Guntur ryot’s natural farming techniques win global acclaim
GUNTUR: K Meerabi’s natural farming methods have won her acclaim not just at the State level, but also at the international stage following her presentation at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. With a zeal to inspire women farmers struggling with family issues, Meerabi has been working for the past 14 years to make an impact.
It was this passion that brought her the opportunity to represent the State and the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS) at the Oxford Real Farming Conference-2024 earlier this week. Experts, and farmers from across the globe participated in the programme and shared their experience.
A native of Ponnur in Guntur district, the 39-year-old quit school when she was in sixth grade due to her family’s financial condition. She got married at the age of 11 and became a mother of two when she was just 14.
After her husband fell sick, she was forced to take up farming as she had become the sole breadwinner of the family.On realising that exposure to chemicals while farming resulted in her husband falling sick and taking to bed, she started considering alternative methods to cultivate crops.
She learnt about non-pesticide management in 2009 and began working as a chief resource person for promoting natural farming.By implementing pre-monsoon dry sowing (PMDS) and dribbling methods, she was able to cultivate 30 crops per year, which raked in high profits.
Sharing her experience, Meerabi said, “Natural farming has changed my life. I switched to chemical-free farming in one acre land in 2012. Besides reducing investment cost to Rs 19,000 per year, it helped me earn Rs 1.5 lakh. Continuous implementation of PMDS and growing multiple crops resulted in improvement of soil health. Last year, I didn’t even use any inoculants like Ghana and Drava Jeevamruthas. Nevertheless, the yield was of good quality,” she said.
RySS officials were surprised to see the results and named her method of organic farming as ‘Meerabi Model’.They lauded Meerabi for not only cultivating 30 varieties of crops, but also for actively transforming the lives of other farmers by encouraging and educating them on various natural farming methods.
In 2019, she began working with RySS as a sub-divisional anchor and master trainer. Stating that RySS executive vice-chairman T Vijay Kumar played a major role in her journey, Meerabi said, “Vijay’s passion for uplifting farmers and his aim to take natural farming to every household in the State inspired me to continue my job, no matter how hard it was.” “Not even in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would represent the State at a global platform,” she said.Meerabi’s emotional speech won her a huge applause from the audience.
“I just want to do my job and make an impact on as many people as possible. I want to encourage them to switch to natural farming, which is not only profitable for farmers, but also benefits everyone in getting quality chemical-free food,” she expressed.