Women farmers’ Crop Cafeteria serves practical rice science

A women’s self-help group in a small village in Odisha leads the way in innovative learning that could lead to higher benefits and profits for farmers.

Although rice breeding has undergone revolutionary changes, the new high-yielding and more robust varieties have yet to reach many of the small farmers who stand to benefit most from them. In addition, small and marginal farmers do not readily adopt the varieties and technologies developed by scientists even if these are available to them.