“I have now become a progressive farmer”
Safia George from Pakistan is learning to make the most her farmland through the SAFBIN programme, and encouraging other women to do the same. For safia and many other farmers like her, the main source of income in the area is from farming. Lack of resources like water limits the farmers to diversify their farms and improve the local biodiversity.
Safia is a resident of village 109/SB district Sargodha. She belongs to a farmer family.
Safia helps her family in tilling two acres of land acquired on lease. Her six member family is totally dependent on income and farm produce from the farm. From land preparation to livestock care; seed sowing to storage; and hoeing to harvesting, she performs various agricultural operations. She is associated with SAFBIN since the inception of SAFBIN program in Pakistan and actively participate in different meetings and trainings. She was also the trial farmer during research part and cultivated wheat applying line sowing method. She gained better crop yield as compared to broadcast method.
She claimed, “I was a traditional farmer but my association with SAFBIN turned me a progressive farmer. I was not much concerned about food and nutritional security of her family. But now bringing food and nutritional security is a priority than having more income”
Field crops, vegetables, livestock, and shade/fruit trees are the major components of her farm. At times when COVID 19 was at its peak, she spent more time than usual at her farm and produced and consumed farm grown fresh vegetables for domestic consumption.
