Pushkala: Women Farmers' Abundance

Challenging barriers of caste and gender, women farmers in Maharashtra are paving the way towards svavlambi shet or agro-ecological farming. After a year of experimentation and discovery, they share their experiences in this inspiring collection, called Pushkala.

Pushkala: The Plentiful

The Blossoming of the self-reliant farming experiments of rural women farmers.

Women farmers (names listed at right) working with the Society for Promotion of Participatory Ecosystems Management have written their stories with writing support from Swati Satpute and conceptual support from Seema Kulkarni and Sneha Bhat. Text by Prashant Khunte and English translation by Mini Shrinivasan.

The self reliant farming experiment has many facets, but the most important facet is that of affirming the place of the woman in the decision-making process in a household. How women have firmly established themselves through this experiment will be apparent on every page of this book at the beginning of this experiment, most women faced some ridicule, some have got the support of their husbands some have gently convinced their husbands. The important point is that village women began to speak up The speaking of this questioning this experimenting in the field like scientists, this is hard to quantify. This is an epic poem. The echoes of this epic will be heard in the stories in this booklet. That is why we have borrowed the title of this collection from PS Rege’s poem

Vast is your form and your soul

Plentiful within your abundance

Boundless you are for me

(translation from the Marathi original.)

The women in this book would not stand out in a crowd. They would seem no different from others, but in their own independent land, they have planted enough to nourish their family and community. They have nurtured it and harvested it. If a woman’s toil is recognized, she will contribute plentifully to the society. This is the promise of these women farmers we are sure you will appreciate this gift from the plentiful.

Essays by Sattubai Paikrao, Chanda Ghodam, Meena Gore, Padma Bhusari, Sarita Vairale, Sanjeevani Salve, Kalavati Sawandkar, Nilima Renghe, Sangeeta Tayade, Vandana Khandagale, Kumudini Dhile, and Suman Ovhal.

You may read the full text of Pushkala in Marathi or in English translation at these links:

Pushkala Marathi Book

Pushkala the Plentiful English

According to the household consumption and expenditure survey 2022 – 23 a rural household spends 46.32% of its total daily expenditure on food if half the income is spent on food it leaves little for other critical expenses and expenditure on education and health often pushes households into debt and destitution the national sample survey of 2011-12 showed that rural household spent ₹3773 on food each month and the post pandemic era not only have income shrunk, but food prices have shot up substantially. It is obvious that managing that fine balance between income and expenditure has been a big challenge for most rural households. The self-reliant farming experiment has helped women farmers address this problem along with food, crops, women plant and vegetables, and also gathered wild growing vegetables that not only helped to balance the household budget, but also increased the nutritional value of the family meal.