56-year-old Ganga Sarni Bisht has emerged as a pioneer in natural farming in Himachal Pradeshs tribal district of Kinnaur, media reports said.
An M.Phil in Hindi, she was a teacher in Delhi before she decided to return to her roots and has now become a role model for women in the field of natural or zero-budget farming, reports Hindustan Times.
Determined to eliminate chemicals from her farming practices, she embarked on a quest for alternatives. This led her to the Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF) technique, the newspaper reported.
She attended a training session conducted by Padma Shri awardee Palekar in Shimla in 2018.
With the support of her husband, Sushil Negi, a former Air India officer, Ganga adopted the SPNF technique on a trial basis. Buoyed by the success, she expanded its implementation across their 10-bigha land, including the barren patches, reports Hindustan Times.
Their diversified crops, including beans, barley, peas, radish, carrot, beetroot, coriander, capsicum, garlic, and apple orchards, spanning 5 bighas, yielded fruitful results, with an annual income of Rs. 2.5 lakh from crops and seed savings of Rs. 5,000.
