Sundarbans Adopts ‘Rooftop Farming’ to Thrive Amid Cyclone Challenges

For the last four years, Mallika Mondal of Kholisakhali Village has diligently worked on her rooftop farm daily, which has become her family’s hope for survival in the climate-devastation-plagued Sundarbans, a forest area spread between India and Bangladesh.

Mallika says, “Post-Cyclone Amphan, we adopted rooftop farming and have greatly benefited from it. Earlier, we were unaware that such a practice could help us. After receiving training, we realized this is a viable solution. We practice multiple cropping, which adds variety and gives us good yields. We share the produce with our neighbors and also sell them in the local market, apart from our own consumption.”

The increasing frequency of cyclones, has led to significant challenges for communities living in Sundarbans. Following each cyclone, floods and the collapse of riverbanks exacerbate the suffering of people, as farmlands are inundated with saline water, rendering them infertile for cultivation. It takes considerable time, usually three to four years, to restore these lands to some semblance of normalcy, while the struggle for food continues.

Rooftop farming was first introduced to farmers post-Cyclone Amphan in 2020 as an alternative farming method by the NGO ASHA (Association for Social and Humanitarian Action). Asha trained nearly 500 farmers on the rooftop farming process in the Sundarbans region, and 84 farmers adopted it.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Founder Secretary of ASHA, says, “We have been working in the Sundarbans area for the past 10 years and have observed cases of anemia and malnutrition, mostly in women and children. To address this, we introduced kitchen garden cultivation with women self-help groups. However, when cyclones hit, we realized that small crops could be protected and shifted to rooftop farming to save them from salinity. In the aftermath of cyclones, these communities often become hand-to-mouth for at least 3-4 months due to limited rations. However, this model also proved to be effective, providing continued food security.

Rooftop gardens are grown in tubs or sacks, allowing gardeners to move plants inside during floods or heavy rainfall. The sustainable farming methods opens up options for those who have never owned farmland too.

Mallika further adds, “We create our own organic manure from vegetable waste, dry leaves, cow dung, and poultry and goat excreta to make compost. We have a place where we deposit the waste every day, and after a month, we use the compost to fill tubs, buckets, and jars, then sow seeds. Every crop grows healthy and doesn’t die compared to ground cultivation.”

The process is simple, first the farmers prepares the soil with bio compost, then fill the tubs or sacks with the prepared soil and sow the seeds of seasonal vegetables. All they need is to place the tubs on rooftops to receive adequate sunlight and watering them at least three times a week, use some bio fertilizers and bio pesticides as needed.

The clay tubs are made by local potters, who get additional revenue by charging anywhere between 30 and 50 rupees depending on the size of the tubs. Farmers also end up recycling broken buckets, baskets and water jars for rooftop farming, as they can’t always afford the clay tubs.

Farmer Basanti Haldar, shares her experience of growing wide variety of vegetables, “We mainly grow vegetables which include spinach, okra, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, pumpkin, beans, bottle gourd, coriander leaves, and chilies. Crops are grown in summer, rainy and winter seasons, with vegetables maturing over a period of three months per season. Plants take one month to grow and start producing fruits by the end of the second or third month.”

In the past 2-3 years, 25 villages in the Minakhan and Hasnabad blocks of the Sundarbans have adopted these alternative farming methods. Over 500 anemic women and mothers of malnourished children have benefited by farming and growing low-cost, nutritious vegetables. Additionally, members of ASHA trained 25 women farmers to educate and train other women in their villages. The initiative is structured so that garden owners consume the crops to ensure nutrition and sell excess produce in the market, promoting future savings, thus empowering them to be financially independent and contribute economically to their families.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh, further says, “After Cyclone Amphan, we found that rooftop farming worked wonders. It requires less time and provides a good yield, helping women farmers supplement their food supply and become financially independent by selling the excess produce in the market.”

ASHA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering rural women, particularly those from disadvantaged communities in the Sundarbans and North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India. They provide vocational training to destitute women, including survivors of domestic violence, focusing on skills like Rexine bag making. As a Service Provider under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, they collaborate with local authorities to support victims. Their initiatives span preventive healthcare, nutrition, and livelihood improvement, with a strong emphasis on women’s and adolescent girls’ health. They empower around 800 women as community watchdogs and volunteers linking communities with government systems. Asha also works on child protection and trafficking prevention, gender sensitivity, and supports approximately 2500 adolescent girls and 1000 boys to combat gender-based discrimination.

This shift towards sustainable farming practices not only addresses the immediate challenges posed by cyclones but also contributes to long-term resilience and food security within the communities.

Wayarufa Parveen, who stays in Chakpatli village under Hasnabad block in Sundarbans, says, “When Cyclone Aila occurred in 2009, our village was flooded due to an embankment collapse, which led to saline water entering our farmlands. As a result, we couldn’t cultivate anything on our lands; whatever we planted, the crops would die untimely deaths. So, we villagers started to think about what we should do. After trying many things, we found a solution in rooftop farming. Now, many village women, including myself, are trained in this method. We cultivate our own vegetables and sell the excess produce in the weekly market.”

Rooftop gardeners use indigenous seeds initially provided by the NGO. They then preserve seeds from their own produce each year. The impact of rooftop gardens on the community is significant in two main ways; households growing vegetables on rooftops do not need to buy them from the market, saving money and those growing excess vegetables can sell them in the weekly rural market, earning additional income.

On average, each rural family spends more than 1,500 rupees per month on vegetables from the market. Over a season, this amounts to approximately 4,000 to 5,000 rupees. Rooftop gardens now allow families to save this money. In addition, families can sell excess vegetables in the market, generating an additional income of 5,000 to 6,000 rupees per season.

Hotbed of Cyclones

The Indian Sundarbans delta witnessed four severe cyclones in the past four years, two of which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cyclone Bulbul, a severe cyclonic storm, struck the region on November 11, 2019, with heavy rainfall. Cyclone Amphan made landfall in the South 24 Parganas District (Sundarbans comes under this district) of West Bengal, India, on May 20, 2020, followed by Cyclone Yaas, a very severe cyclonic storm which made landfall in Odisha, but affected West Bengal with wind speeds of 130-140 km/hour, gusting to 155 km/hour, on May 26, 2021. Cyclone Remal being the latest in the list. Cyclone Aila (2009) remains a landmark event for the Indian Sundarbans region, bringing about significant changes in the delta.

Scientists working on cyclone patterns believe that while the frequency of cyclones has not increased, their severity has. Speaking to News Sense, Prof. Tuhin Ghosh, Director, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, said, “regarding cyclones, their frequency is measured by the number of depressions formed in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean and how many of these depressions become cyclones. While the frequency of cyclones has decreased, their severity has increased. Modern cyclones are more severe than earlier ones, except for Aila. Increased population and infrastructure mean higher damage potential.”

An immediate impact of Cyclones includes damage to housing, uprooting of trees, and breaching of embankments. Some immediate impacts cascaded into longer-lasting ones; for example, embankment breaching led to saline-water inundation of agricultural lands and ponds, affecting livelihoods in the long run.

Professor Ghosh further adds, “Cyclone damage remains high despite advances in prediction. When I talk to people in the Sundarbans, they say they do not fear the cyclone’s severity now, as physical damage can be repaired. What truly scare them are embankment breaches. If embankments fail and saline water floods their fields, they cannot cultivate for the next 3-4 years, causing significant loss. They are more focused on preparing for embankment breaches than fighting cyclones.”

In the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Amphan, mobility was restricted owing to the lockdown. However, in the months that followed, many resorted to migrating to other States within India. Many considered switching livelihoods. Many of those who take out loans for supporting livelihoods in-situ opt for migrating out at a later date to repay the loans.

While rooftop cultivation offers a solution, maintaining these roofs during high winds is often challenging, especially for poor farmers who struggle to secure their roofs and homes. In most cases they try to shift the tubs in a secure corner inside the house, but in case of emergency they had to leave everything behind for their own safety. Also they cannot cultivate heavy vegetables like paddy, maize, wheat, potatoes and mustard seed, which they had to buy from market.

The soil becomes saline, reducing or halting crop production on farmlands. It takes 3 to 5 years without flooding to rid the soil of salinity, but floods typically occur before this interval is reached. On average, 20% to 30% of the youth in these villages migrate to other parts of India to work as migrant laborers.

Mallika Mandol is now preparing her rooftop garden for post monsoon crops and is planning to experiment with fruits as she says, “Now, before the rain, we have cultivated green leafy vegetables. After the monsoon, with the fresh water on tubs we will now cultivate crops such as okra, bitter gourd, brinjal, beans, chili, and coriander leaves. In the future, we are thinking of cultivating fruits too, as we also need fruits in our daily diet.”

Report: Joydeep Dasgupta | TRF Mentor: Kavita Chandran | Photographs: Joydeep Dasgupta & Soumyadeep Samanta Roy.

The story was produced with the help of Thomson Reuters Foundation. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and the publisher.