48 Year Old Woman Farmer Stole The SRI Show

A Manonmani, 48-year-old high school educated woman farmer from Tirunelveli, stole the show at national symposium on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in India held at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Monday.She threw a vital suggestion at the agricultural scientists to invent a weed elimination machine. An emotional Manonmani told bluntly the scientists and researchers at the symposium that the machine was a must as women engaged in removing weeds in paddy fields often complained of chest ache and they had to bend their back for hours.

The SRI is currently implemented in 220 districts in various states in the country. Manonmani first implemented the SRI system (low investment and high productivity) on a-half acre plot at Thenpathur village in Tirunelveli district in 2002. Using SRI she produced 17 tonnes of rice per hectare, first in the country, against the normal 10 to 12 tonnes.

Manonmani said: I received training on SRI from TNAU scientists. Under SRI, paddy is transplanted in rows leaving space between them instead of planting it like bushes as done in traditional method. Less water and less number of workers are required in the new method. I could enhance the yield and earn a net profit of Rs 10,000 per acre. That is why I have extended the technology to seven acres.

Manonmani, mother of six - five sons and one daughter, told to newspaper: Personal effort is the prime capital in the scheme. Though the technology is developed to enhance the productivity by the scientists, the drawback is manual weeding. If the scientist can replace manual weeding with a machine, the women, toiling hard to remove weeds, will be relieved of chest ache. Even the profit will double as the manual weeding is quite expensive.

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