Presentation
In 1968, Volontariat purchased a dry land to participate to the « Green Revolution » (movement for food self-sufficiency) and to transform it into a model farm. From 4 ha in 1968, the cultivated area of the farm is more than 20 ha in 2006. It is a production unit of Volontariat and a leisure place for children.
[In the sixties, many developing countries, like India, tried to become food self-sufficient towards USA, the main cereal grower and exporter, so they launched a very important scheme which was called: “Green revolution”. 30 years after, the benefits of this programme are known: booming of agriculture, seeds, self-sufficiency, wealth of the big farmers. But, in the same time, this revolution had many negative and unexpected (in the sixties) consequences: soil degradation, dependency to fertilizers and pesticides industries, rural exodus increased to the cities, etc).]
In 1968, Volontariat wanted to contribute to this national effort by choosing a dry land,
near Tuttipet village, 20 km from Pondicherry and gaveto the farm the name of Tuttipakkam (TTK). 9 acres (1 acre = .43 ha) were purchased from the Church and 8 acres were taken on lease from the Government who favored our project to develop that area and started its own projects nearby.
This part of the Territory of Pondicherry is mainly dry lands, used for casurina (firewood) plantation. Small farmers had one crop a year as the land was not irrigated, the sowing depending of the monsoon, quite irregular in the sixties. We had this in mind when we decided to turn green our farm and help the neighbouring farmers who cannot invest in borewells.
Long years were needed to reclaim the poor alkaline soil with sand, cowpat and green manure. Regular water supplying was obtained by digging borewells, 120 to 200 m deep, and their equipment with submersible electric pumps. In 1985, almost 40 small farmers, around the farm, requested our help to get water, so with a co-financing of European Common Market and private donors, Volontariat made 2 borewells, equipped them and distributed the water at a reasonable rate.
TTK farm was not large at that time, we wanted to discourage small farmers (maximum 2 acres of low value land per family) to sell their plots in order to slow down the rural exodus. But in 1987, there was a big change in the Indian policy: the central government removed the taxes on the Territory of Pondicherry to attract the industrialists, and in few years the farm was almost surrounded by factories, often polluting the atmosphere, growing like mushrooms on the plots that farmers sold at high price. So, Volontariat decided to keep a green belt in the area and purchased the remaining free lands around the farm. It then grew at almost the present surface of 25 ha.
In 1994, Volontariat started a poultry unit
with up to 3500 chickens in 6 to 8 batches. We buy the 1 day chick, then we feed them until 45 days when they are ready for the nutrition programme of Volontariat or sold at Tripti shop.
From 2003, TTK farm is the living place for the children of Nila Illam and their foster parents.
Buildings and houses: The development of the farm was always supported by the European committees of Volontariat and, also, in 1978, by the Communauté Emmaüs of Toulouse to build the main farm buildings which are still used today, after renovations. The other houses called “workers quarters”, now Uttrumaï, were built later, with a vault in clay and cooked like a pot. Several houses were recently built for the programme Nila Illam, the last one in 2004 with the financial help of Air France Foundation.
In 2006, some data for the farm: The 5 borewells do not give enough water to fulfill the farm and Nila Illam, 2 of them have to be renovated (re-bored) or replaced. The cultivation of sugar cane, a cash-crop, was abandoned for paddy, a food-producing crop. So, in November 2006, we can see in most of the cultivated lands, the green of growing paddy which will be cropped on beginning of January 2007 for Pongal festival.
We maintain 6 batches of chicken, with a total of 3000 animals.
