The Vidarbha region in the state of Maharashtra, India, witnesses thousands of farmer suicides annually. Even with a 15 per cent drop in deaths from 2015-16 the region still ranked number one on farmer suicides in the country in 2016. The acute water crisis and poor soil quality of the area has led to low crop productivity amidst higher input cost, affecting farmers dearly. While at least 80 per cent of the land under cultivation in the state is rain-dependent, irregular monsoon patterns have wreaked havoc.

Given the absence of sustainable rainwater conservation and harvesting processes farmers have been left with no alternatives. They have resorted to growing a single crop a year given the paucity of water, but even these efforts have often amounted to nothing due to the vagaries of the weather. The absence of agro-allied income opportunities has further increased distress, drawing farmers into a cycle of mounting losses, debts, and other unceasing woes. With 50 per cent households in the region living below the poverty line, there is a pressing need for long-term interventions

Within the Barshitakli taluk of district Akola and the Deoli tehsil of district Wardha in Maharashtra, which this brochure focuses on, the government has (as in other districts) intervened in different ways to provide relief, from supplying tankers to protective irrigation facilities and loan waivers. However, these efforts have often offered temporary relief instead of lasting solutions.

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