Tripura farmer champions organic agriculture in her tribal village

This article documents the efforts of Hanna Debbarma to introduce organic farming in her village in Tripura. Hanna grew up in a farming family in Bairagi Para, a tribal hamlet in Purba Chandpur village in Tripura’s West Tripura district. Recalling her childhood she notes helping her mother weed their fields and eating farm-grown tapioca and yam. Today, as a woman farmer, Hanna works to encourage households in her village to adopt organic farming and nutrition gardens. A member of a self-help group since 2014, Hanna received training in nutrition gardens, organic farming, and integrated pest and disease management through Seven Sisters Development Assistance (SeSTA) in 2021. Visits to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research in Lembucherra and the Horticulture Research Centre in Nagicherra further strengthened her interest. She became the first woman farmer in her village to cultivate organic vegetables, selling her produce in the local market and earning ₹25,000 every quarter. Her nutrition garden now serves as a demonstration plot, showing other farmers how growing vegetables can improve access to healthy food, soil quality, and household income. Hanna has also worked to mobilise farmers and establish Swrungthai, a farmers’ field school. She prepares organic fertilisers, and distributes vegetable saplings to members of self-help groups. Through her efforts, 35 percent of the community has adopted organic farming. Hanna’s agricultural labour is intertwined with her labour of providing extension services, community building, resources, and education.