CUTTACK: In the last eight years, Rukmini Nayak of Sankilo village under Nischintakoili block did not only empower herself by shifting to high quality rice varieties but has also changed the fortunes of several other women in her village and neighbouring areas while giving a boost to the rural economy.
To overcome financial crisis, Rukmini joined her husband Sanjay to take up paddy cultivation in 2012 on less than an acre of land. But with meagre land holding, the income from traditional paddy crops was low. She decided to seek help from local agriculture officials to grow high-yielding varieties of rice by adopting modern methods. “I convinced my husband to grow high-yielding paddy seeds in our five guntha (0.125 acre) of land. And unlike around 250 kg paddy which we used to get from traditional method, I harvested 500 kg and that too at a much lower expense,” said Rukmini.
As her income increased, she sought training help from the National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Cuttack in technical methods to reduce costs and risks associated with agriculture while increasing yield with crop management techniques. On the advice of the then NRRI Director Trilochan Mohapatra, she formed a self help group Ananya Mahila Bikash Samiti in 2014 and began training 30 women in her village in advanced methods for paddy cultivation under the supervision of NRRI scientist Dr Lipi Das.
The women were encouraged to try the new methods in their lands. NRRI also provided them farm implements like power tiller, balers, plows, mowers, planters and sprayers. The same year, the SHG members took up paddy cultivation on 15 acres of land by using the high-yielding paddy seeds and earned double their existing income after selling the harvest.
Besides paddy cultivation, the SHG has also been practicing vegetable cultivation, dairy farming and preparing organic fertilisers. Not just women in her village, she is now training women in other villages nearby in the paddy and rice value chain.
Her graduate daughter and ITI pass-out son also help her in farming and marketing of farm products. Currently, more than 50 women of the village have become self-sufficient in farming through Ananya Mahila Bikash Samiti. For her efforts, Rukmini was felicitated by the Government of India with ‘Innovative Farmer Award’ in 2017.