Rural India is home of the original gig-economy worker. Enterprising villagers hop from tilling fields to tending shops, to door-to-door selling each day. Read the latest trends in micro-enterprises, rural start-ups and the shifting livelihoods of India’s villagers.
Livelihoods
South Kerala farmers are taking the entrepreneurial route
Reflecting a transition in the agricultural landscape of south Kerala, spearheaded by farmer collectives, farmers are voluntarily taking up entrepreneurship to propel them into higher earnings.
Yamuna Kumari: A pioneer in modern farming
Breaking barriers as a successful farmer, Yamuna Kumari from Jharkhand’s Bero village has inspired a community of women to take up high-value agriculture.
Tribal woman in Odisha champions heirloom seeds
Raimati Ghiuria, popularly known as the Queen of Millets, from the Bhumia tribal community of southern Odisha’s Koraput district, has championed heirloom seeds and local agrobiodiversity. She has also shared her knowledge of organic farming with over 2,500 farmers.
Drought-hit Maratha village turns to natural farming
Kumbharwadi, a drought-prone village in Maharashtra, is set to rewrite its future as it undergoes a natural farming revolution. The lands are now laboratories for organic farming and natural practices as farmers apply what they learn at “school”.
Chhattisgarh farmer’s transformative “ATM model” of crop-growing
Like an ATM that dispenses money anytime, a Chhattisgarh farmer creates a process of cultivation where a field produces crops that can be consumed and sold anytime. He calls it his “ATM model” and it’s catching on.
No-cost water conservation technique saves the day in a Gujarat village
With groundwater levels declining at an alarming rate in north Gujarat due to overuse, some farmers are leading the way by adopting innovative irrigation methods.
Reimagining the idea of processed foods
A Chennai-based food technologist, with the help of farmers, has pioneered a movement of consciously processed foods and given a completely new dimension to the idea of healthy eating.
Returning to roots – natural farming bears fruit in Telangana
After three decades of using chemicals to cultivate food, a Naikpod tribe farmer returns to the natural farming her mother used to practise. Now Kanthamma embraces year-round intensive cropping, which is bearing fruit for her in ways she never imagined.
This Andhra man’s rhapsody revives natural farming
Music and manure don’t usually mix, except in the case of Janni Narshingh Naidu from Illayipuram village in Andhra Pradesh, who finds a novel way to inspire his fellow farmers to adopt natural crop-growing techniques.