A Socio-Economic Narrative of Aam Singh Ji’s Chondat Khadin, Damodra, Jaisalmer
Author: Ramesh Beniwal
“Hope does not always arrive with the first rain. Sometimes, it arrives much earlier—when a farmer sees his Khadin standing ready for the next monsoon.”
There are moments in a farmer’s life that cannot be measured in quintals, income, or rainfall records. They are moments when the land begins to feel alive again, even before a single crop has emerged. In the Thar Desert, where every farming season begins with uncertainty, such moments often arrive with the rebuilding of a Khadin. Long before it stores rainwater, a Khadin stores confidence.
This quiet transformation became evident during our visit to Aam Singh ji’s Chondat Khadin in Damodra village. At sixty-one years of age, Aam Singh ji has spent decades cultivating the desert’s fragile landscape. Yet, while speaking about his fields, he rarely discussed last year’s harvest or next season’s income. Instead, he spoke about something far more valuable—the confidence that the reconstructed Khadin had brought back to his family. Although the structure is still young and its full impact will only become visible over the coming years, it has already inspired the family to prepare their land with renewed enthusiasm and to believe that every monsoon now carries greater possibilities than before.
A New Beginning
Located in the heart of Damodra village, Aam Singh ji’s home reflects the stability that generations of farming have built through perseverance rather than certainty. The family of seven depends entirely on agriculture, cultivating nearly twenty acres of khatedari land. Their fields are part of the Chondat Khadin, a traditional rainwater-harvesting system spread across nearly 150 acres and jointly managed by four farming families.
Although the Khadin has existed for generations, changing circumstances and legal restrictions had gradually reduced its effectiveness. In 2026, the structure was reconstructed, giving the land a new opportunity to capture and conserve rainwater. Since the reconstruction is recent, neither Aam Singh ji nor his family claims immediate success. They know that only a few good monsoons can truly reveal how much water the Khadin will hold and how much agricultural production it will eventually support.
Yet something has already changed.
The family’s conversations about farming now carry a different tone. Instead of worrying only about uncertainty, they speak about preparing the fields, preserving seeds, and planning for the future. Sometimes, development begins not with higher production but with stronger belief.
A Khadin is More Than a Water-Harvesting Structure
During our conversation, Aam Singh Ji repeatedly returned to one simple idea.
For a farmer, constructing a Khadin is never just about building an earthen embankment. It is about preparing for the future before the rain even arrives.
Once a Khadin is ready, a farmer begins believing that the coming monsoon will not simply pass through the landscape but remain within it. Rainwater will stay longer, moisture will nourish the soil, and the next crop will stand a better chance of succeeding. That belief quietly changes everything. Farmers become more willing to invest their labour, prepare their fields carefully, and continue farming with patience despite the uncertainty of rainfall.
In many ways, a Khadin first transforms the farmer’s thinking and only later transforms the field.
When Nature Becomes the Best Fertiliser
Perhaps the most fascinating part of our discussion was Aam Singh Ji’s understanding of organic farming. Unlike modern conversations that often describe organic agriculture through certification or premium markets, his explanation began with the land itself.
He believes that every monsoon brings more than water into the Khadin. Flowing runoff carries fine sediments, decomposed vegetation, and nutrient-rich organic matter from the surrounding catchment. As the water slows inside the Khadin, these materials settle naturally across the fields, enriching the soil season after season.
For this reason, he feels that a well-functioning Khadin naturally encourages farmers to practise organic agriculture.
The family already relies entirely on traditional organic manure prepared from cow dung and goat manure. Chemical fertilisers are not used in their fields, while seeds are carefully preserved from previous harvests, allowing farming to remain closely connected with local knowledge and natural cycles.
Scientific studies on Rajasthan’s traditional Khadin systems have similarly observed that seasonal runoff deposits fertile silt, improves soil moisture, and gradually enhances soil health, making these landscapes particularly suitable for low-input and organic farming. What researchers describe through data, farmers like Aam Singh Ji understand through lived experience.
Growing Crops, Growing Confidence
Today, Aam Singh Ji cultivates a diverse range of crops, including guar, moth, sesame (til), and matira during the Kharif season, followed by gram and wheat in Rabi. Every season begins with nearly 100 kilograms of seed, all carefully preserved from previous harvests. For him, saving seed is not simply an economic decision—it is a continuation of traditional farming knowledge that has been passed from one generation to the next.
Preparing twenty acres of land is no small task. Every season, the family spends nearly ₹50,000 on land preparation, around ₹20,000 on tractor operations, and another ₹10,000 on labour whenever additional help becomes necessary. Harvesting is carried out manually with the support of family members, while threshing is completed using combine harvesters. Although the threshing cost alone reaches nearly ₹80,000, the family continues to believe that careful investment in the land eventually returns through healthier harvests.
During the previous agricultural season, the family sold nearly thirty quintals of produce worth approximately ₹1.5 lakh. Yet, while discussing these numbers, Aam Singh Ji never presented farming as a business driven only by profit. Instead, he described it as a responsibility that demands patience, discipline, and faith in nature.
Where Organic Farming Begins with the Soil
As our conversation moved from crops to cultivation practices, Aam Singh Ji reflected on how people’s thinking towards agriculture has gradually begun to change.
According to him, more and more families are beginning to understand the value of naturally grown food. Health concerns, declining soil fertility, and increasing dependence on chemicals have encouraged many farmers to look again at traditional methods of cultivation. In his view, a Khadin quietly supports this transition because it strengthens the soil naturally.
Unlike irrigated fields where external inputs often become unavoidable, a Khadin receives nutrient-rich sediments every monsoon. These natural deposits slowly improve the soil, allowing crops to grow with the support of organic manure prepared from cow dung and goat manure.
He smiled while explaining that farming does not always offer the certainty of a monthly salary.
“But a healthy field gives something that money alone cannot provide.”
For him, agriculture is not merely an occupation. It is a way of living alongside nature rather than trying to control it. Healthy soil produces healthy crops, healthy crops nourish healthy families, and that cycle, he believes, creates a sense of peace that cannot easily be measured in economic terms.
Livestock: Completing the Cycle of Sustainable Farming
The family’s relationship with agriculture extends far beyond crop cultivation. Their household also includes ten cows, one hundred sheep, and seven goats, making livestock an equally important part of their livelihood.
These animals contribute much more than milk or income. They provide organic manure that returns nutrients to the fields, strengthening the family’s commitment to chemical-free farming. The livestock graze for nearly eight hours every day across their own fields, Murabba land, and nearby government grazing areas. During periods of fodder shortage, the family purchases additional fodder, spending nearly ₹60,000 annually to ensure that the animals remain healthy throughout the year.
Interestingly, milk is not sold commercially. Instead, livestock remains closely integrated with the household economy, supporting both nutrition and agriculture in ways that have sustained desert communities for generations.
A Khadin That Has Already Changed the Way a Family Thinks
Because the Chondat Khadin has only recently been reconstructed, it would be too early to measure its long-term impact on production. Aam Singh Ji himself acknowledges this reality with remarkable honesty.
The coming monsoons will reveal how much water the Khadin can truly retain, how much soil moisture it can conserve, and how significantly it can improve agricultural productivity.
Yet, while the numbers remain uncertain, one change is already impossible to miss.
The family speaks about farming with renewed confidence. The fields are being prepared more carefully. Future investments are being planned with greater optimism.
Organic farming is no longer seen merely as a traditional practice but as a realistic pathway towards healthier soil and sustainable agriculture.
Sometimes the greatest contribution of a development initiative is not the immediate increase in income. Sometimes it is the confidence that encourages people to continue investing in their land, believing that their efforts will one day be rewarded.
Perhaps that is the quiet success of Aam Singh Ji’s Khadin. It has not simply rebuilt an earthen structure. It has rebuilt the family’s faith in farming itself.
Summary
The story of Aam Singh Ji’s Chondat Khadin illustrates how the reconstruction of traditional rainwater-harvesting systems can influence farmers long before measurable economic benefits begin to appear. While the Khadin is still new, it has already strengthened the family’s confidence in agriculture, encouraged greater commitment to organic farming, and renewed their belief that healthy soil and conserved rainwater can together create a more sustainable future. Their experience reminds us that the true value of a Khadin lies not only in the water it stores but also in the hope, resilience, and long-term vision it inspires among those who depend upon it.
Acknowledgements
This narrative is based on field interactions conducted with Aam Singh Ji and his family at Chondat Khadin, Damodra, Jaisalmer, as part of a socio-economic field study supported by Sambhaav Trust. I sincerely thank Aam Singh Ji for generously sharing his experiences, reflections, and vision for sustainable farming in the Thar Desert.
This article was written by Ramesh during his internship with Sambhaav Trust in 2026. To explore more work by Ramesh, click here.