Women farmers from Betul district of Madhya Pradesh were recognised for their contribution towards shaping the farming methods

Corteva Agriscience, the global agriculture company, organised a virtual ceremony to celebrate the contribution of women farmers of the Farmers-Producer Organisation (FPOs) and the company’s Pravakta programme. Three women farmers were felicitated for their contribution towards sustainable agricultural practices and for creating a positive impact in the lives of fellow farmers through active knowledge sharing. 

Saraswati Bai, Lakshmi Bai and Sukhiya Bai from Betul district of Madhya Pradesh were felicitated for leading the momentum of change and supporting hundreds of other women farmers in their respective regions. 

The awarded women farmers shared their inspiring stories during the ceremony. They also spoke about the support given by Corteva under varied interventions. Corteva is leading several programmes to empower women smallholder farmers to realise higher yields and increased profits. 

Under the flagship programme ‘Pravakta program’, various women farmers have been trained to become the local ambassadors, ‘Pravakta’, who guide fellow farmers on preferred agricultural practices, enabling them to implement good agronomic practices and establishing market linkages of the crop. Through the FPO programme, Corteva has established an ecosystem to promote agri-entrepreneurship amongst rural women across India, primarily in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. They have been helping FPOs by providing financial literacy, leadership training and technical grooming for agriculture entrepreneurship for women farmers/agri entrepreneurs. With the introduction of AcreNext next generation of rice farming programme for women farmers in India, Corteva is spearheading the movement of using direct-seeded rice farming methods in the water-scarce region of Nawada, Bihar.