The All-Rounder Women Farmers of Talnuagaon

The All-Rounder Women Farmers of Talnuagaon

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The Farmer Field School in Talnuagaon village is on the main road. And it is impossible to miss it while driving down. During our visit in March to M Rampur in Kalahandi, the women farmers, all belonging to the Gond tribes, were present at the plot of land which is the Farmer Field School (FFS), to showcase their work during our visit.

“All our farmer schools are on the main road so that it is easily accessible to all farmers. But most importantly, the officials of the agriculture department get to see our FFS and they really appreciate the work that is happening,” says Gurukalyan Nayak, the project lead of the Oxfam India-HDFC project in Kalahandi.

Most of these women farmers have up to 4 acres of land; this Ma Saraswati FFS has been set up on Anjana Dharua’s land. Of her 3 acres of land, 1 acre is used for the FFS. This SHG has been around for the last 30 years and has mostly been involved with kerosene dealership, PDS centres and giving loans to its members. This is the first time the women farmers are involved in structured farming.

Due to lack of irrigation, farming was restricted to just the Kharif season. In the last one and a half years, they have been provided with sprinklers, pipes for irrigation, training to grow vegetables throughout the year as well as to set up a nursery to provide plants to the other farmers.

The saplings from the nursery have become a huge hit, says Anjana. A green house was build for the nursery. “We sell 2 saplings for 1 Re.  In the last one year (until March) we earned Rs 3664 through the sale of saplings alone. Earlier farmers had to wait for visits to the weekly markets usually 25-30 kms away to buy the saplings. Now it is right here,” she beams. The group grows saplings of cauliflower, brinjal, tomato, potato, chilli.

The members of the FFS have also been selling vegetables. They earned Rs 5000 from selling cauliflower and other leafy vegetables. They sell their vegetables not just from the FFS but also take it to the nearby weekly market and provide to the school in the nearby villages for the mid day meal scheme. They have used this money to reinvest in seeds for more saplings. They have started growing onion and different varieties of brinjal in their fields as well.

The FFS rents out motor pump and hose pipe to other farmers in the village at the rate of Rs 100 per hour. This has helped farmers who would otherwise only farm in the Kharif season.   

“We made a profit of Rs 8000 in the last six months. And that we have kept aside for emergencies in any of our families,” says Jasobanti Dharua, another member of the FFS.   

The women farmers have gone organic; they now make their own bio manure and have moved away from chemical fertilisers. The women farmers have set up vermicompost pits and azolla pits which they use not just in their fields but also supply to the villages.    

The work in the FFS is divided among the 10 member team. The work at the FFS have made women very happy and vocal about their aspirations for their families and themselves.

“There is no difference between boys and girls. And we want to invest in their education. The colleges are in Rampur or Mohangiri and these are far from our villages. Bicycle would be important to ensure our children are able to go to college safely,” says Jashobanti.   

They all want to improve their houses, save for their children’s education and also buy some jewellery!

Talnuagaon is a village in Manikera GP in M Rampur block of Kalhandi district in Odisha. The FFS has been set up under Project Utthan—an Oxfam India-HDFC Bank’s HRDP initiative.

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