Cycling through dusty lanes to share her self-learnt techniques for
farming success, Rajkumari Devi is a familiar sight in the villages of
Muzaffarpur district, Bihar.
Rajkumari Devi is no astrologer. But with self-acquired
expertise in agriculture she has become proficient in assessing the
quality of soil in her area and ensuring successful harvests. With three
decades of experience, Kisan Chachi or Farmer Aunty as she is
called, has learnt all the nuances of good farming practices. Today,
this 58-year-old mother of three grown-up children, cycles through the
dusty lanes of villages in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, giving tips to
people on kitchen farming and developing the right agri-based products
for business. She has mobilised more than 300 women to form self-help groups (SHGs) and become financially independent.
Rajkumari laughingly explains how she got the nickname Kisan Chachi: “Since most people in the area called me chachi, and I also was a successful kisan, everyone started calling me Kisan Chachi.”
Although at first glance she appears to be like any ordinary village
woman, the moment Rajkumari starts talking about farming practices, she
emerges the true expert that she is. In fact, people from across the
block regularly invite her to inspect their land and predict their crop
quality. “I am no scientist. But over the years, I have come to know the
soil of this area well. I might not be 100 per cent right always, but I
do know what can grow in this region,” she says.
But
Rajkumari was not born a farm expert. Thirty-five years ago, she was
just another timid housewife of an unemployed man in the remote village
of Anandpur, in Saraiya block of Muzaffarpur. At that time she had
nothing, except one acre of arid land she inherited from her husband's
family. But she had the will to make life better for herself and her
family.
Indomitable spirit
So,
in the early 1980s, a determined Rajkumari picked up the shovel and
sickle to help her husband. He grew tobacco for many years because, like
most farmers in this block, that was the only thing he knew. When he
was away in nearby towns to sell the leaves, Rajkumari would
single-handedly toil on the farm.
That's how
she learnt everything there was to know about her land. As time went by,
this hardworking farmer realised that there was much more to
agriculture than just growing tobacco. So she embraced change. “Over
time, I understood my farmstead so well that I knew what to grow where.
So I divided the land into plots and began to grow vegetables and fruits
instead of tobacco,” she says.
Initially,
people had a hard time accepting her new role. Even the elements were
not really on her side — the annual floods would wipe away all the
assets she built over the year. But despite the tough times, Rajkumari
persevered and perfected the cropping cycle. She grew paddy and wheat in
the low-lying fields and rows of banana, mango and papaya trees in the
remaining land.
As she got busy transforming
her land, fellow villagers — especially women — watched her hard at
work. Soon, her neighbours began emulating her and she, in turn, gave
everyone her wholehearted support by sharing her expertise freely. She
also helped form SHGs in her block.
SHGs at work
Today,
inspired village women across Saraiya have got together in groups of 10
and formed around 35 SHGs that are working on integrated farming and
agri-business. They get the capital to run their farms from bank loans
and government support from the Swarna Jayanti Swayam Rozgar Yojna. A
happy Meera Devi, 40, of the Pipra Khusboo SHG, says, “We were simple
housewives until Kisan Chachi taught us how to grow vegetables
and fruits. We are now self-reliant and can earn up to Rs 3,000 a
month.” Manju Devi, a group member, adds, “Life has changed here. Women
have started earning. It is true that we were only experts in household
chores but now we also sell our home-made products in the market.”
Dharamshila
Devi of Poonam Basuchak SHG says, “There was a time when we were
totally dependent on the government's NREGA scheme for work and it's
common knowledge that even on these jobs, there is bias against women.
We have now started working on our own, even if we take up NREGA work.”
Today,
the fields of Saraiya block are never barren. Renewable crops are
rotated between major seasonal crops for better yields and soil
recycling. And thanks to the government's financial support and easily
available low-interest bank loans, most SHG members are also expanding
their farms to include fish farming, poultry and cow breeding.
Employing women
Rajkumari
has also set up a non-profit organisation that not only picks fresh
produce from the SHG-run farms nearby but also employs women to make
agriculture-based products. Such has been the impact of Kisan Chachi
on farming practices in Muzaffarpur, a district that is just 80 km from
Patna, that even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited her when she
was conferred the Kisan Shree Award a few years ago. “He had asked me
what I wanted. And I said, ‘All I want is that our backward district be
less afflicted by the devastating annual floods,'” she recalls.
The
welfare of her district and its people is high on her priority. Before
she entered farming, the people of Anandpur and 19 other villages in
Saraiya and Manikpur panchayats had no idea they could change their
cropping patterns. They were happy growing wheat, paddy and tobacco.
Now, women from Pipra, Manikpur, Basochak, Saraiya and Karhara
panchayats have enthusiastically taken to the ‘Kisan Chachi way
of cultivation'. To further her work, this feisty woman took the plunge
and contested panchayat elections from the neighbouring Manikpur Gram
Panchayat, which is reserved for women. She lost. Rajkumari says
ruefully, “I did not win because people here vote on the basis of caste
and that matters more than development.” But despite the defeat, Kisan Chachi continues
to be a greatly respected figure in these parts. Manju Devi, the
present Mukhiya of Manikpur Gram Panchayat, speaks for everybody when
she says, “Kisan Chachi has done a lot for all of us. She is a real role model.”
© Women's Feature Service
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