Why Andhra Pradesh's Women Farmers Are Championing Natural Farming
The state's natural farming programme must ensure that women are empowered as they move to cleaner, greener farming, and do not just become a means to an end
When the local programme coordinator for Andhra Pradesh's natural farming programme asked P. Mary to move away from chemical-free farming, she was reluctant. When they persisted, she decided to start with a kitchen garden. Today, convinced by the success of the kitchen garden, Mary farms 3.5 acres of land using natural farming methods. She spends less on farm inputs, such as fertilisers and pesticides, and household income has gone up, she says. In the third part of our natural farming series, Shreehari Paliath visited Pulivendula, in Andhra Pradesh, to find out about the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming project, using Self-Help Groups of women as the medium to educate women on natural farming, and solve any problems they face in the transition. Full story here.
