Farmer scientists’ Laxmi Lokur and Teilang Rani recently won national recognition for their innovative practices on their small farms. The women applied scientific research to improve crop yields, seed varieties and soil productivity. They were two of just three women among 28 village innovators singled out for acclaim.

Lokur is 38 and single. "I have no time for marriage," she says. She heads a team of eight on her 22-acre farm in Karnataka, growing organic grows organic vegetables and fruits, and running a dairy. Teilang, 30, is also passionate about the land. She’s a teacher by profession, but spends about four hours a day getting her hands dirty in the fields on her family’s 11-acre farm in Meghalaya.

For Teilang, her trip to Rajasthan to be feted by the Centre for International Trade in Agriculture and Agro-based Industries (CITA) and the Department of Agriculture was only the second time that she had ventured out of Meghalaya. She lives with her grandparents, husband, sister and an uncle in her village in Meghalaya's Ri Bhoi district. Teilang teaches English at the local school, but before she sets off for the classroom she works for an hour in the fields.

Tasty
Along with her grandparents, Teilang grows vegetables and rice. The family cultivates bamboo on an additional acre. About ten years ago, Teilang began fermenting tender bamboo shoots to make curries, soup, pickles and chutneys. Today, she has developed this as a business model.

"We select 45-60 cm long tender bamboo shoots for fermentation,” she explains. “These are stunted shoots, which are not likely to produce good quality bamboo for use in constructing houses and so on. The shoots are cut into slices and then put into water in large jugs after their sheaths have been removed. They are kept like this for about a month to ferment.”

It’s a versatile product, Teilang says, tasty as pickle, in fish or pork curry or in soups. Her bamboo shoot business now brings in about 10,000 rupees (150 euros) a year.

No formal training
Laxmi Lokur gave up a flourishing bag manufacturing business in Mumbai to return to farming. She first went back home to look after her ailing father, but after he recovered she decided to stay on.

“I’ve been on our farm with my father since I was three, so I was naturally drawn to agriculture although I had no formal training,” she says. She hadn’t been a particularly good student and didn’t complete her graduation, but after her return to farming she decided to follow a short course in agriculture.

Lokur’s family owned just over seven acres when she first put her hands to the plough. "For one year, my father made it a point to come to the fields with me to guide me. I started with a nursery but we were unable to meet our day-to-day expenses. Then I bought a buffalo to sell milk. The next year, I bought four more.”

With the help of a bank loan in 2005 she bought another 18 buffaloes, and started work on developing vermicompost., or worm compost. “By 2006, we were into the commercial sale of vermicompost,” she says. “Today we grow vegetables which we supply to Bangalore and neighbouring districts. Now I have developed my own marketing network."

When Lokur  realised that seeds were getting too expensive, she started collecting local seeds. Three years on, she has been able to collect 22 varieties of local vegetable seeds. She has also added more land to her farm and is now the proud owner of 19 acres.

Inspiration
As if all this weren’t enough to keep her busy, she also teaches English to local students at the weekends. And once a month, she trains farmers in making vermicompost and using organic hybrids to increase harvests.

Lokur  is now planning to register a non-governmental organisation. She has already decided on the name: Prerna (inspiration). Apt indeed, given that she has inspired at least 20 young people over the last nine years to give up their business activities and take up agriculture.