Meet Leena Sharma, Empowering Women Through Natural Farming

Smt. Leena Sharma hails from a humble background and is a well-educated individual who looks after the needs of her family members. Her family comprises four individuals, and her husband is a science teacher who teaches at a school in the nearby village. Initially, Leena Sharma was not inclined towards farming and aspired of pursuing a career in teaching, given her postgraduate qualifications. However, she later developed an interest in Natural Farming.

Smt. Leena owns a rain-fed land of five bighas and possesses a desi Pahari cow. As she does not have any machinery of her own, she relies on paying charges to cultivate her fields. Furthermore, she has established a group consisting of 20 female farmers who work collaboratively to cultivate 80 bighas of land in the village using Natural Farming techniques. In addition to her efforts, over a hundred other farmers in the area have also adopted Natural Farming practices.

Training 

In 2018, she attended a six-day Natural Farming training program organized by the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) in District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. The training was conducted by Padma Shree awardee, Shubhash Palekar, in Kufri District, Shimla. She was greatly impressed by his lectures and decided to implement natural farming in her fields. 

After the training, she started using various natural farming components such as jivamrit, ghanjivamrit, beejamarit, khatti lassi, agniastra, etc. She prepared these components in her 'sansadhan bhandar' and used them regularly in her fields, which resulted in a successful harvest in the first year. Her success inspired women in her neighborhood to learn about natural farming from her and adopt this sustainable farming system in their fields.

Hard work 

In both the rabi and kharif seasons, she cultivates a variety of crops such as peas, garlic, coriander, fenugreek, French beans, maize, mash, soybean, til, kodra, and bhindi. By growing these crops, she has been able to significantly reduce her farming costs while also achieving high-quality yields. Additionally, she also produces seeds of these crops in her fields, which she shares with fellow farmers in her village to cultivate.

Recognition 

On Independence Day, she received an award from the SDM and MLA of Karsog for her commendable work in natural farming, which was recommended by the Agriculture Department. In June 2019, the Honorable Vice President of NITI Aayog shared her farming experience with other farmers.

A Big Motivation To Farmers 

She motivated fellow farmers in her village to adopt natural farming techniques in their fields, which resulted in a ripple effect, inspiring people from nearby villages to also learn from her. Furthermore, she extends her knowledge to younger generations by teaching natural farming in schools and NSS Camps. She even provides training sessions to farmers from various panchayats within her Block.

Leena Sharma was the sole female farmer from India who participated in an international webinar focused on the effects of agricultural practices on the environment, economic cooperation, and the usage of resources such as energy, water, and food.

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