Women and marginal farmers in Odisha improved their productivity after adopting climate-resilient technologies, as part of the five-year project to build resilience of poor, small, and marginal farmers. The project was implemented by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), with support from the Odisha Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DA&FE).
IRRI representatives presented the results of the project titled “Increasing Productivity of Rice-based Cropping Systems and Farmers’ Income in Odisha” in the workshop organized at Krushi Bhavan, Bhubaneswar on 26 April 2022. The event saw participation of senior officials from DA&FE, including Shri Sanjeev Chadha, IFS Special Secretary, DA&FE.
Smallholder farmers account for nearly 93 percent of the total farm population while women account for nearly half of the agricultural labor force in Odisha. This coastal state in the eastern part of India has historically been highly prone to climate-induced natural disasters, such as droughts and floods, rendering the small and marginal farmers, and women highly vulnerable.
Through the project, researchers and extension workers introduced innovative methods that helped increase farmers’ awareness of climate-resilient rice varieties that have better tolerance to drought, floods, and common pests and diseases than popularly grown varieties. They also provided the farmers access to good quality seeds, and capacity-building opportunities in quality seed production. Climate-smart management practices that helped farmers improve their crop productivity were also introduced.
In turn, increased awareness shot up the demand for climate-resilient rice varieties, such as Sahbhagi dhan, Swarna Shreya, Bina dhan 11, and Swarna sub 1. The inclusion of these varieties in the seed chain allowed farmers to adopt new rice varieties and replace old seeds. Close to 60,000 farmers benefited from access to new varieties and seeds during 2016-2020. More than a quarter of these farmers are women.
Twenty stress-tolerant…