Utilising Technology Driven Agriculture to Enable

Income Generation Opportunities in a Rural Indian

Village of Uttarakhand
Mahakaleshwar P. Vigneswaran N. Pranay Prasanth S.
Department of Electrical and Department of Electrical and Department of Electronics and
Electronics Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Communication Engineering,
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Coimbatore, India Coimbatore, India Coimbatore,India
kaleshwar1906@gmail.com mevigneswaran.n2827@gmail.com spprasanth1999@gmail.com

Krishna Nandanan
Saravanan R.
Amrita Centre for International
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Programs,
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Coimbatore, India Amritapuri, India
r_saravanan@cb.amrita.edu krishnanandanan@am.amrita.edu

Abstract— India is a country where major part of its population constantly facing a risk due to higher rates of transition of
lives in rural areas and majority of rural people are deprived of climate changes due to greenhouse gas emissions [2].
the very basic amenities. A similar situation was observed in Naala,
a rural village in Uttarakhand, India. The primary focus was Agriculture is the largest livelihood provider in India as
towards decline in agriculture and its impact on the village
residents. The methods of agriculture practiced and the study was
India is a country which houses a large population residing in
conducted by interviewing the farmers, conducting intensive rural areas, compared to 27.8% of the population living in urban
brainstorming sessions with the villagers along with many other areas [16]. It is very much important in contributing to the Gross
tools. It was observed that the women were also involved in Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. However the country
agricultural activities and thus play a vital role in the socio- needs good agriculture practices and technology that embraces
economic structure of the village. There were instances of crops the fields environmentally. Such practices are required for the
being destroyed by the wild animals due to which the effort to grow holistic development of the nation [3]. Hence, agricultural
cash crops for profit diminished drastically. Decrease in development plays a pivotal role in the society. It is a very
agricultural yield was also studied. Due to various reasons that strong tool that is capable to end poverty across nations.
were studied, there was a steep decline in agricultural practices
and was scaled down to cultivating only to satiate household
requirements. The aim of this study is to demonstrate through According to the Department of Agriculture Cooperation
different agricultural development proposals that village can be and Farmers Welfare, 54.6% of the Indian population is
self-sustained by reviving their dependence on modern engaged in agriculture and activities related to that. It also aids
agriculture. in contributing to 17.4% of the country’s Gross Value Added.
There are also a lot of existing schemes like Pradhanmantri
Keywords— Agriculture, IoT, women farmers, Live-in-Labs® Gram Sinchai Yojana and Parmparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana
(PKVY) to boost the income of the farmers [4].
I. INTRODUCTION
Globally, more than 3 billion people live in rural areas The state of Uttarakhand has a large area of forests and
and almost 2.5 billion of these people practice agriculture for wastelands and thus has a very small area covering agricultural
their livelihood [1]. Agriculture is estimated to feed 9.7 billion fields of 7.41 lakh hectares (about 14%)for cultivation
people by 2050. According to the studies of world bank, that according to the land use survey conducted in the period of
eradicating poverty by the agricultural sector is two to four 2009-2010 out of the 56.72 lakh hectares that is reportedly
times more effective than that of other sectors [2]. In 2016, a available for agriculture (One hectare equals thousand square
study showed that in 65% of the world population poor working meters) [5]. However, to practice agriculture in the hills the
adults made a living through agriculture. But agriculture is also forest areas must be preserved to avoid climate disturbances and
essential for the economic growth of a nation. In 2014, to provide with enough firewood and fodder for the cattle. In
Agriculture also accounted for one third of the world’s Gross the meanwhile, more than three fourths of the state depend on
Domestic Product (GDP). The World Bank states that the agriculture as a source of income [6]. And so in this state, the
growth which was acquired by practicing agriculture is villagers practice two kinds of agricultural methods for their
fields which is rain fed crops and crops irrigated with the

XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE

Dhaara water. However most of the fields across the state is rain Outflow, Venn diagram, Brainstorming Session, transect
fed and the area that is irrigated is quite low at just 3.38 lakh diagram and problem tree. First, Resource mapping was done
hectares according to the 2009-2010 census [5]. But in the hilly and a very important inference was drawn which is mentioned
regions due to the serious constraints in practicing agriculture, in detail in section Result I. Next, through the transect diagram,
the majority of the people living in these hills tend to follow the village was transected from the higher region to lower
subsistence agriculture or eventually move to other parts of the region. Later, the surroundings of the location was analyzed
country in search of employment [6]. This also seems to be the with the help of AEIOU which stands for Activities,
case in the village of Naala. Environment, Interaction, Object and User. Even the minute
details regarding the challenge was given importance and noted
Naala is a village located in the Rudraprayag district down. Interviewing the villagers on and off the field was very
on the Ukhimath block of Uttarakhand. The village was visited much essential in order to collect data. Questionnaires were
as a part of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Live-in-Labs® prepared by constant brainstorming with our faculty who had
academic program [13]. It is situated at a distance of 223 accompanied us. All the details of these interviews were
kilometers from the capital city of Uttarakhand, Dehradun on included in the field journal and there was a reflective journal
the NH7 (National Highway 7) which has the nearest airport written every night to include details on our opinions about the
and the railway station. So Naala is accessible mostly only by existing challenge.
road. So there is an availability of public transports and cars that
scour the hill on a daily basis [7]. This village houses the most But the challenges faced by the women who practice
exorbitant variety of flora and fauna and is bounded by agriculture in the village of Naala is identified by the Problem
mountains on all sides, having perched itself on a mountain. It tree because of its unique cause and effect theory. The tree starts
lies at a distance of about 2 kilometers from Guptakashi and is from the problem to its effect. It helped us to look at the clear
at a distance of about 50 kilometers from Kedarnath, which picture of the problems faced by the women who practiced
happens to be one of the holy pilgrimage centers in India. agriculture in the village of Naala. Some of the other tools that
helped us were the Seasons, which helped us to identify the
harvesting and planting scenes in the village and Inflow-
Outflow, where we realised the inflow of the seeds and manure
and also the outflow of the harvested crops to the market.
Another such tool was the Income-Expenditure, where the flow
of money in the families was calculated [14].
B. Analysis of the data
The data collected in the village through interviews and
brainstorming was tabulated on Excel and was plotted on graphs
and paper for extensive study. Persona of the people helped in
Fig. 1. Satellite view of Naala (Source - Google Maps) identifying the traits of the people. Even scenarios were
developed for three farmers to realize the day to day activities
The language that is native to this region of Naala is of them.
Garhwali (pronounced: Gadduwali). But the villagers also are
well versed in the language of Hindi. There is an equal male is
to female ratio in the village. There are a total of 1,189 villagers
living in 257 houses [15]. There are small shops set up by the
villagers, but there is no hospital in the village. The nearest
hospital is the government hospital in Guptkashi. ML public
school is one of the biggest buildings in the entire village.
II. METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in the village for seven days and
an analysis was later made to identify the challenges associated
with the village. In the process, it helped us to interact with the
Fig. 2. Population graph of Naala
people of Naala and to learn about the practices that they follow
in the village. It also served as a tool of communication between
III. RESULTS
us and aided in building an idea about the people in the area
The results section has been divided into two sections.
A. Data Collection Methods The first section includes the details and results that has been
Initially, PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) was done drawn from the data collected using the methodology discussed.
to understand the prominent challenge prevalent in the village The second section includes the solutions that are proposed for
[14]. The study was carried out using tools such as resource the challenge identified with the facts justifying the proposed
mapping, Seasons Activities, Income Expenditure, Inflow- solutions.
 A. Results I
There was more area of the village covered with
agricultural lands. In resource mapping, importance was given
to the aspects that help the villagers sustain like water and
cowsheds.

With the help of the transect diagram, it was identified

that there were forests on either side and this provided the
natural boundary to the villagers. The forest also happens to
shelter bears, wild boars and monkeys. The fields in Upper
Naala are placed on steeper steps, while Lower Naala’s fields
Fig. 5. Occupation of people in Naala
decline down gradually. Dhara is the name of the drinking water
source for the village which has its unknown source high up and The fields in Naala extend a long way below Lower Naala
above in the regions beyond Upper Naala. All the families in and high up above Upper Naala. The area beyond these
the village depend on the water it provides for drinking,
agricultural lands is extensively covered by forests. The
washing and bathing. It can also be noted that the Dhara source villagers claim that the rain always comes in from the direction
is present in the Upper Naala and the women from Lower Naala of Kedarnath, which is 50 kilometers north of Naala [7]. Since
have to climb up to the Dhara source to fetch water. the hills are covered in snow and also because of the presence
of the village at a very high altitude, the villagers are sure that
the rains are perennial. The vast lands of agricultural area were
present in both Lower Naala and Upper Naala. But despite
ample rainfall, the village also receives a lot of sunlight,
providing proper growth of the crops sowed. The fields in the
Lower Naala are maintained by the folk of Lower Naala and
Upper Naala is maintained by its latter. The fields are in steps
and they run down in a slope. The fields are guarded carefully
against erosion. Shelter belts are maintained. Shelter belts are a
line of trees on the edge of the field to prevent soil erosion.
Many lands have been left vacant by the villagers who had sold
the land or left the village. Figure 4 shows the percentage of
Fig. 3. Resource mapping of Naala people with respect to their occupation. This data has been
acquired with the help of the field journal that had been
recorded in the village during the visit.

Each house has at least one cow and each cow can
provide a yield of at least one litre of milk per day. This milk is
sufficient for self-consumption and cannot be used for income
generation. Gobar (cow dung) is collected from the cowsheds
and used as manure in these fields.

The sun rises at 5 am and so do the villagers. Picking up

their baskets, the farmers walk either downhill or uphill to their
fields and start removing the weed with a sickle from the fields
Fig. 4. Transect diagram of Naala and as soon as the fields are clear of the unwanted plants, they
begin to plough the fields. The soils are wet with moisture due
Data gathered by utilizing the mentioned PRA tools to the dew that has set into the fields at night, owing to the cold
enabled the researchers to come to a conclusion that, the village winds blowing downhill from the snowy slopes that arise at
can be developed further in the area of agriculture. The study some distance away from the village. This soil is turned and the
also revealed that Agriculture was one of the challenge areas weed is collected in huge baskets that the farmers carry on their
prominent in Naala. And the major reason behind this setback backs to be fed as fodder to the cows.
is due to wild animal intrusion, where animals like monkeys and
boars wreak havoc to the crops that have been sowed for After a hard morning work, the farmers return to their
harvest. The main disadvantages in the field of agriculture homes at around twelve pm to have lunch and also to complete
include wild animal intrusion, lack of cash crops to increase the household chores like fetching water from the Dhara water
profit. source which is present in the Upper Naala and washing clothes.
Then after a tiresome afternoon and a short rest, the female
farmers walk back to the fields at 5 pm to resume the field work.
The female farmers often call their neighbours to assist them in
farming. There are usually two to three women working in the
field. Later, they take shifts to work in the field of the neighbour
who had previously offered her support. Agricultural lands are
available in plenty and yet there were no crops being grown in
the month of May. The fields not ploughed and is ready to be
sown with seeds for the harvest. The fields are placed on steps
as step farming is practiced, owing to the high and sloped
terrain. The crops are rain fed and no means of irrigation is
Fig. 7. Sickle and Millets (left) and harvested paddy (right).
deployed as all of the villagers who were interviewed repeated
that there was perennial rainfall and there was no need for other
Due to lack of maintenance due to low income of the
means of irrigation [8]. There is an option of drawing water family, some fields are sold to people from outside the village
from the Mandakini river which flows far downhill through
and those people plant vegetables like green beans, tomatoes
pumps. But it is still a hard task to draw water from the bottom and potatoes. Fencing has been done only in one field and the
of the hill to higher altitudes. However, the interviewed
field has been safe from wild animals. The female farmer who
villagers also cited that the summers are getting hotter every
owns the field showed the team a greenhouse, whose walls and
year. But they also mentioned that, the other means of roofs which had been torn apart recklessly by the monkeys. The
agriculture were neither conventional nor easy.
families who earn less income want to depend on agriculture
that yields some profit, from which they can support the men in
The soil is rid of weed with a sickle. But the soil also
their family. The current stage of agriculture practiced by them
contains leftover roots of the crop which was previously planted
is affected by the damage caused by the animals that intrude into
by the villagers. Tilling of the field is done with either the oxen fields at night and destroy the crops. Agricultural profit is not
or cows present at home. Sowing of seeds is done in a different
considerably high as stated by the villagers through interviews
procedure. The seeds are sown in the field by throwing the seeds and group interviews, despite the selling of crops to the market,
and after the seeds grow as a plant to a certain height, they are
due to the lack of growth of cash crops. The villagers state that
removed from the soil along with the root and the wet soil
cash crops are not grown because they are scared about the wild
clinging to it. They are then thrown back into the soil randomly. animals which will destroy the crops. This improper income
This procedure is repeated for a few days until the seed grows
from agriculture has forced the villagers to leave the village or
and then it is left to grow as full-fledged crops. stop practicing agriculture and settle for jobs offered in cities
which provides a steady pay.
B. Results II
Our idea is to support the women who want to supplement
their family income through agriculture to support their
husbands and to increase their family income which helps in
accessing proper education and to save enough for future needs
.In the village, it is the women who are working on the fields,
so we would want to improve their existing agricultural
practices by some methods like implementing IoT (Internet of
Things). IoT is the physical device which is a part of embedded
systems and is connected to the non-internet things [17].
Fig. 6. Step-farming method in village.

Rice, once planted takes 6 months to grow and is usually 1) IoT Implementation: IoT can also be utilised to
planted in the month of March. Then, after complete growth, it improve the yield of agricultural produce by
is harvested in the month of September or October. Corn, which incorporating temperature and moisture sensors. This
is grown can be sold at a price of ₹40 per kilogram. Broccoli, if would aid the farmers in utilising optimum resources
grown can be sold at ₹90 per kilogram and it takes just 2-3 to improve the yield significantly when compared to
weeks to grow. On the other hand, cauliflower can be grown in the existing yield. IoT helps to send information and
6-7 weeks and can be sold at about ₹20 per kilogram. Both data from numerous devices over the internet to the
broccoli and cauliflower is grown in the neighbouring village of user in a really quick way. IoT can be utilised to obtain
Narayankoti. The market price of cauliflower in Guptakashi is the following –
₹60 per kg and green beans are sold at ₹60 per kg. a) Detect harvest indication for the farmers for
proper harvesting
b) To help maintain moisture and temperature
for the crops
c) Automated Irrigation
 d) Indicate the proper fertilizer feed to the plants 4) Awareness of cash crops: The village climate is more
by checking the NPK (Nitrogen Phosphorus suitable for cultivating cash crops, but the village
Potassium) level of soil to avoid the damage people are not willing to grow cash crops due to the
of crops animal disturbance. This was evident from the factthe
e) Notify the amount of cow dung proportion villagers in the nearby village of Narayankoti and
needed in the manure to ensure soil stability Phata cultivate cash crops such as broccoli. By giving
f) Detection of wild animal intrusion and raising more awareness about the advantages cash crops with
alarms [9]. the assurance of the threat elimination of animal
intrusion with IoT implementation techniques,
2) Floriculture: Floriculture is an intensive type of agriculture can yield more profits. Also giving them
agriculture in which the income earned per unit area is the proper ways to improve the quality and quantity of
much higher when compared to that of agriculture [9]. crops by enhancing their current agricultural
Flower Cultivation works is a highly successful techniques can be a better solution.
business in the hilly area which owns the perfect
climate for the full-fledged bloom of flowers. There is 5) Greenhouse farming: Greenhouses are small
also a market nearby at a distance of two kilometers at controlled rooms where timely assessment of the crops
Guptakashi to where the flowers can be exported, from are done with respect to temperature, humidity and
where the flowers will be able to travel to different pesticides [11]. Implementation of such greenhouse
locations [7]. But again, there is a major problem of farming methods with the access to IoT helps the
animal intrusion, which destroy the plants and that plants grow much more efficiently. Also installing the
means that the villagers do not want to try anything automated shelter which opens and closes depending
new to develop their yield. Hence a permanent solution upon the sunlight by checking the intensity of light
has to be implemented to prevent animal intrusion would add much more value.
before any other methods of farming is introduced.

3) Organic fertilizer management: Considering the

number of cowsheds and the amount of cow dung
produced in the village per day, organic fertilizer
management, their they use mostly cow dung as
manure. Due to the abundant availability of cow dung
in the village, it is mostly used as manure and they
don’t use any artificial manure. So if the quality of
manure can be increased by improving their nutrients
value by adding some nutrients through NPK content,
for that we are plan design the instrument which
contain some NPK. Cow dung contains (3 percent
Fig. 9. Method used by women for ploughing the field.
nitrogen, 2 percent phosphorus, 1 percent potassium
(3-2-1 NPK) and also some ammonia. The idea is to So that old traditional ploughing thing is a tough task.
eliminate harmful ammonia and pathogens that lie However in the interviews, a few villagers suggested that such
with the organic matter in the soil. To improve the techniques had suggested that they had grown strong physically
quality cow dung is to be mixed with organic waste through the employment of other methods. But other villagers
like vegetable waste and ash and lime and hay or straw do not consent to this idea of ploughing with the ploughs
it will improve the soil nutrition quality [12]. attached to their back. Designing a machine to plough the land
easily and without any pain and also efficiently is a good idea.
So that women can earn money through the agriculture and little
effort to support the men in the family to run the family
efficiently and happily.
IV. LIMITATIONS
The village was visited during the season of ploughing
and sowing of seeds was done. This season just showed the team
about the troubles during this season. Hence, the physical
challenges and the amount of crops harvested in the harvest
season could not be realised, except through interviews as the
team was in the village for a very short period.
Fig. 8. Cow dung storage facility in the village
 V. DISCUSSIONS [4] “Department at a glance” by Department of Agricultural Cooperation
& Farmers Welfare. Available online on
The results that have been mentioned above, explore http://agricoop.nic.in/department-glance
the various methods of agriculture practiced by the villagers of [5] “Agricultural Policy: Vision 2020” by the Indian Agricultural
Naala and also the troubles faced by the female farmers who Research Institute, New Delhi [Online]
http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/bkpap2020/24_b
want to support the men in the family financially, by practicing g2020.pdf
agriculture. The low produce, widely spread small pieces of [6] “Development Strategy for the Hill Districts of Uttarkhand” by the
land, the intrusion of wild animals, the lack of growth of cash Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations.
crops in fields and the increasing temperatures have begun to [Online]
http://icrier.org/pdf/Working_Paper_217.pdf#page=14&zoom=auto,-
trouble the farmers on their interests to pursue agriculture. 99,691
[7] Google Maps
The villagers also discuss on the solutions that can be https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Naala,+Uttarakhand+246439/data
introduced in the fields so as to increase the productivity on the =!4m2!3m1!1s0x3908369902774a11:0x261a133f5c2c6476?ved=2ahU
KEwiX0K33o67fAhWBYysKHc5fAlwQ8gEwAHoECAEQAQ
fields as well as earn profits. There is a certain need to create [8] “Rainfall Graphs” from Official website of Agricultural Department,
awareness among the villagers on the growth of cash crops and Govt. Of Uttarakhand.
also to floriculture which could boom, if proper care is taken for http://agriculture.uk.gov.in/files/Rainfall_Graphs__(Page_112-118).pdf
it. It is important to note that the village already holds a large [9] J. Shenoy and Y. Pingle, "IOT in agriculture," 2016 3rd International
Conference on Computing for Sustainable Global Development
range of flowers that bloom to the maximum extent possible (INDIACom), New Delhi, 2016, pp. 1456-1458.
owing to the climate and conditions. [10] Randhawa, Gurcharan Singh, and Amitabha Mukhopadhyay.
Floriculture in India. Allied Publishers, 1986.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT [11] P. Dedeepya, U. S. A. Srinija, M. Gowtham Krishna, G. Sindhusha and
T. Gnanesh, "Smart Greenhouse Farming based on IOT," 2018 Second
This research was funded by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham's International Conference on Electronics, Communication and
Live-in-Labs® program and the field implementation was Aerospace Technology (ICECA), Coimbatore, 2018, pp. 1890-1893.
funded by the UN-recognized NGO, MA Math. The authors doi: 10.1109/ICECA.2018.8474713
[12] “Composting cow manure” Using cow fertilizer in the garden [Online]
express their immense gratitude to Sri. Mata Amritanandamayi
[13] Ramesh, M. V., Mohan, R., & Menon, S. (2016). Live-in-Labs: Rapid
Devi, Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, who has translational research and implementation-based program for rural
inspired them in performing selfless service to society. The development in India. 2016 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology
authors also thank the faculty members, staff, and students of Conference (GHTC). doi:10.1109/ghtc.2016.7857275
[14] Harith, J., Sreeram Kongeseri, Balu M. Menon, J. V. Sivaprasad, P.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, the government officials of the
Aswathi, and Rao R. Bhavani. "Exploring Digital Tool for Participatory
district of Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, and staff of the Amrita Rural Appraisal." International Journal of Pure and Applied
Self Reliant Villages (Amrita SeRVe) program. Mathematics 119, no. 12 (2018): 2787-2810.
[15] https://www.census2011.co.in/data/village/42101-nala-
REFERENCES uttarakhand.html
[16] “Area and Population”
[1] “Statistical Yearbook of the Food and Agricultural Organisation-
http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/area_and_population.aspx
FAO pdf [Online] http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3107e/i3107e01.pdf
[17] L. Calderoni, A. Magnani and D. Maio, "IoT Manager: a Case Study of
[2] “Agricultural Overview” by the World Bank.
the Design and Implementation of an Open Source IoT Platform," 2019
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/overview
IEEE 5th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT), Limerick,
[3] “Agriculture” Available online on
Ireland, 2019, pp. 749-754.
https://www.india.gov.in/topics/agriculture