Rishikesh Kumar, Young Innovator, Winner, Bihar Innovation Forum
2014
Madhubani, Bihar
Farmer and Welder
Araria, Bihar
Chitralekha Devi, Village Resource Person for SRI
Bodh Gaya, Gaya
Anjali Devi, Farmer
Madakasera Mandal, Ananthapur
District, Andhra Pradesh
• I belong to a poor family. I used to work as a daily wage
labourer.
• In 2005 I joined a SHG in my village. I saved money in
my SHG and borrowed loans for various purposes.
• I participated actively in the SHG and was elected as the
leader of my SHG and as the leader of my Village
Organisation also.
• In 2009, I learnt about Non-Pesticide Management
(NPM) method of agriculture from SERP and also
participated in a training for the same.
• I borrowed a loan of Rs. 10,000 from my SHG to buy
half an acre of land near my house
• On this land, I started cultivating rice using the SRI
method and other vegetables and fruits such as
drumsticks, jackfuit, leafy vegetables, etc. using NPM
• I invest about Rs. 30,000 a year in cultivation. I prepare
organic manures like vermicompost as a substitute for
pesticides
• I earn a profit of Rs. 1 Lakh per annum from farming
• After adopting this livelihood, I have been able to build
a pakka house and educate my family well.
• I also provide organic vegetables from my farm to the
school in my village to prepare mid-day meals.
• I was selected as a Resource Person by my Mandal
Samakhya (Cluster SHG Federation) to train others in
my mandal on these techniques.
• My plot is also a best practice site and people from
other states and different countries have visited it.