It was an acid test for Bagyavathi, a woman farmer in Karikalampakkam, when the paddy yield dropped in the first two years of her taking up organic farming. “It was seen as a risk at that time, but I believed that something good would come of it,” said the farmer, who gave up the use of chemical agents when she took to organic methods on a three-acre farmland in 2014.
Her belief and determination saw her come through the initial difficulties and today, Bagyavathi is one of the success stories in organic farming lore in the region. The farmer raises four indigenous varieties of paddy with good yield. At the opening of a five-day workshop hosted by the French Institute of Pondicherry, Bagyavathi shared her story with a roomful of agriculture experts and researchers.
As a pioneer in organic cultivation in her area, she has since influenced several others farmers to go the organic route.
In 2019, she was the recipient of the Mahila Kisan Award.
The farmer, who raised one of her two sons to become a doctor and the other an engineer, credits her success to a simple principle –“Remain true to one’s vocation”.