Nuagaon: The barely educated women of Dhenkena village in this block of Nayagarh district, who have formed a self-help group (SHG), are not ignorant about the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers.
With a view to promote the community’s health, they decided to manufacture organic manure, ‘cow ark,’ a medicine, mosquito coils and incense sticks from cow dung.
The efforts of the Mahamayee SHG is being appreciated by local residents who say that the group’s products have the required quality to find place along with similar products of big Ayurvedic companies on the shelves of stores. But they need government assistance.
“In fact, our products are gaining ground in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar,” said chairperson of the SHG, Kuni Parida.
“Be it rice or vegetables, they tend to lose their inherent vitamins and minerals if chemical fertilizers are used. Nowadays, farming can’t even be thought of without such fertilizers. When we consume these crops we harm our bodies,” the members said, adding, “Earlier we were not aware of the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers. Everything fell into place when we read newspaper articles.”
The farmers are also not getting any benefits from these fertilizers. Even after buying these fertilizers at exorbitant prices, the farmers very often do not get the expected harvest. At times the market rate for their produce plummets forcing them to commit suicide, said SHG members Runa Jena and Diptimayee Parida.
“The organic manure prepared from cow dung will go a long way in helping our farmers. As this manure is not expensive, they can get a good harvest and also save money. The crops produced through organic farming are not harmful too,” they added.
At present the SHG has 10 cows. Most of the dung is being used for manufacturing organic manure. With the rest the women are making incense sticks and mosquito coils. For incense sticks, rice flour, pure cow ghee and sawdust are also used along with the cow dung.
The women also collect the early morning urine of the cows and use it to make ‘cow ark’. SHG coordinator Pallibandhu and its adviser Ganeswar Parida said, “The ark is a panacea for around 40 diseases like acidity, cough, piles and asthma.”
Everyday two litres of ‘cow ark’ is being produced and a litre gets them around Rs 160.
“Our products do not have many buyers in our area. But in cities like Cuttack and Bhubaneswar we have customers. Each of our members is getting between Rs 300 and 400 a day,” they said.
“We are trying to protect cows and encourage farmers to use organic manures and harmless mosquito coils, incense sticks and cow ark. If the government provides us assistance, we can carry forward our mission in an organised way,” they added.
PNN