A 13.5-acre ‘padasekharam’ in Plavodu ward of Pulimath grama panchayat that remained fallow for years is being transformed into a paddy field as part of the Kudumbashree District Mission’s fallow less-village activities.
Taken up by the Kudumbashree’s Pulimath community development society under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, the organic paddy cultivation is being done by five joint liability groups (JLGs) under three neighbourhood groups.
First harvest
Today, the entire Pulimath ‘ela’ is farmed by 25 women. The bounty of their first harvest was made last year. It was in 2013 that five women took up paddy farming on 2.5 acres. Gradually, they increased the area under cultivation to four acres.
After a survey by Kudumbashree in all panchayats identified 13.5 acres of fallow land in the Pulimath ela, the women decided to farm the entire padasekharam, says Riji, Kudumbashree block coordinator (Agriculture and Animal Husbandry) of Pulimath.
The women have taken on lease some land that was being farmed by the owners. Some tapioca was grown there to make it fit for paddy farming, says Meenu M., Plavodu ward CDS member and one of the women involved in the venture.
From the harvest last year, the women under the five JLGs are now able to sell 800 kg of raw rice a week. They earn ₹35 a kg. That is not all. They also sell rice powder, boiled rice, rice grains, and seeds, under the brand Ananthapuri rice. All this adds to their income.
The intercrop of long beans or black gram brings them money and acts as an organic fertilizer. As the women do all the work on the fields themselves, there is very little expenditure by way of labour and what they make is enough to take care of their families. The subsidy they get is pumped into emergency needs such as buying fertilizer or seeds.
The women should be expecting another bountiful harvest this time, but they keep their fingers crossed. Lack of rain has put a damper on the second crop in the ‘ela.’ They pump water from a pond once a week but that remains only for two days or so. There is a canal nearby but it is made of concrete, and so is not of much help.
