PAPINAYAKANAHALLI, (India): For years, Indian farmer Chape Hanumaiya struggled to grow anything on his tiny plot of land - it was caked in the thick, red dust drifting from the iron ore mines that surrounded it.

But today, Hanumaiya and his wife are about to harvest pearl millet and sesame crops thanks to a pilot project that seeks to fight migration and boost food security around the southern city of Hosapete, the heart of India’s iron ore industry.

“My father grew millet and cotton on this land decades ago,” said Hanumaiya, 46, sitting in the shade of a tree near his one-acre (0.4-hectare) smallholding.

“Then the mining grew and over the years, when we came to the field, our clothes, the grains and everything would be covered with mine dust. We slowly gave up farming.”

India is the world’s fourth-biggest producer of iron ore, the key ingredient in steel-making, and demand for the commodity is expected to grow as the global construction sector rebounds from COVID-19.

That could prompt a surge in output, putting additional strain on local farmers and fuelling environmental damage in mining areas.

More than 6,000 hectares (about 15,000 acres) of land, both private and community-owned, have been blighted by iron ore mining in India, affecting nearly 30,000 people, according to data research agency Land Conflict Watch.