V NarayanaMurthi | ENS Vellore, THE dryland farmers, hitherto functioning under various associations in and around Natrampalli, have been brought under an umbrella network of Uzhavar Maamandram, thanks to the initiative of Dhan Foundation, an NGO. The peasants were trying to revive farming activities under rain-fed conditions for the past six years, with assistance from government agencies. Around 2,700 farmers, 50 per cent of them women, hailing from 30 hamlets in this pocket have divided themselves into 162 groups to focus on common benefits and income generation activities. Karthikeyan, one of the team leaders of the foundation, said the farmers have been growing groundnuts and cotton as major crops under the dryland farming method. While around 2,500 ryots practising tank-irrigation farming had formed a federation in Madurai district recently, this is for the first time that the farmers of Natrampalli had taken an ini tiative to come under an umbrella organisation, he added. Besides Natrampalli, similar efforts were made by the foundation to organise farmers at Gudiyattam, Pudur Nadu in Vellore district, Tirumangalam and Peraiyur in Madurai district and in 95 other locations in 12 states. Karthikeyan said the Natrampalli farmers have been predominantly participating in the Restructured National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Areas to avail of the government assistance for the development of farm resources and infrastructure facilities. As many as 31 farm ponds have been developed by the associations while reclaiming 30 acres of waste land i n t o c u l t ivable f a r m s. Around 280 acres were levelled and another 210 acres soil-enriched so far. The interesting aspect is that they had through their own initiative had made a saving of Rs 82 lakh which they lend amongst themselves for various development activities pertaining to land, irrigation and crop management.