Chhattisgarh, February 9: A poverty-stricken tribal village in Bastar has adopted the eco-friendly practice of community farming to ensure a sustainable living for themselves. The residents of Matkot, a village situated 2 km away from Bastar's head office at Jagdalpur, have come together to convert 100 acres of barren land into an agricultural field.

This practice has been initiated by an Ayurvedic specialist, Dr JR Netam, a local practitioner in Jagdalpur. Dr Netam said, "I had to motivate the villagers once and now they are themselves enthusiastic to work on the field to adopt community farming". He is even planning to approach the concerned authorities to ensure help for these villagers.

He further said, "I hope that looking at the enthusiasm of the villagers, the authorities would come forward to help them." The entire village is completely dependent on the agricultural and farming practices as the sole source of their livelihood and subsistence.

Most of the villagers are engaged in the process of harvesting the paddy field which occupies their few hours of each day. Thus, to ensure a productive utilisation of the rest of their time, Dr Netam had advised the villagers to convert the barren land located within their village into a fertile area by adopting community farming and growing subsistence crops. Dr Netam has given a target of 40 days to begin the cultivation of agricultural field.