Women-led farms: Case studies from mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh

This article covers two accounts of women-led agroecology strengthening household food security, livelihoods, and agricultural diversity through local knowledge, training, and resourcefulness. Atti Ji, a 40-year-old farmer from the Scheduled Caste in Sukarna village, Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, has transformed previously uncultivated land into a productive farm. Until 2017, the 18 kanals (2.25 acres) beside her house were overgrown with thorny shrubs, trees, and vines. She invited Gaddi pastoralists to graze their herds on the land, using the livestock to help clear the vegetation, before continuing the work with hand tools and assistance from electricity department workers. She gradually reclaimed the land, which proved twice as productive as her family’s older farmland. After growing soybeans, she established a kitchen garden, locally known as ‘suadu’, alongside cereals and fruit trees, reducing her dependence on markets and selling the surplus produce. In 2022, through the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) project, introduced by the voluntary action group, Rural Technology Development Centre (RTDC), Atti Ji transitioned towards organic farming. On-field training and frequent visits helped her diversify into vegetables, traditional seed varieties, medicinal plants, and beekeeping, supporting both pollination and household income.

Brahmi Ji, from Rajodu village, began cultivating four kanals near her home to reduce household expenses and market dependence. Her ‘suadu’ garden grew from potatoes and radishes to include seasonal and wild vegetables, while surplus produce became a source of income. After vermicomposting training in 2003 and exposure to natural farming through RTDC in 2019, she adopted locally available manure and diversified into fruit, millet, dairy products, and backyard poultry.