HUBBALLI: Like most women in rural North Karnataka, Gangavva Avaradi works both in the home and in the outside world. Her day starts at sunrise and involves cooking for the family and packing her own food for work in the fields, running the house, looking after her two young children, and running their vegetable farm and selling its produce.
Growing in a farming family, agriculture had always been familiar. But it was her effort that turned her family’s four-acre plot of land in Gamanagatti village on the outskirts of Hubballi into a profitable venture. Her family mainly grew jowar and cotton, but participation in workshops held by the government and NGOs over the years prompted her to take up vegetable farming.
“I took it up because we can earn an income throughout the year,” Gangavva says. Now, her family grows jowar and cotton on two acres and she uses the rest to farm vegetables. “Our farm is famous in the village for the variety of leafy greens we grow,” she says with pride. She says that the support of her husband and family has been crucial to her success. “The people of the village also support us. They buy fresh vegetables from us and the rest we sell in the market,” Gangavva says.
Her success has been an inspiration to many people in the village, especially women, who have taken up vegetable farming. In 2015, due to the growing shift to organic cultivation, she decided her farm would be chemical-free. Since then, they have only used jeevamrith as manure. Since the family owns cows, cow dung is used to make organic manure. She also makes organic mosquito repellent out of cow dung and neem leaves. She has made a balm for pain relief with organic materials.
“As of now we are not selling any of the products that we make. We use it for ourselves and the results are positive. We also have a bee farm and soon we plan to come up with our own products which are chemical-free,” she says. About 5km from Gamanagatti is Gangavva Gudashenavar’s farm in Unkal. Like Gangavva Avaradi, Gangavva Gudashenavar too has turned around her family’s fortunes by introducing dairy farming into the agricultural mix.
“We have a small patch of land in Hubballi and we used to grow a variety of produce. But when we decided to focus more on the dairy business, things started working out for us,” she says. She set up the dairy business for her family a decade ago. Today they have eight cows and two she-buffalos of native breeds. “Dairy business requires time and cattle need a lot of attention. Organic farming and use of local resources to feed cattle are a must to get the best results,” she says. All the milk from the farm is sold locally to regular customers.
She attends workshops organised by the government or NGOs regularly to upgrade her knowledge of dairy farming and has even travelled to Singapore and Bangladesh. Her exposure to ideas and information at such workshops, has made her the go-to person for many people for advice on dairy farming. “The government has several schemes for women who are farmers. Government agencies give loans to women to take up farming, but not many people are aware of it. I have persuaded many women to take up dairy farming even if it’s only possible on a small scale,” she says.
Her husband Chennappa, who helps her along with their children, is all praise for her. “It’s Gangavva’s dedication that made the family business a success and brought us a name as dairy farmers. We are called to several farmers’ meetings to discuss issues and exchange ideas. We have a good name in Unkal because the milk we sell is famous,” he says.
THE WOMEN OF JOIDA
While Joida taluk of Uttara Kannada is unique in many aspects, it is the women who keep the show running after the paddy season is over and the men migrate to Goa and other places in search of work. They continue to farm vegetables for domestic use as well as for sale, and run businesses until the monsoon arrives again.