time of sowing as he observed the increased fertility of the soil. The only major problem he seemed to face were the pests.
