RAICHUR: A a village tucked away 100km from Raichur district headquarters, Lakshmi Marigouda’s zeal to spread awareness on agriculture practices is bringing the much-needed transformation in the lives of women. She is changing the stereotype of a farmer’s image...that only a man can farm. It’s a new dawn, a new life for these farmers who are showing that they can. Though women like her are the backbone of a rural economy, she found that yet they received only a fraction of the land, resources and agricultural training compared to men.
Her mobilisation of 50 women for a government programme on organic farming and a selfhelp group is leading economic reforms in the village. From 2013 to 2017, a group led by Lakshmi, toiled extensively on spreading awareness on organic farming and dairy farming at ground level. This is presently yielding results in Yelekudligi village in Sindhanur taluk. Inspired by Lakshmi, over 40 women are cultivating paddy using vermicompost, and practising dairy farming.
A self-help group, Sridevi Strishakthi Sangha, started by Lakshmi, is also empowering women, with the group earning over Rs 20,000 every month. Nagaratna, a friend of Lakshmi and part of the organic farming movement and selfhelp group, says, “A decade back, I was confined to doing household chores. I was even barred from working at our farmland.
I was in darkness.” When Lakshmi started organising women in 2013 under the guidance of the agriculture department, life slowly began to change for them. “All of us initially thought that agriculture was a man’s job. We saw ourselves as merely daughters and wives of farmers. But when Lakshmi brought us in contact with the department and insisted that we get training in organic farming, we became aware that women also can excel in agriculture,” says Nagarathna.
Nagaratna does organic paddy cultivation in her family’s two and a half acres of land. She says Lakshmi inspired them all. This village has a population of a little over 900 and farming is slowly becoming the main occupation in this remote village of Karnataka. “One may think that for organic farming, compost is purchased from outside. We prepare vermicompost at the village itself. We have set up over 50 compost pits. We are also into dairy farming.
We produce almost five quintals of compost every month,” Sujata says. She says they grow organic paddy in over 2 acres of land and they use the same rice at home while the surplus is sold in the market. This means in over 80 acres of land, organic farming is done in this village. “We are eating healthy rice and also making a small amount of money through this. Dairy farming is also fetching good income for us,” says Sharanamma, another farmer. Lakshmi says that the backwardness of the village and the awareness she got through the agriculture department inspired her to bring a transformation. “The women are the backbones of families. Unless they muddy their hands, nothing can be achieved,” she says.
“I had been to Philippines to learn water management during paddy cultivation. A huge amount of water is wasted in the village for this water-intensive crop. Now I want to teach water-management to the women,” she adds. On the self-help group she formed, she says at present, the group is producing Jowar Roti and paper plates. A machine worth Rs 3 lakhs to manufacture paper plates was bought. These products are sold to six to seven nearby villages.
“There are 15 self-help groups in this village, which are doing well. I can actually see women’s economic conditions changing. When women express gratitude, I feel more responsible,” Lakshmi says.
“Our self-help group will set up a new dairy unit in this village soon,” says Lakshmi. How do they manage home and farm? Explaining the daily routine, Lakshmi says, “All of us rise as early as 4 o’clock in the morning. The first task in hand is cooking which will be finished by 6am. Later dairy works are completed, mainly milking. After readying the tiffin boxes for our children, all move to the field at 7am carrying our food. We are back home by 4pm and we again resume domestic chores.” These women who bring food to the table, are growing it themselves now. They are making a difference in their communities and inspiring others.