Water and Soil Conversation
CIS demonstrates how simple, low-cost structures can be built to harvest rainwater during the monsoon months and mist in the winter.
The Basudha farm is a dryland, without irrigation facility, and yet grows more than 30 species of crops in addition to more than 900 varieties of rice every year. In the summer, stored rainwater is used to moisten the topsoil. Mulching with leaves from “weeds” and legume cover crop are used to minimize water input, and also to enrich the soil. Three types of composts, plus night soil from the EcoSan dry toilet are employed to replenish all soil nutrients.
