An Organic Farmer

Rahasa Chhura

“I have followed instructions given in the app and cultivated organically to avoid chemical fertilisers. We would use chemical fertilisers earlier. Now we know that that is harmful for us because we end up ingesting the fertilisers.”

Rahasa Chhura

In the Balangir district of Odisha, India, there is a small village called Telipadar, home to about 120 families. Rahasa Chhura lives here, with her husband Kailash and her children. As a daily wage worker heavily dependent on availability of work in the village, Rahasa’s life was Rahasa Chhura worked as a daily wage labourer in her village, while her husband would migrate for work. Hardship was a constant companion to the family. “Cash was short. My children could not study,” says Rahasa. In 2015, she was selected as a project participant by Trickle Up.

Under the TATA M-POWERED project, Rahasa received a mobile phone installed with a Package of Practices (PoP) application and a SIM card, and a seed grant of INR 3000. When asked about how the phone has impacted their lives, the first thing Rahasa and her husband, Kailash, say is, “We are happy we have a phone!” A first time phone user, Rahasa uses her smartphone to make calls, listen to music and watch videos. She also uses it to talk to far-flung relatives. Sometimes, they call vendors to buy their vegetables, and even the seed seller in Patnagarh to place orders. “The seller sends seeds across to us by bus,” says Rahasa.

With INR 1,500 of her seed grant, she leased 50 decimals of land and cultivated tomato in it. From this, she earned INR 10,000. With the second instalment of the seed grant, too, Rahasa grew tomato. This time, she earned INR 20,000. “I have followed instructions given in the app and cultivated organically to avoid chemical fertilisers,” she reports. However, both Rahasa and Kailash laud the benefits of organic fertilisers as prepared with guidance from the PoP application and handholding training from field staff. Kailash says, “We would use chemical fertilisers earlier. Now we know that that is harmful for us because we end up ingesting the fertilisers.” No cost is incurred to make organic fertilisers, while previously, they would spend about INR 40 per kg of chemical fertiliser.

Rahasa does not have a savings account of her own, but saves INR 250 every month in her Self-Help Group (SHG). She continues to cultivate tomato, and has started growing some cotton as well.

In 2017, she took a loan of INR 5,000 from the Community Investment Fund grant received by her SHG, with which she bought goats. Now, the family has seven grown goats which are valued at INR 50,000. Rahasa and Kailash are repaying the loan gradually – about INR 3,000 is still left of it. Ever since Trickle Up’s intervention, Kailash has stopped migrating for work. He and Rahasa want to start a vegetable vending business – “I want to sell vegetables myself, instead of involving a middle man,” says Kailash. He also wants to buy a spray machine for crops, and suggests that the SHG could collectively make the purchase.
Rahasa and Kailash’s children now go to school. Their son, Rajkumar, is the most well-versed with a smartphone in the family. He can use Bluetooth, and can take and edit photographs. “I play Candy Crush,” he grins, referring to the popular video game that can be installed in smartphones. He learns how to use the phone from his neighbours, and then teaches his mother in case she gets stuck. Rahasa smiles, “He even explains the PoP app to me. He tells me how to spray crops and for how long to keep seeds planted.”

We have applied for FCRA Registration, which is awaited.

Please check back again soon.

Thank you for your generosity and patience.