“I am independently taking decisions now on more than half of the land we own, and transferring my knowledge to other women in the community who seek my advice on bio-farming” says Babita.
Babita has led the change in the farm practices of her family through a food secure, low cost, water efficient & chemical less agriculture. It took almost two months of repeated convincing for Babita to gain cultivation rights from her husband on 10,890 sq ft of land. In her first attempt, Babita grew groundnuts, garlic, coriander, fenugreek, onion, & two kinds of pulses.
Amazed with the results, Babita never looked back & expanded the land to 65,341 sq ft. Babita has started to influence her husband in changing his farming methods to use bio fertilizers on the 87,121 sq ft of land.
“After I shifted to bio farming the family has gained a better immunity towards cough, cold and fever. We seldom go to the doctor now”
Today, Babita uses home grown farm inputs from organic inputs and has lowered the cost of cultivation by INR 12,600 (173 USD) in a year.
With training from SSP, she grows primarily local short food crops in her 65,341 sq ft serving dual purpose for the family – reduces dependency on market bought food items and strengthens the food and nutrition security for the family.
In the last 3 years, Babita has developed herself into a local advisor on bio farming methods for the community and has taken a leadership role in the farmer group created by SSP and now registered with Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA).