Name: Saraswati Mahila Bachat Gat

Location: Khairi Pannase, Nagpur, Maharashtra

Members: 11

Project: Production of naturalpesticides

The savvy women of Saraswati Mahila Bachat GatSHG have found a niche enterprise – producing andsourcing neem oil and Dash Parni – for local cottonfarmers looking for natural ways to keep crop pestsat bay.

Neem oil is excellent at keeping sucking pests likewhite flies and aphids away, whilst Dash Parni isa combination of 10 types of tree leaves that aremixed and boiled to apply as pest control. It’s a win-winfor both women and farmers.

It all started when Ambuja Foundation mobilised 11 women – allof them farmers – to form an SHG. Together theyidentified a lucrative opportunity which would solvea farm problem. Cotton farmers were looking totransition away from expensive chemical pesticides,which had toxic effects, particularly on the body,from overexposure.

Neem oil and ‘Dash Parni’ were identified aspossible solutions which could be made by thewomen and sold at a fraction of the cost of chemicalpesticide. So the women got to work and made theirfirst batches of product – applying it to their owncrops to test its effectiveness. It was good stuff.

And the enterprise took off, with demand quicklyoutstripping supply. Making just 200 litres, they soonfound they required up to 1000 litres, and so filledthe gap by procuring it.

They soon also diversified into making Yellow StickyTraps – hand-made devices, hung in fields to attractand stick aphids who damage cotton crops. Todaythe women sell more than 10,000 traps every year.

But with so many farmers in the region, and withAmbuja Foundation having ready access to 1 lakh of them, otherSHGs were motivated and started their business. 12SHGs with 144 women are all on board. Talk aboutforging their own path in life!