Farmer Stories

Case Studies

CHINNAMMA 

Chinna means Gold in Kannada, true to her name she has become gold to not just her family but her community at large. Chinnamma may own a very small extent of 1.2 acres of land but manages to grow a huge variety of  food crops such as millet, corn, pigeon pea,cow pea, horsegram, amaranth, tomato, okra, brinjal along with marigold, jasmine, she also brilliantly grows gourds, creeper vegetables by devising  pillar and layering techniques. \    Although Chinnamma doesnot have any education, but she has acquired the skills to  manage financial affairs and banking of her group very easily. She is a lead farmer  and has developed necessary skills of training and imparts training to other farmers  on agro-ecological practices. In addition to this, Chinnamma has mastered the art of  organically growing vegetables along with other crops. Sahaja Samrudha formed a  collective of organic farmers to market their organic vegetables in Mysuru. These  Farmers of H D Kote are linked to Namma Market, a farmers market that opens up  every week for organic farmers to directly sell to consumers. Though initially there  was reluctance to travel the distance to sell vegetables but with contained efforts  from people like Chinnamma the market has been successfully running for the 2 nd  year. “I’ve worked the land my whole life, but never did I visit the market to sell my  produce”. She meant that though she toiled all her life she was never able to change  economic status of her family. But this linkage has brought change to Chinnamma’s  life.  She visits the market regularly, while encouraging other women to participate in  the market, the space that is dominated by men. She has driven to make a  Difference, And has given a new definition to women empowerment.    Earlier Chinnamma would refrain from participating in any of the village activities.  But currently we are seeing remarkable change in her confidence and she is seen  enthusiastically participating in all the meetings, functions and workshops organised  by the Organistation. This  is possible only if everyone in the Self Help group  participate without observing any discrimination, without any hesitation, in every  stage. “I never left the house before I got involved in Women SHG I didn’t realize  that what I went through, other wome did too. Once I did, I felt like we could do  something about it. This has been possible with setting up the women groups.”  Chinnamma has brought along other women into forming SHGs and encourages all  to participate in the activities of her village as well as the organisation. As a result of  her participation in all the activities of the Self Help group, Rotary Club recognised  her work in mobilising women into groups and her marketing efforts has supported  her with a Cow (free of cost).    Her interest in all the SHG activities and her inspiring other women has recently been  appointed as a Company Director of the newly formed Hulikadu Farmers Producer  Company, this is infact a matter of great pride to her.  She along with 11 other women have formed a SHG. This group now manages the Tool Bank.    Comprehensively it can be said that we have observed some drastic changes in the  circumstances that Chinnamma, mother of 3 children and 2 grandchildren lived in  before she became a member of the Self Help Group and  her status today. There is  a lot of difference even in her way of  her participation in the activities of the Self  Help Group and also the organisation.     

ANNAPURNA 

Annapurna, earlier a house maker turned to farming only to support her family. Little  did she know that she would become a beaconing force encouraging many to  turn  towards natural farming. In her role as Krishi Sakhi – 'Friend of Agriculture, she  teaches farmers about balanced nutrition, soil health, adoption of sustainable  practices to improve crop yield.  Annapurna;s mission is to help other women farmers to improve their standard of  living, by leading them towards managing a Tool Bank that lends agri-implements to  farmers on hire. Taking inspiration from Annapurna’s journey, several other women  from her village have come forward and together have formed an SHG inorder to  earn an income by value addition products out of millets. This group is making Vermicilli of ragi, and other millets. The  group is also trying to revive the most traditional food of Dharwad district Saavi Roti Little millet Rotis   

LAKSHAMMA 

Lakshamna is very determined, and  hardworking Woman, who does farming in a  very innovative and organised manner.   She cultivates a wide variety of vegetables, groundnuts and cereals.  She always  intercrops with different green leafy vegetables, okra, raddish, carrots, tomatoes, and  such other vegetables. Observing such intercepting methods while cultivating a  diversity of crops ensures optimum fertility of soil and therefore good quality of  produce. Lakshmanma asserts that this way she able to get a good price on her  produce.  Among the several farmers that the organisation interacts with, by far Lakshmamma  is a very quick learner and always  enthusiastic about learning new farming  techniques and adopting the same while cultivating crops over her land. Her entire  family comes together everyday to work on the field and they very efficiently cultivate  a  diverse variety of vegetables.  Another point to take away from Lakshmamma is that she never burns the crop  residue, she instead decomposes the crop waste inorder to enrich the soil.   It can be observed that due to her diligence in proper utilization of Farm Yard  Manure and use of the recommended dose of prepared bio-input, there is a  considerable improvement in the quality of her farm’s produce.      

The torch bearer – Yallavva-

My desire to save seeds comes from my family’s tradition of saving seeds.  Now I am teaching all the younger generation in my family and others to  follow seeds saving as it is crucial for our health and land”, says Yallavva  Ramjji a woman farmer from Kundgol village.  With her knowledge on crop diversity her farm is a home to different  varieties of millets, pulses, and vegetables. One year there was severe  drought and the family just like every year grew millets, though everyone  lost their   

Bore Gowda 

Shivalli, Mandya District, Karnataka

Bore Gowda is popularly known as “Battada” (which means paddy, in Kannada) Bore Gowda in recognition of his passion for conserving different varieties. He has been conserving seeds since 2004 and his interest was sparked when watching agricultural programs on TV. At about the same time he came in contact with Sahaja Samrudha and began to actively seek out new varieties of paddy. Through Sahaja, he met B K Deva Rao, a paddy farmer from Dakshina Kannada and initially got four varieties of paddy from him. He grew these on his land and found that they did well. He did not stop with conservation of paddy, he went on to breed two new varieties. These are: 

Sidda Sanna

is a fine-grained variety with good cooking quality. This was selected from Gandhasaale and can be grown both in the kharif and rabi seasons. It has become very popular in Karnataka. He named the variety in honour of his parents – father Siddae Gowda and mother Sannamma. 

Kanada Thumba

is a tall phenotype selected from the widely grown IR 64. The grains are very good to make puffed rice. However, people do not prefer to use it as it is prone to  lodging.   The Campaign provided him with many opportunitiesto travel to different places in India and has talk about his work which has also received extensive media coverage. He created a “rice museum” where he displays seed heads of the different varieties of paddy and minor millets. Murals on the walls portray the different stages in paddy growing and care, harvesting, processing and marketing. In spite of being a “change agent”, and spending his own time and money on creating the rice museum, he has received no governmental support for his efforts. 

C P Krishna 

Gulur Doddi, Mandya District, Karnataka

C P Krishna’s joint family has 36 acres of which 24 are irrigated and 12 are rain-fed. They grow paddy on 20 acres, sugarcane on 9 acres and banana, coconut, ragi and various vegetables on 7 acres. Irrigation is both by borewell and canal. He has been associated with Sahaja Samrudha since 2001 and began his seed conservation work during that period. They were influenced by the thoughts of Prof. Nanjundaswamy, founder of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and realized the importance of being self-reliant in agriculture. This prompted them to adopt organic practices and explore markets to sell their produce.   After becoming associated with the SoR Campaign, he began to grow many varieties of traditional paddy. Along with a few fellow farmers they have formed a group and are selling large quantities of traditional rice to consumers directly.  Paddy Varieties: Ratnachodi, Salem Sanna, Jeerage Samba, Shimoga Karigidda, Dharwad Kaagi Saale, Dambar saale, Doddabylu Nellu, Drushti Bhatta, Gandhasaale, Basmati – red and white, Garuda Gambatti   

Padmavathamma 

Kangal, Mysore District, Karnataka

 Padmavathamma is a dynamic lady and a member of the Rural Marketing Committee representing Periyapatna Taluk. She has a backyard kitchen garden where she grows a diversity of vegetables, herbs and greens. She has a unit producing vermi-compost for her own use and she also sells the excess to other farmers at Rs. 8/Kg.  Her area is known for Rajamudi, a traditional paddy variety, which now has a geographical index (GI) tag as well. This paddy is very popular and was known to have been a favourite of the royal family of Mysore province.   Padmavathamma is one of the key people in re-introducing Rajamudi. She along with her group Rajamudi Belegarara Sangha started to grow this unique paddy and they now supply it to Sahaja Organics. She has three acres of land growing paddy and a diversity of vegetables. She has also been able to sell the seeds that she has saved and regularly conducts ‘germination’ tests on these seeds to ensure quality.    Padmavathamma is the nodal person in the Savayava Bhagya Yojanae (Organic Village Scheme) for which Sahaja Samrudha is an implementation partner for the Government of Karnataka. She has been recognized as Shreshta Krushi Mahile by Art of Living and Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured her in 2016. Apart from this, she has received many awards from various institutions and organizations.    

Ishwarappa Bankar

First Millet Seed Bank by farmer  It is amazing to see how farmers begin conserving traditional seeds once they become aware of its importance. Ishwarappa Bankar of Hire Yadachi village of Haveri district in Karnataka has created a seed bank of traditional millet strains at his home. Banakar has collected 25 varieties of jowar, 30 of finger millet, and 10 of foxtail millet besides some others.  This is certainly a remarkable initiative. If some farmers can replicate what Banakar has been able to achieve, probably we would be able to recover quite a lot of the lost plant germplasm. In 2010, when the world dedicates the year to conservation of biodiversity, such small but dedicated efforts need to be appreciated and applauded.  Decades ago, millets formed an important traditional crop. They not only give food security, but also offer multiple securities like fodder and fuel. With the introduction of commercial crops like paddy and wheat, farmers forgot about millets. “I remember my childhood where we depended only on millets for our meals,” recalls Ishwarappa Banakar of Hire Yadachi village of Haveri district.       

Shankar Langati 

Gundenhatti, Belgaum District, Karnataka

Shankar Langati’s relationship with seed saving began when he attended a seed savers  conference in Dharmasthala in 2006. He then came in touch with Sahaja Samrudha and  with their help and encouragement, started collecting varieties of paddy that were  grown in the region earlier. He recalls that in his younger days more than 80 percent of  the area was devoted to growing paddy but now because of the presence of sugar mills,  sugarcane has replaced rice. Repeated droughts in the area coupled with unbridled  sugarcane cultivation, led to depletion of groundwater and a drastic reduction in the  varieties of rice grown.  He has been growing traditional paddy since over two decades. He gathered a group of  farmers and established a seed bank in his area called ‘Siddharudha Savayava  Krushikara Balaga’. Now he is conserving more than 60 varieties of traditional paddy.  He is also a resource person for seed production and conservation activities. His  collection includes rain fed, dry land, scented and medicinal varieties. For his  continuous efforts in traditional seeds conservation, he and his group have been  honoured with the Plant Genome Saviour Community Award which also comes with a  rupees ten lakh cash prize.   

S.R. Srinivasa Moorthy 

Siddanahundi, Mysore District, Karnataka

Srinivasa Moorthy is the youngest of six sisters and four brothers. His father, who had a  job in the Forest Department, wanted him to look after their small, one-acre parcel of  land. Moorthy, however, was not interested in agriculture at all, and completed his B.A.  majoring in Kannada. He signed up for a bachelors in law (LLB) but discontinued and  came back to his village.  Once back he was forced to get involved in growing paddy on his land as peer pressure  from other farmers did not allow him to keep the land fallow. During his initial years he  chanced upon a book on Zero Budget farming by Subash Palekar. The ideas in the book  inspired him greatly and he started visiting the farmers who were mentioned in the  book. He met Bore Gowda who explained all the nuances of paddy cultivation and gave  him 25 kilos of Chinnaponni seed. He made a complete shift to organic practices- made a  nursery and transplanted seedlings despite heavy rains and was successful in the first  attempt.  He was introduced to Sahaja Samrudha in 2005 and through this association with  Sahaja and later the SoR Campaign he learnt about paddy varieties with medicinal  properties, aromatic rice varieties and other traditional varieties. In 2008-09 he grew  30 different varieties in a small demonstration plot on his land. Neighbours became  curious as they had not seen so many varieties of paddy before. He organized a visit to  his field where around 150 people came, including a reporter from the Kannada  newspaper ‘Praja Vani’ who wrote an article. The article generated a lot of publicity and  several farmers contacted him.  In 2010 he grew around 200 varieties of paddy in his field and this attracted a lot of  media attention. Former Chief minister Siddaramaiah visited and congratulated him on  his initiative. As part of SoR he travelled to West Bengal, Odhisha, Kerala, and  Maharashtra. He was also a resource person for training science teachers in schools –  Vigyana Parishat – on sustainable agriculture and seed saving.  He is recipient of Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Reward 2018   

BN Nandish’s Legume logic 

B N Nandish’s legume logic, a book he has prepared is as a good as a scientific treatise.  He has explained his deep understanding of green manuring it it. Nadish a natural  farmer and healer believes in observing the fields and the body and finding solutions for  problems for both through nature. His approach to paddy farming and his own health  are therefore very similar and rooted in this approach. Legume logic is the culture of  using legumes for sustainable agriculture.  Legumes offer us a free biological nitrogen fixing factory! After discovering legume  logic, Nandish continued his explorations and found that in addition to legumes, all  plants contribute to soil enrichment. Like legumes fix nitrogen, other plants have  different minerals which, when added to the soil, act as hosts for various soil  microorganisms, thereby enriching it. Green manuring involves growing various plants  till the flowering stage and then incorporating them into the soil.  He began changing his paddy cultivation practices using this knowledge. Nandish used  the simple logic of legumes and green manuring to sustain his paddy cultivation  inexpensively and without external inputs and has been getting high yields comparable  to that of chemical high external input-based cultivation. Currently he gets yields of 20-  25 quintals of paddy per acre depending on the variety used. He does not use any  prepared manures and does not use bio pesticides or fungicides. He depends completely  on green manures. Nandish sows only 5-7 kilos of paddy seeds per acre in the nursery  for seedlings. In the last 10 years his income has increased ten-fold.      

Special Mention

Seed stage decoration 

Beautiful variety seed decorations on stage and entrance decorations created for different  melas, over the years this creations have become so beautiful and elaborate that many national level gatherings, state and national Government department functions invite us to do the decorations at the venue.   

Japanese Paddy Art in India 

Another lovely expression of art we experienced was in the fields of Anjaneya, the seed breeder farmer from Davengere. During one of our meetings we had printed large posters to display Japanese paddy art, as part of the exhibition, inspired by it Anjaneya planted different coloured paddy in his field and produced his own paddy art, which became a talking point in his neighbourhood, appeared in newspapers and media, received awards  and attracted many visitors.   

Farmer Curators 

Two farmer curators are Bore Gowda and Syed Ghani Khan of Mandya region of Karnataka. Both have set up museums in their homes. Bore Gowda’s museum has paddy, millet and other seeds conserved by him and fellow farmers. Along with it there is display of  traditional equipments used in agriculture and beautiful paintings on the walls depicting  the various processes of cultivating, harvesting and processing grains. It is a beautiful space with dried ear heads hanging from everywhere , diversity that one doesn’t existed demonstrated live.   

Syed Ghani Kahn, who farms in his land inherited along with mango trees from the times of Tipu Sultan has created a museum with seeds displayed beautifully around the walls of his old house. At one point Ghani himself was growing over 800 varieties of paddy from all over. An archeology graduate Ghani says, “ I always wanted to be museum curator, but I never thought that I would be curating seeds.”  He has established a paddy mill which is completely operated with solar power energy.  His wife and children do seed jewelery and many value added products out from their farm produce.