Priyanka Gupta is a woman farmer from Sangrur, Punjab, owner of the brand Mother Earth Organic Farm. She published a video on the FTB where she talks in detail about her experience in farming which she has done for the past 13 years. She also made a number of suggestions to her follow farmers and urged more people to take up farming as a means of livelihood.
Priyanka's father was an engineer with Punjab electricity board and her husband is an architect. Priyanka herself manages her 4 acres farm with the help of women workers. Priyanka invites you to visit her farm and see her farming activities. Priyanka believes that to lead a healthy lifestyle you need a healthy diet. She mentioned that due to impurities in food items people are getting diseases like cancer which can be avoided by eating healthy organically grown food. She mentions that to protect yourself from Corona Virus you must watch what you eat and your kids will be healthy and strong with organically grown food. She also mentioned that there are complaints in the market about adulterated spices. Even good brands are contaminated, according to her. That's why she recommends organic food and says that inorganically grown spices are no match for our farm-grown spices.
Priyanka produces organic food in her farms and recommends organic methods of food growing to all farmers. She believes that organic farming will not only conserve soil fertility but make the farms workable for future generations. She mentions that the inorganic chemicals used for farming not only destroy the quality of the soil and thus the food grown on it but are also responsible for air pollution and water pollution. She recommends organic farming because after 1-2 years of Inorganic farming there will be no fertility in the soil to work with. Because chemicals used in farming kill the micro-organisms present in the soil and thus soil looses its ability to grow crops normally. She says that the earth is our mother and we must look after her. Her farming is more successful with her own chemical-free seeds that are stored in neem leaves than the seeds that were bought from the market. They never use chemicals to store their seeds and their farm collected seeds germinate better and there are no issues so far.
To start the farming cycle Priyanka says they first apply their organic fertilizers to the soil and then plant seeds on their farmland manually. They use vermicompost for fertilizer in their farms. She does not believe in using Monocropping and follows Polyculture. She says we must learn from our mistakes and constantly learn new production techniques. She says that she seeks feedback constantly from her clients to improve the quality of her products. Priyanka recommends the general public to take up organic farming as a means of livelihood since there are many opportunities in terms of sales and personal growth. She grows maize, kale-chole, mustard, bajra, potatoes, onions, garlic, and other vegetables. She tells her fellow farmers to process their food to add value to their products. She sells processed foods like pickles, jams, chutney which she learned to make from the” Women of India organic festival". She also attended free lessons given by Punjab University and learnt to make biscuits of pure cornflour, free of maida. She already knew some of these methods and techniques for preparing processed food but she picked up a few important tips and tricks to improve her recipes. She announces her products on her WhatsApp group and her goods are easily sold and most of the customers return to buy more products because they like the quality of her products. She says good packaging material is the key to improving your sales. She uses glass jars and good quality paper and plastic bags to package her products.
Priyanka says this work can be done by women as well as men. You must stay honest and most of these farming practices have passed onto us through generations of farming. She said it will take you a few years to learn and train yourself and after that everything will be smooth.