Umraching Marma, a tribal women of Gongjo Para, Golabari Union, Khagrachari Sadar shoulders the family responsibility as her husband doesn’t earn enough to contribute to the family’s income. Mostly having to migrate as an unskilled laborer, Umraching’s husband would also stay away from home for long periods of time. Umraching found it extremely difficult to manage her family of two sons, one daughter and her ailing old mother. She also has to tend towards her 0.08 ha of homestead lands, 0.32 ha arable lands at the river side and a cow. Since 2012, Umraching participates in the Sustainable Integrated Farming Systems project implemented by Anando and supported by Welthungerhilfe. She took part in a training on multi-cropping, using space and time to reduce fallows, recycling of waste from livestock and poultry to reduce input cost of production and linking surplus with the market. Umraching changed her fortune and she is now one of the most successful farmers in her village.
Known as the lady with golden hands, Umraching boasts of 50 perennial fruit trees; pineapple and banana cultivation as cash crops and intercropping cultivation with 12~15 types of crop in the fruit orchard. She also practices various composting technologies, organic plant protection methods, various micro irrigation techniques, seed preservation and also helps in propagation of these improved technologies through her group members. Umraching has also taken a lead in marketing her products in the local markets through various market techniques such as sorting, grading and cooperative marketing. She earned an additional income of 40,000 BDT in the winter season of 2013. “I never knew that a small piece of land could give me so much of security. I am now looking forward to transfer the knowledge to my other group members so that they too can avail the benefits of the integrated farming systems.”
