Surguja's Kiran Yadav moves from sanitation worker to farming, grows potatoes on two acres

Kiran Yadav, associated with a cleanliness drive in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, has used her savings to cultivate potatoes on two acres while carving a new path in agriculture.

Rural women in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district are steadily scripting their own stories of self-reliance. Among them, Kiran Yadav, who is closely associated with a local cleanliness drive, has built a distinct identity for herself. After starting out as a sanitation worker, she is now channeling her savings from the campaign into agriculture. Her journey highlights how a strong desire to learn and step into new domains can help women break traditional boundaries.

Kiran Yadav works with the Unnati Self-Help Group as part of the sanitation campaign while also actively engaging in social service and NGO-related activities. Instead of letting her savings from the group sit idle, she decided to invest them purposefully. Driven by a deep curiosity to learn farming, she took up potato cultivation for the very first time.

Cultivating Potatoes Across Two Acres
For her maiden farming venture, Kiran planted potatoes across approximately two acres of land this year. The total investment for this crop stands at roughly 50,000 to 60,000 rupees. However, the crop is still far from harvest-ready, and a sudden pest attack has begun damaging some of the plants. Because of this ongoing crop damage, it remains difficult at this stage to estimate what her final profits might look like.

Using Organic Jivamrit to Combat Pests
The appearance of pests in her potato field has naturally caused some worry, but Kiran is already preparing a natural defense using Jivamrit to protect her yield. She had previously used Jivamrit while growing chillies, an experiment that yielded encouraging results for her farm.

Kiran learned how to prepare Jivamrit through training provided by an NGO, and she now brews the mixture right at home. The formulation relies on natural ingredients such as cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, and gram flour (besan). Having witnessed how effectively it protected her chilli plants from pests in the past, she is optimistic that applying it to her potato crops will yield similar safeguards. Her primary motivation remains the urge to master agricultural practices rather than simply chasing immediate financial gains.

What this means for you
In Chhattisgarh: Rural women across Surguja and nearby districts receive practical encouragement to explore self-employment and modern farming techniques.

Across India: It highlights a positive example for women in self-help groups on how to channel savings into productive agricultural investments.

Questions & Answers

1. Which district is Kiran Yadav from?
Kiran Yadav is from the Surguja district in Chhattisgarh.

2. How much land has Kiran used for her potato cultivation?
She has cultivated potatoes on approximately two acres of land for the first time this year.

3. What was the total cost incurred in growing the potato crop?
The cultivation cost came to around 50,000 to 60,000 rupees.

4. What method is Kiran using to protect her crops from pests?
She is preparing to use homemade organic Jivamrit to protect her crops from pest infestations.

5. What ingredients are used to prepare Jivamrit?
It is prepared using materials such as cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, and gram flour.

Inspiration & Lessons
Early Work Ethic: Starting career involvement through cleanliness drives and social service right after completing high school education.

Purposeful Savings: Directing savings from self-help group activities into productive agricultural investments rather than letting funds sit idle.

Overcoming Challenges: Tackling pest outbreaks with natural organic solutions like Jivamrit learned through NGO training rather than giving up.

Passion for Learning: Prioritizing the acquisition of new agricultural skills and knowledge over immediate financial returns.

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