The small holder tribal farmers face the challenges of sustaining their family which is further becoming more aggravated as the younger generations with exposure and education are not getting interest in farming practices. The story of Thakurmoni Hansda presents how through capacity building and creating an enabling environment the younger generation can become agriculture producer themselves and more importantly can be a change agent in their locality for transfer of new knowledge and technology for innovative farming solutions.
The young and bubbly, 17 years old Thakurmoni Hansda from Tipasol village under Jhargram Sadar Block, Jhargram District, West Bengal is becoming a role model herself. She came forward as a proactive volunteer during the inception meeting held by IBRAD in her village to implement the Project “Integrated Landscape Management for Sustainable Agriculture” under RKVY program, supported by Agriculture Department, West Bengal. Looking into her zeal she has later been identified as a potential Community Resource Person for her village. She has undergone rigorous residential trainings organized at IBRAD campus, Kolkata without any break. During the training period only she has established a nutrition garden in 1.65 decimal land and has started raising variety of vegetables like bottle gourd, pumpkin, beans, chili, dhania etc with support for seeds received from the project. The land used to remain barren otherwise. She is producing the vegetables in organic manner by using the organic inputs like vermi compost, neemastra, amritjal etc that she produces herself. She had harvested 30 kg compost during the months of June – August and used the compost in her nutrition garden. She is also a member in a community vegetable nursery where they are growing tomato saplings for cultivation in rabi season.
What is most encouraging is the way Thakurmoni is taking the lead to train her fellow women villagers, who are of her mother’s age. The confident and skilled Thakurmoni is accepted as a trainer by all in her village. The enabling environment created under the project to develop her skills and providing her opportunity to test the success with the application of skills learnt immediately after the training by providing small inputs like the seeds have helped her gaining the confidence, expanded her choices which have empowered her from within to manage the family farms of her and the her neighbours in a more sustainable manner. Thakurmoni in her area is leading the way to provide innovative farming solutions by United Nations has declared 2019 – 2028 as the Decade of Family Farming. To achieve the desired result all the members of the family especially the younger generation need to be integrated in a more inclusive, collaborative and coherent manner in family farming and family based production models. Thakurmoni of Tipasol is an example of empowerment of the younger generation especially the girls for realizing the goal of family farming.
