Nilam Jorwar -Kalsubai Millets

Nilam Jorwar -Kalsubai Millets

Years Active-4 years

Market-driven farming not affordable to the environment, people or farming practices

Here, meet our sustainable champion Nilam Jorwar from the nature’s club-Akole who took the vital step of sustaining the natural farming practices in the laps of Sahyadri Mountains, the Kalsubai- tallest peak in Maharashtra. She, above all, chose to play the pivotal role in popularizing the natural farming practices, rather than just accepting the then practiced chemical farming, which was more of a market driven activity than real farming. By facilitating a definite and direct market for the highly nutritious produce of naturally-grown safe grains like rice, millets and the legumes in the region, she has proved that nothing is impossible in this world.

A revolution to harvest the nature’s bounty

Given the geographical limitations for water irrigation in these mountainous terrains, the farmers solely depended on the seasonal rainfall for farming. And, though rice was the main crop of the region, the farmers regularly alternated it with various millets and legumes. However the situation changed over time. Instead of growing legumes and millets along with rice, farmers began to cultivate rice all year round with the help of hybridized seeds and chemical fertilizers as this would offer them better profit margins due to the higher market demand. Now, farmers started turning their backs towards the naturally grown healthy millets like Vari, Ragi, Bhaduli and Sava, also an essential part of our diet.

But, as years passed everyone noticed that this type of farming was leading to:

• Increased margin to the traders as compared to the farmers who actually toiled in the farms.

• Hybrid seeds and chemical-base put a question mark on the natural safeness of the grains.

• Soil was getting stripped off its natural goodness.

• The demand for millets and legumes was not met.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Taking all this into account, Nilam Jorwar along with a few farmer families encouraged natural farming with a new spirit. She ensured that the organic produce from these farms reached a well-formed market for a sustainable profit to the farmer himself. She admits that in the entire exercise, there were indeed several steps and phases, the most crucial being the task of machining the grains after the harvest at the farmers end. She is quick to add that this would not have been possible without the support of the village women. She is proud to state that their active participation got things rolling and now, one can see the bigger change, where women are at par with their men in farming as well as decision-making.
  
  

  List of products

  • Rice
  • Ragi or Nachani
  • Ragi Noodles
  • Jowar Noodles
  • Ragi papad
  • Ragi Cookies
  •  Vari
  • Bhaduli
  • Sava
  • Rale rice