Bhuvaneswari landed with the aim of earning extra income to educate her children and other expenses. Until then, the income was her husband’s meager pension. At the time she started farming to earn a living, her husband’s family owned nothing but coconuts. What to cultivate in a dry, acidic, rocky wasteland in summer? However, with perseverance, more than two decades of hard work and the search for new ideas made Bhuvaneswari the Karshakshree of Kerala.
Major Crops: Paddy, Coconut, Banana, Kappa, Flour, Flour, Turmeric, Sesame, Muthira, Chickpeas, Beef, Fruit Trees, Vegetables, Goat, Poultry, Duck
Distinct achievements
- Intensive paddy cultivation in harmony with nature
- Farm tourism that takes the market home
- Perseverance that fertilized the wasteland
- Traditional style with modern farming methods
- A culture of work that does not hesitate to get into slums
- Mechanization that increases efficiency
Bhubaneswar is not a farmer with an umbrella. A lone farmer who works in the slums with his workers and rests in a hut in the middle of the field after having lunch with them in the afternoon. In Europe, Australia and Ooty, this woman is getting ready to live happily with her children, to get mud on her feet and to endure the harshness of the Palakkad sun. Their service benefits many patients who need organic food. She is a housewife who knows how to operate a tractor, tiller and brush cutter on her own.
Bhubaneswar’s achievement is based on the revitalization of wasteland, which had an acid-base (pH) of 4.8, into a first class farmland. Intensive paddy cultivation with cow dung and greens is another advantage. Apart from two flowers of paddy in Pathekar field, Bhuvaneswari, who cultivates one flower, sesame, pearl and plow, sells these at a premium price. Yields of up to 25 quintals per acre can be achieved by applying greens and organic matter. Bhubaneswari, which spent Rs 2.5 lakh on paddy cultivation last year, sold rice and rice products for Rs 18 lakh! Gain gained by utilizing the potential of organic production and retail.
See the January issue of Karshakashree to learn more about Bhubaneswar’s farming and marketing practices and how it turned waste land into a golden land. Also in the January issue is a video with information on the methods and knowledge of other farmers who have reached the final five.
English summary: P Bhuvaneswari Karshakashri 2022
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