Improved Pumpkin Farming for Better Livelihoods
ODISHA, INDIA – Raibari Behera is a young vegetable farmer from Sarangagad, a village in Karanjia block, located in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha state. She farms on her own, with her husband alongside her, and she also grows crops as part of a women’s self-help group called Maa Tarini.
New Techniques for Higher Income
In July 2023, Raibari cultivated pumpkins on an 800-square-meter demonstration plot, with the invaluable guidance of Sanu Kumar Behera, a Technical Field Officer with East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation. This experience taught her about improved farming techniques such as raised beds, quality seeds, and integrated pest management (IPM), which prioritizes prevention and natural pest control methods. These approaches brought her significantly higher yields and an impressive ROI of 286%.
Raibari proudly shared, “I have always believed that the right farming practices can make all the difference. Since adopting improved methods, I’ve seen a significant reduction in production costs, while improving the quality of my crops.”
Raibari owns 2 acres of land where she grows vegetables such as tomatoes, hot peppers, cauliflower, and bitter gourds. However, after witnessing the successful results of her pumpkin demonstration plot, she decided to cultivate pumpkins on a larger scale during the most recent kharif season (July to October 2024). She leased 30 acres of land, producing 5,481 tonnes of pumpkins and earning an excellent net profit of 1,819,800 rupees (US$21,700) from her 738,000-rupee (US$8,800) investment.
Farming Together: Maa Tarini Women’s Self-Help Group
In addition to farming her own land, Raibari embarked on a collective pumpkin venture with the Maa Tarini self-help group. The women of the self-help group had attended EWS-KT’s training sessions at Raibari’s pumpkin demonstration plot, and some of them had shown an interest in cultivating pumpkins in order to develop their farming practices and improve their livelihoods.
Pumpkin is a particularly attractive crop for female farmers, as it has relatively low investment costs and low maintenance requirements. In August 2024, Raibari and four other members of the self-help group leased 30 acres of land to grow pumpkins, selecting a disease-resistant variety and implementing improved farming techniques.
For many women, the financial barriers to farming can be immense. Farming in a group can expand access to financial resources and help mitigate this challenge. To raise the money for their pumpkin farm, the women took loans from self-help groups, received a bank loan through a government program, and pooled their own funds, ultimately investing 738,000 rupees (US$8,800).
It was a profitable investment: their collective pumpkin farm returned a net profit of 1,750,200 rupees (US$20,800), which they divided equally among themselves. With the profits, Raibari and her group are prioritizing their children’s education and further investing in their farming—including supplies and labor for the next season’s crop.
Pumpkin is a crop that is better suited to the kharif season, so for the rabi season (November to April), Raibari plans to grow watermelons. She will be cultivating 8 acres of watermelon on leased land with her husband, and 10 acres with the self-help group.
Raibari has shown that with the right support and knowledge, women can lead the way in farming innovation.
