00:00 In a world where commercial farming is on the rise, farmers from South India are challenging
00:07 modern farming practices by taking up traditional farming that's best for the environment and
00:12 future generations.
00:14 And they do that through a women-only collective farming system in a predominantly male-dominated
00:19 industry.
00:24 First up are the women of Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu, where for nearly two decades, an NGO
00:28 called Women's Collective has been working closely with the farmers in this region.
00:35 The land opposite is yours?
00:37 Yes, that's mine.
00:38 How big is your land?
00:40 About an acre?
00:41 I have given about 50 cents for the collective.
00:47 Gopu has formed a collective with three other women from her village.
00:50 On this piece of land, they share the workload and the profit among themselves.
00:55 Ranganagi, the Women's Collective NGO's lead coordinator for Dharmapuri, has ensured that
01:00 such small-scale collective farming groups are able to sustain themselves in an era of
01:04 climate change and depleting resources by cultivating millets.
01:08 Global temperatures have changed these days, and so a month's worth of rainfall ends up
01:15 happening in one day.
01:17 That too, it doesn't rain, but it needs to rain.
01:20 And in this situation, the only crop that survives is millets.
01:24 That's why we have chosen to grow millets to guarantee food security for our family's
01:28 needs.
01:32 With millets, these women are able to tackle the unreliability associated with depending
01:37 on income from cash crops.
01:41 We have gone through food shortage or scarcity where we were forced to buy rice.
01:45 Rice, ariyam, kalakai and peanuts, we can take as much as we want.
01:50 But if we had to buy the same quantities at the store, it would exceed our budget.
01:54 But if we grow them ourselves, we can consume as much small millets as we need.
02:00 That's why we produce them.
02:06 Women here usually store their produce for at least a year in godowns like these.
02:13 And to do that, they gather these millet heads as soon as they are ready for harvest to minimize
02:18 losses due to birds and bad weather.
02:26 After we harvest the millets, we need to dry them.
02:29 Once dried, we need to de-hull them using a millet processing machine.
02:33 We can then cook the small millets, grind them into powder or grind them to make porridge
02:38 and more.
02:41 Just like the women of Dharmapuri, about six hours away at Palakkad in Kerala, are farmers
02:46 who practice agriculture through joint liability groups under the state Kudumbashree program
02:51 which aims to eradicate poverty and empower women.
02:55 Every group has a minimum of four members and a maximum of ten members where they can
03:00 either take land on lease or use their own land to do agriculture.
03:07 Even if we don't own land, we lease land from others and work there.
03:11 This is good for us because we don't need to go work elsewhere.
03:15 We work independently.
03:16 That's how we have been farming for the past six years.
03:22 Joint liability groups have been immensely successful in Kerala as they have helped women
03:27 access agricultural credit from the banking system.
03:31 This is done with the help of grassroot level block coordinators like Panaja, taking care
03:35 of farm, livelihood and animal husbandry activities.
03:41 If an individual directly approaches the bank and takes a loan, they have to produce collateral.
03:47 Instead, if we take the land for lease, they don't have to produce any documents.
03:54 They just need to produce the agreement, a copy of it and tax receipts.
04:05 Panaja encourages women in Chittoor to take up organic farming in their lands.
04:16 To ensure they consistently practice organic farming, she regularly visits them to understand
04:21 what they need and ensure they receive the necessary financial support from the block
04:25 panchayat.
04:26 How much loan did you get?
04:30 I have received 1.5 lakhs this time.
04:33 Is there any panchayat scheme that enables the supply of fertilizers?
04:38 You can use your incentive to facilitate this.
04:40 Additionally, you can be part of a scheme called bio-pharmacy where you can make your
04:45 own organic fertilizers and supply it to other farmers.
04:48 The two groups of farmers in the story understand the relationship between food and health.
04:54 In Kerala, the farmers are well aware of why they should practice organic farming.
04:59 When we use chemical fertilizers, it costs us a lot plus it is very harmful for our health.
05:09 Organic costs us less and is good for our health.
05:16 Similarly in Dharmapuri, farmers understand that millets are rich in dietary fiber and
05:21 micronutrients.
05:25 So every day, these women whip up healthy millet-based meals that meet their dietary
05:30 requirements.
05:31 One of the best takeaways from the farmers of Dharmapuri and Palakkad is the fact that
05:36 they rely not on the men in their families but on the women within their communities
05:40 to practice sustainable farming.
05:44 I have five family members dependent on me.
05:46 I can't feed them all with the income I make.
05:49 That's why if we produce our own food, we can generously feed everyone.
05:53 This is why I decided to take up farming by myself.
05:57 We can only make profits and can't get a salary.
06:00 Loss or profit, we need to manage them both.
06:02 And through this, they've set an example in a male-dominated field that they too can
06:07 own and manage a farm just as much as or maybe even better than men.
06:12 When women are capable of making all decisions, why can't they also do the same in agriculture?
06:18 Men are no longer considered the important ones in any role.
06:21 Women are able to do any work as well.
06:24 How important is it that a woman owns land?
06:27 Yes, they should have it.
06:29 Only if women are landowners are they respected.
06:32 Otherwise even our children won't respect us.
06:34 Am I right?
06:35 These farmers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India have shown how women farming collectives
06:40 are able to achieve success.
06:42 They're able to continue sustainable farming practices to meet their daily needs on a local
06:47 level and at the same time address challenges due to climate change on a global level.
06:52 (upbeat music)
06:54 (sniffles)
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