By Debasmita Chowdhury

West Bengal’s Matir Srishti Project has transformed over 42,000 acres of degraded farmland into productive land without relying on contractors, officials said. Launched in 2020, this government initiative places farmers, organized into community-based organizations, at the heart of land restoration and livelihood creation, officials said.

Prabhat Mishra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department, described how the initiative has become a beacon of hope for farmers struggling with increasingly difficult conditions, during a conference — “Investing in Nature: Ensuring Sustainability Through Partnerships”– hosted by Nature Environment and Wildlife Society in collaboration with Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) at Taj Kutir, Kolkata on Wednesday

“When we started this project, we were dealing with highly degraded land where surface runoff was washing away topsoil, leaving farmers with little hope,” Mishra explained. “But we’ve learned that when nature presents challenges, it also offers
opportunities.”

Mishra said that the Matir Srishti project is different from traditional government programs; it’s not a contractor-based model.

Instead, the project groups landowners into community-based organizations registered under the Societies Act, complete with their own bank accounts and decision-making authority.

“The landowners pool together 5-10 acres of land under CBOs. This helps them in becoming implementers, not just beneficiaries as no contractors are involved,” said Mishra.

The project has brought over 42,000 acres of micro-planning across 5,455 sites, with plantation activities completed on more than 12,000 acres, focusing on fruit trees like mango, cashew, dragon fruit, while allowing for intercropping to provide for early income.

(Debasmita Chowdhury is an intern at the Kolkata office of The Indian Express)