The old adage – empower a woman and it will transform not just her and her family but the entire community – is coming true once again as more women take to organic farming in Handanakere of Tumkur district in Karnataka.
Surrounded by a lush green cover of coconut trees, Handanakere in Karnataka is a quaint, agricultural village located approximately 150 km away from the state capital Bangalore.
Traditionally millets and vegetables have been the primary agricultural produce from the region. But for most households this agricultural income has proved inadequate.
Like other parts of the country women farmers in Handanakere too remained largely invisible, possessing few resources at their disposal and little decision-making authority.
Thanks to the Prerna initiative, a targeted intervention carried out by BAIF Livelihoods with assistance from Mahindra & Mahindra in 2019, women farmers are not only attaining better standard of living but also becoming inspiring changemakers.
As a result of their hard work, prodigious skill, and determination, the whole of Handanakere seems to be transforming.
Under the Prerna initiative 3000 champion women farmers were identified and trained across nine locations across India.
They received intensive training in scientific agricultural practices, such as crop rotation, intercropping, ground preparation, seed treatment, sowing procedures, and water application. They were also introduced to manure, vermicompost, jeevamrut, and other organic farming inputs in addition to a balanced chemical fertiliser application.
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Better varieties of millets and vegetable seeds were also offered to the farmers. Most importantly the women farmers were encouraged to share this knowledge with other women in their region, triggering a chain reaction of transformation.
The trainee women farmers were taken for an enlightening exposure visit to Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tiptur, BAIF Lakkihalli and Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru.
To bridge the theory-practical gap, farmers were introduced to nutrition kitchen gardens, horticulture, grafting technology, dairy development and management.
As a result of their hard work, prodigious skill, and determination, the whole of Handanakere seems to be transforming
Sessions on health and nutrition, financial and digital literacy were conducted to make their understanding of agriculture well-rounded.
Under the project Custom Hiring Centers (CHC) have been established to reduce women’s drudgery. CHCs are a set of farm machinery, implements and equipment meant for custom hiring by farmers.
These centres, managed entirely by the women farmers themselves, act as a supplementary source of income.
Tractor driving training has also been imparted to the farmers to minimize their dependence on male family members. In fact women farmers are enthusiastically using tractors for activities such as threshing finger millets (and smashing patriarchy).
Adoption of ML 365 by the farmers, an improved variety of finger millets, brought a significant increase in millet production. A similar increase in yield was reported by those who adopted the improved variety of red gram seeds provided by BAIF.
Farmers attributed the increase in productivity to a combination of factors – improved seeds, intercropping and pit sowing.
A blend of organic inputs like jeevamrut, vermicompost and neem oil, along with scientific practices like critical irrigation have been widely accepted by farmers.
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Due to the increased production and simultaneous reduction in input costs, farmers have higher disposable income at hand.
They are investing this increased income in other productive assets or depositing in their saving accounts, creating a virtuous cycle. The confidence of women farmers in their own abilities has skyrocketed.
The bumper crop production attracted the attention of other women farmers in their vicinity, who came to them for advice. The farmers share not only their improved knowledge, but also other inputs like seeds and organic inputs.
Taking their ambitions even forward these women farmers wish to plan better for the future against the looming uncertainty of climate change.
For starters they wish to diversify to other skill based livelihoods as a means of securing the futures of their children.
Also Read | Millets travel from tribal farms to dinner tables
The lead image shows Kariyamma who has taken a keen interest in learning how to drive a tractor (Photo by Santarpana Chaudhary).
Santarpana is an Associate Programme Manager at BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune. She is grateful to Mr Anand RB (BAIF Institute for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development, Karnataka) for his invaluable help with translating the interviews.
