Parima Muduli, a 39-year-old Paraja tribal woman from Kurmakote village in southern Odisha’s Koraput district, has transformed her 3-acre farm into a thriving model of sustainable agriculture. She has set up vermicompost pits and bio-resource centres, rears desi poultry, and cultivates horticultural crops, vegetables, greens, and mushrooms — all under an organic, integrated farming system. Her efforts have not only restored the land’s vitality but also provided a steady income, enabling her to support her only son, now in Class 10.
“Soil is the very basis of life,” says Parima, proudly showcasing the bio-inputs she prepares on her farm — from handikhata and nimastra to bijamruta, jimamruta, and ghanajibamruta. She has also established a Bio-Resource Centre (BRC) capable of producing up to 500 litres of bio-inputs.
“We use locally available resources like cow dung, cow urine, and leaves from plants such as neem, arakha (Calotropis gigantea), guava, and karanja (Millettia pinnata) to prepare bio-inputs,” she explains. “These not only enhance soil fertility but also cut down expenses on harmful chemical inputs.” Parima actively encourages fellow farmers to adopt such practices, offering training on both the production and application of bio-inputs. With support from the horticulture department, she also produces high-quality vermicompost, which boosts soil health and provides her with extra income from selling the surplus.
Parima cultivates a diverse array of vegetables, tubers, and pulses, including brinjal, tomato, okra, chilli, pumpkin, bottle gourd, leafy greens, Indian yam, maize, pigeon pea, and cowpea. She has conserved more than 12 native vegetable varieties, such as anca lau (bottle gourd), kali tomato, and choto kumda (small pumpkin). In addition, she has preserved several indigenous paddy varieties, including haladichudi (130-day crop, white rice), basantichudi (130-day crop, aromatic rice), kalajira (145-day crop, black paddy yielding white aromatic rice), biri dhana (110-day crop, slender white rice), and sugandha (120-day crop, white aromatic rice).
“Our native crops are resilient — they’re tasty and nutritious,” says Parima, noting that hybrid varieties are often disease-prone and require costly chemical inputs. At harvest time, she carefully selects the best mature seeds for the next cropping season, storing them in earthen pots with dry neem and nirguni (Vitex negundo) leaves. These eco-friendly, tradition-based practices ensure seed self-sufficiency while safeguarding agrobiodiversity. In the past year alone, Parima has earned around Rs 80,000 by selling surplus vegetables and pulses in the local market.
Parima’s farm is a vibrant example of integrated farming, firmly grounded in agroecological principles. She raises about 50 desi chickens that roam freely, foraging for insects, scratching the soil, and flapping their wings — all while naturally enriching soil fertility through their manure. The family consumes the eggs regularly, ensuring a steady source of protein, and sells chickens when needed. “They are like our ATM card,” Parima laughs. Income from selling desi eggs and chickens brings her an additional Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 each.
Nothing goes to waste on Parima’s farm. Crop residues find new purpose — paddy straw, for instance, is used to cultivate mushrooms, and the spent compost is returned to the fields as manure, completing a sustainable farming cycle. Last year, she harvested around 100 kg of oyster mushrooms during the winter and monsoon seasons, most of which was enjoyed by her family.
Parima has planted more than 50 horticultural trees, including mango, drumstick, and papaya, across her farm. In the spaces between them, she cultivates maize and finger millet through an intercropping system. This plot blends vegetables, horticultural crops, and leafy greens, supported by an inbuilt water dugout that sustains year-round productivity and ensures food security.
Parima has completed a Training of Trainers programme with PRAGATI, a local non-profit in Koraput district, and has received technical guidance from experts at the Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN), which works with rainfed farmers in Odisha. By blending traditional wisdom with scientific methods, she has created a resilient, biodiverse, and self-sustaining farm. Now a Master Trainer, Parima has shared her expertise with more than 30 farmers in Kurmakote village, inspiring them to embrace sustainable farming practices.
Her farm also serves as a vibrant training ground, where she regularly conducts Farmer Field School (FFS) sessions, mentoring dozens of farmers — especially women — on ecological techniques and self-reliant farming. “I am proud of my wife. Her leadership has inspired many farmers in our village to shift toward an agroecological model,” says her husband, Madhu Muduli. Parima’s commitment reaches well beyond her own fields — she distributes organic inputs to neighbouring farmers and guides them in adopting organic seed treatment methods, fostering a community-wide transition to sustainable agriculture.
Her work strengthens local food systems, improves rural livelihoods, and underscores the vital role of tribal women as drivers of ecological transformation. As the Master Trainer of the Khadia Thakura Farmer Field School (FFS) under the Green Evolution Programme, supported by Welthungerhilfe India (WHH India), she has transformed her 3-acre farm into a living model of sustainable agriculture, ecological innovation, and community empowerment.
The Green Evolution Programme, implemented by local non-profits and supported by Welthungerhilfe India, focuses on strengthening agroecological food systems in Odisha’s Koraput district and Jharkhand’s Deoghar district. “We are promoting agroecological and inclusive farming practices to ensure nutritional security and food sovereignty among small-scale rainfed farmers,” says Sunil Ranjan Thanapati, Programme Manager at WASSAN, the knowledge management and technical support partner for the initiative in both states.
Adopting a landscape approach, the programme integrates agriculture and allied production systems, natural resource management, and community-led governance to build productive, ecologically sound, and socially equitable food systems. Although rich in agrobiodiversity, both Koraput and Deoghar face persistent challenges of food insecurity, poverty, and climate vulnerability. The programme addresses these by blending indigenous knowledge with innovative, sustainable farming techniques to create resilient, self-reliant food systems.
India is home to over 104 million tribal people, many of whom live in and around biodiversity hotspots. “For generations, tribal communities have safeguarded their traditional food cultures and agricultural knowledge systems,” says Dinesh Balam, associate director at WASSAN, Bhubaneswar. In the face of climate change, he stresses the importance of embracing nature-based solutions to build climate-resilient and regenerative food systems — deeply rooted in both tribal traditions and transformative approaches. Balam also serves as National Coordinator for the Coalition for Food Systems Transformation in India (CoFTI), a multi-stakeholder platform advocating for indigenous and tribal food cultures, forest knowledge, and agroecology.
“Women once held deep knowledge of livestock, seeds, crops, and storage. But as agriculture became market-oriented and male-dominated, their role was reduced to that of labourers,” observes Anshuman Das, who works on sustainable food systems at Welthungerhilfe India.
Parima Muduli from southern Odisha proves that when women farmers are supported and empowered, they can become powerful agents of change, driving positive impacts for their communities and contributing significantly to India’s economy.
Babulu Bagarti works as a Program Officer-Knowledge Management and MEAL at Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN), Koraput, Odisha
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth