Topannath Kasturnath is a 66-year-old farmer who lives in Lumbaniya village of Jodhpur district, Rajasthan. He has 8 family members. His sons are engaged in labour work. He lives with his wife in a kutcha house on his farm. He cultivates his 35 bighas of land, which forms his sole source of income.

Earlier, during the rainy season, the soil along with the natural fertilizer in his farmland used to run off with the rainwater. This would either lead to a reduced quantity of produce or no production at all. The unwanted materials and stones used to stay in the field harmed his farmland. In the face of this grim situation, Topannath Kasturnath approached the VDC in 2021 and requested to pass a resolution for the construction of Khadin on his farm. Khadins are farm-based structures designed to harvest surface runoff water for agriculture. Considering the problems he faced, VDC agreed for the construction of Khadin on his farm in May 2021.

The khadin built in his agricultural land has enabled harvesting the rainwater thereby conserving soil moisture on his farm. It has also helped to improve the groundwater level. He is producing Gawar (cluster bean) in 20 bighas of land and pearl millets in 15 bighas of land. In addition, the conserved moisture has encouraged him to grow more crops in the remaining uncultivated land. Now, he cultivates an additional 10 bighas of land under Gawar (Cluster bean) crop. His food grain, as well as fodder production, has increased by 2 times and this has led to self-sufficiency in terms of food and fodder availability for 12 months. He emphasizes that in addition to meeting the food needs of his family, selling the surplus in the market has fetched him additional income to meet other family needs and purchase improved quality seed and equipment for farming. Along with these crops, he also produces fruits like cucumber, watermelon, kacharis etc. Trees like Khejri in his farmland have also grown as groundwater level has improved.