Volunteers are trained in new agricultural techniques of agriculture, such as use of improved quality seeds and new methods of sowing. The idea is to improve the productivity of the village farms. Methods of water conservation are taught side-by-side with forestry activities.
Better irrigation of fields and increased pasturelands have raised agricultural yields, making animal husbandry a viable option and causing a general "greening" of the area. This has caused a marked improvement in villagers' standard of living. Early on in the program, after two years' work, the 300 hectares of irrigated land in Laxman's home village of Laporiya reaped agricultural profits worth Rupees 3,500,000 (approximately US$83,000).
Every village makes it own decisions collectively about how to manage their agricultural and pastureland plots. Each neighbourhood makes collective decisions that are then communicated to the gram sabha (the village council) by neighborhood representatives. The working results of these decisions, made village by village, are then reveiwed and critiqued in the annual paryavaran padyatra or "green
walkathon."
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