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.