Empowerment through Integrated Farming System

Introduction

• Smt. PC Lalrinliani is a 58-year-old woman farmer from Lawngtlai (L-III) of Mizoram State. Today, as an independent farmer, she is happy to provide her family with nutritious food and provide employment opportunity for women folks like her widow.
• Earlier Smt. PC Lalrinliani was a conventional farmer having 1 Ha of land, practicing an aged-old traditional farming to support her family and growing local Vegetables like beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, ginger etc. Due to little knowledge on new agriculture technology andpractices, she could not have good harvest inspite of her hard work and had to struggle a lot to make ends meet.

Training & Motivation

• Krshi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Lawngtlai interacted with Mrs PC Lalrinliani during the early years of 2016.
• KVK Lawngtlai gave her training on the aspects of Integrated Farming System of Vegetables with Piggery and poultry (Broilers and Layers), Improved varieties of vegetables and Mushroom cultivation.
• During the year 2019-2020, apart from the ongoing Integrated farming system. cultivation of High Yield Variety soybean, Lentil and Rajmah under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) Cluster Front Line Demonstration (CFLD), she took up Cultivation of Groundnut under Polythene Mulch which was a grand success.
• After adoption of New Agriculture Technologies from KVK Lawngtlai, farm economics changed dramatically with utilisation of improved tools and equipments, quality seeds with improved package of practices, advanced technological know how and back stopping led to reduction of drudgery, improvement in women labour and their efficiency resulting in higher yield and production at farm.
• Apart from family consumption Mrs Lalrinliani earns Rs 90,100 from integrated farming of vegetable-piggerypoultry farming. She also earn Rs. 54,500 as a profit from her other farm activities.
• Smt. Lalrinliani’s main aim of farming is to provide nutrition for her family and generation of employment for poor Women getting employeed in her farm.
• Land supplements her with most of the family nutritional needs apart from selling the surplus at local markets.
• Integrated farming system produce a variety of produce i.e different types of vegetables and pulses, meat etc.

Impact on other Farmers

• She is an entrepreneur with a happy family. In addition she has started teaching person like her i.e. widows who are engaged in agriculture activities and have succeeded in turning 3 women (widow) from Mampui village and 5 (widow) from Lawngtlai L-III village into progressive women farmers till 2019.
• Her life story has inspired many women within the district. She has dealt her life in a challenging manner from being a woman as a wife of a Husband who was suffering from chronic illness and could not do any tough works and later passed away leaving her with 4 children, she struggled and raised her children and gave proper education till graduation. She hired women (widows) labour to work in her farm and teaches whatever she learned from KVK Lawngtlai. Many widows became a bread earner in the family under her influence.
• She became a role model for women farmers within Lawngtlai areas. She was felicitated at the celebration of Mahila Kisan Diwas organised by KVK Lawngtlai.

Source : Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare