One woman’s quest for Organic farming – Anjela Minz
Since childhood, Anjela has the regret of not pursuing higher education, as she had to drop out after passing 10th standard. Poverty used to prevail in her house, which prevented her from studying further. Her father gave priority for her elder brother’s higher education, rather than her education as he could not afford the higher education expenses of both. She has to help her father on the farm to meet the household expenses.
In the village Headhdahu, where she settled after marriage, consists of more than 300 households. The village consists of backward communities where the majority of the people are dependent on agriculture activities. After becoming a Krishi Sakhi in 2013-14, she started exploring herself in modern farming techniques and practiced organic farming.
Anjela is running a Farmer’s Field School (FFS) in her village to extend improved agro-ecological practices. She has a demonstration plot, where she has planted papaya, mango, guava, pomegranate, maize, pigeon pea, lemon, and chilli. Through her training at FFS, she has helped the women farmers of her village in doing mixed cropping, and there is enough vegetables and fruits for self-consumption as well as for sale. She is the source of motivation for all the farmers of her village, and they have entirely shifted to organic farming where no chemical input is used. She has helped many families to get out of poverty by increasing yield along with quality and profit.
Her approach towards organic farming motivated people in her village, and she adopted the best agricultural practices. She made sure that her farmers were involved in the complete process from nursery plantation to the harvest. The method includes seed treatment, land preparation, preparation of Vermicompost, Integrated Pest Management, and micro/drip irrigation. The difference is the high return; they got out of practicing the Sustainable Agricultural Practice. The participating Mahila Kisans are motivated enough not to use any chemicals and focus only on organic manure. Her advice on micro or drip irrigation and the mulching method has improved nutrient and water retention capacity of the soil.
She is not only making good earning for her family, but her agricultural income has also increased steadily. Now she owns an auto-rickshaw which is added to the income of her family. In order to fulfil her childhood dreams. She started saving some amount every month for her daughter’s education, and she wants her to pursue careers in teaching.
According to her “पसीने की स्याही से जो लिखते है अपने इरादों को, उनके मुकद्दर के पन्ने कभी कोरे नहीं हुआ करते…” has genuinely justified the effort she is making in putting the lives of so many people out of poverty and reducing the migration of people to a large extent.
