In rural India, it is common to find women dependent on the family structure and meager earnings of the husband to run the family. Where money is not enough, she steps out to contribute her share but remains a voice that is marginalized. However, the story unfolds a bit differently at certain villages of Madhya Pradesh where women are taking the initiative to cultivate the land after being introduced and sensitized with modern methods of agriculture. From being mere farm hands they are now harbingers of change.
For Kamleshwari it was a gamble to experiment with SRI (System of Rice Intensification) on 2 acres of land since the family and generations before have always practiced traditional methods of farming. Initially, it was an uphill task to make her change but with awareness sessions and site visits to SRI fields, today she reaps the benefits along with her husband Ganesh Pusham and their three children. Her yield on paddy using SRI has nearly doubled improving the food security of the family.
A visibly happy Kamleshwari.
Since farmers in this village of Parsel and Aamgaon come from the Gond tribe, down the generations they have been taught and believe in traditional methods handed down to them for cultivating paddy, oilseeds and local variants of minor millets like Kodo and Kutki. Usually the produce is enough to sustain them and their families for a couple of months. Newer and improved technologies like SRI is now making inroads in this tribal belt as more are witness to successful results being reported. This has created a positive impact in the lives of 170 farmers across 20 villages where SRI has been introduced. These villagers are now happy as they have food on the plate for more than 7 months in a year. Their dependence on government schemes like MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and PDS (Public Distribution System) has visibly reduced.
A testimony to this comes in Aamgaon with Jankibai Paraste who along with her husband Bhajan Singh Paraste holds 10 acres of land. After initial hesitancy they decided to experiment with SRI on 1 acre from it. They grew maize and today find it difficult to contain their enthusiasm as they see the results. Being a large family with 4 dependants that includes 3 children and an old father in law, they now have a reason to smile receiving a bounty from nature.
Jankibai standing proudly in her field with some maize she has grown
At the home of Amritsingh Paraste the situation differs. Though the family owns land, only 2 acres is cultivable and his wife Monika, ten year old son Subhash and 7 year old daughter Vijaylakshmi had to toil and struggle to grow enough that would last only for a couple of months. After being introduced to SRI and giving one acre of land for it, they have doubled their food output from 5 quintals per acre to 10 quintals. This family was shown a successful model of SRI that helped in convincing them to switch from their old ways. Today, the village of Aamgaon is looking at the results here as a benchmark to emulate with 12 more farmers convinced and enthusiastic to try out SRI on their fields.
Amritsingh working in his fields, while wife Monika looks on.
Need of the hour is to introduce SRI to more farmers in these villages and improve their food sustainability since there is a positive acceptance towards it. For those who are cultivating on a portion of their land the next step is to extend this successful model to more acreage of their fields.
AID FOR CHANGE 