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4 min read

One Pond, Many Incomes: Poosam’s Integrated Farm

Unjupalli Village, Cherla Mandal, Bhadradri Kothagudem District, Telangana
Integrated Farming Systems
Poosam Mutyeshwarao’s family at the farm pond stocked with fish.

Poosam Mutyeshwarao once supported his family of seven on rain-fed cotton and paddy alone. “Earlier, I struggled to support my family due to crop failures and debt,” he says. Today, multiple income streams have changed that story.

Depending entirely on the rains for cotton and paddy, Poosam’s harvests failed whenever the rains failed or disease struck. He was pushed into debt, borrowing from local moneylenders just to get by. For a while, the whole family worked as daily wage labourers, but even that wasn’t enough to cover basic needs.

At a village meeting, Poosam spoke openly about his struggles and was selected to take up an Integrated Farming System on his land. He was trained in crop planning, water management, and organic techniques like Jeevamrutha and Panchagavya, along with collective vegetable marketing. A farm pond was dug and stocked with fish, and backyard poultry was set up alongside it — poultry waste feeding the fish in one connected, low-cost cycle.

Farm pond on Poosam land
The farm pond dug on Poosam’s land, now stocked with fish.

Poosam began growing leafy vegetables along the bunds and pond edges, and took up tomato and ladyfinger cultivation nearby, selling locally. Fish and poultry waste doubled as organic manure, cutting his need for chemical fertiliser and lowering costs across the board. Between vegetables, fish, and poultry, he now has several income streams running through the year instead of one uncertain harvest.

Outcomes at a glance
Farm pond
dug and stocked with fish
Added
backyard poultry, feeding fish with waste
New crops
leafy greens, tomato, ladyfinger
Income streams
vegetables + fish + poultry, year-round
Costs
lower, via organic manure & waste recycling
“Today, my family has better food security, stable income, and hope for a better future.”
– Poosam Mutyeshwarao

With multiple income streams now running side by side, Poosam’s family has moved from one uncertain harvest a year to steady earnings through it.

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