DHENKANAL: Despite owning nearly one acre land, Niranjan Nayak had not tilled his field for more than 20 years. Every morning, he would join his other family members and villagers to the nearby stone-crushing unit to work as a daily wage labourer. On days when the unit used to be closed, he would venture to other places to take up labour, particularly in construction sites.
This was the story of Sorat village in Dhenkanal district. The vast land surrounding the village was once, two-three decades back, abundant with lush crops from paddy, pulses to vegetables. But then plot by plot, the fertile farms were abandoned. Not by drought, flood or debt, but because of the increasing human-animal conflict. By early 2000s the farmland along Sorat began to be covered in shrubs and wild vegetation, a large part even left barren and cracked up, as families were forced to quit agriculture and look for work outside.
Niranjan, now 55 years, walks through the green fields again as the village is witnessing a quiet revival. With the help of solar-powered fencing and collective efforts, agriculture has returned to the village.
“Our village lies close to the dense forest. Year after year, wild boars, monkeys, barking deer and elephants raided our lands and destroyed crops. Our villagers used to guard the fields day and night, but losses mounted with attacks intensifying over time. Slowly, we had to discontinue cultivation as our survival was at stake. Families moved out in search of work. But today the clock has begun to turn back and people are returning to their original and ancestral occupation,” he says.
The situation began to change since August 2025, when 28 farmers decided to come together to begin anew. The group revived farming on a 13-acre stretch of land that had been lying unused for years. The key to this transformation, however, was the installation of solar-powered fencing of the land with support from Reliance Foundation.
Solar fencing is a sustainable technology that helps protect crops by safely deterring animals without harming them. It prevents wild animals from entering fields while remaining non-lethal and environment-friendly. With the fencing in place, farmers finally felt confident enough to cultivate their land without fear of their crops being destroyed overnight.
The farmers received guidance on advanced agriculture techniques through knowledge-sharing sessions and demonstrations. They were encouraged to adopt multi-cropping practices to improve yield and make better use of land. As a result, the farmers began growing a wide range of crops including black gram, horse gram, mustard and several vegetables such as cauliflower, radish, beans, coriander and leafy greens. The produce began reaching markets, reviving the livelihood of the villager after over 20 years.
Recalling the initial days, a villager Madhusudan Lenka (63) says, “It took us more than 20 days to get the 13-acre land cleaned up and make it suitable for cultivation. We also revived the two old wells here which now provide water for the farm. We are thankful to Reliance Foundation which approached us with support and helped set up the solar fencing. The turnaround has been quick and outstanding.”
However, the journey has been more of a collective effort of the villagers with 58 per cent of the total cost of solar fencing borne by the farmers. The remaining was invested by Reliance Foundation. This collaborative approach not only made technology affordable but also ensured a sense of ownership and long-term sustainability among the people. Farmers were trained through demonstrations so that they could understand the working of the solar fencing and maintain it effectively.
The early success of collective farming has inspired confidence across the village. Many individual farmers are now considering restarting cultivation on their own lands by investing in solar fencing solutions. In the words of Anam Behera, whose family owns one acre land within the solar-fenced farm, “It has now become easier for us to look after the farm and collectively put efforts for better yield and diversify the mix of crops. After seeing the success of our efforts in the first year, several other villagers have started taking interest to join similar collective farming initiative and everyone is happy about it.”
Fellow farmer Antara Naik adds, “We had almost lost hope, but this fencing has given us the courage to start growing crops again. Many of us thought farming vanished from the village forever. But standing in these fields again feels like starting life again.”