JEYPORE: At first glance, 36-year-old Raimati Ghiuria seems like any happy-go-lucky woman from the tribal community. Scratch the surface and she would surprise with her achievements as a custodian farmer, a community resource person and a seasoned trainer. In fact, she is one among the very few to represent Odisha in the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9 and speak about the remarkable story of her millet farming mission in Koraput district.
Raimati from Bhumia community resides in Nuaguda village under Kundra block with her husband Gobinda Ghiuria, and three children. Committed to organic farming, she has passed on her knowledge to over 2500 neighbouring farmers, emphasising the significance of organic practices. Her training covers techniques like SRI (System of Rice Intensification), line transplanting method for paddy cultivation, and SMI (Seed Multiplication Index) and LT (Line Transplanting) method for finger millets.
Recognising her expertise, the Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM) appointed her as an ELSP (External Livelihood Support Person), sending her to other blocks as a resource person. A pioneer in conserving local traditional landraces of rice and millets on her own land, she has been educating other farming families about preserving local genetic resources. So far, she has preserved 72 traditional landraces of rice varieties and 30 of millets.
Her husband is also a progressive farmer who supports her endeavours.Raimati also leads Bamandei Farmers Producer Company Ltd in her village, which is engaged in the production and sale of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides, and looks after procurement, marketing, and value addition of millets and related products.She played a pivotal role in establishing a farm school in her village, with her family donating the land and actively facilitating the school since 2012.
She will be representing Odisha’s Millet Mission in New Delhi. Before departing for the national capital, Raimati expressed her happiness saying, “I am thrilled to attend the summit to showcase our millet farming and the rich tradition of tribal farming in Koraput. I am carrying some varieties of millets to showcase in the global platform.”
“Raimati is a leader of millet mission in Kundra area and she has been selected by Odisha Millets Mission for participating in G20 meet to showcase cultivation and preservation of millets by tribals of Koraput,” informed Prasant Parida, an official of MS Swaminathan Foundation of Jeypore.
Raimati’s accolades
Genome Saviour Community Award conferred by PPV&FR Authority, New Delhi in 2012
Best Leadership Award by the district administration in 2013
Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy Fellowship Award as a leading grassroots academician in 2015
Best Farmer Award in Agro-forest Food Festival conferred by TATA Steel, Sukinda during
2015 and 2017
Best Farmer Award conferred by ICAR - IISWC, Sunabeda in 2016
Best Farmer Award in Traditional Food Festival conferred by TATA Steel, Nuamundi in 2018