Rahibai Soma Popere (), born in 1964, is an Indian farmer and conservationist. She helps other farmers return to native varieties of crops, preparing

hyacinth bean ''Lablab purpureus'' is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa and it is cultivated throughout the tropics for food.BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

list of " 100 Women 2018". Scientist

Raghunath Mashelkar Raghunath Anant Mashelkar The World Academy of Sciences, FTWAS Indian National Science Academy, FNA Indian Academy of Sciences, FASc Fellowship of the Royal Society, FRS Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, FREng Fellow of the Royal Soci ...

gave her the epithet "Seed Mother".

Early life

Popere is from Kombhalne village located in

Akole Akole is a city and taluka in the Akole tehsil of Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India. It is situated within the Sahyadri Mountains of the Western Ghats. The city has several historical sites that reflect its connection to the history an ...

block of

Ahmednagar district Ahmednagar district (Marathi pronunciation: �ɦ(ə)məd̪nəɡəɾ, officially Ahilyanagar district, is the largest district of Maharashtra state in western India. The historical city of Ahmednagar is the headquarters of the district. Ahmednagar ...

in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. She has no formal education. She has worked on farms all her life and has an extraordinary understanding of crop diversity. she belong to Mahadev Koli community of Maharashtra.

Career

Rahibai Soma Popere farm land, where she grows 17 different crops. She was visited by the BAIF Development Research Foundation in 2017, who found the gardens she supported had enough produce to meet the dietary requirements of a family for a whole year. She developed a series of

hyacinth ''Hyacinthus'' is a genus of bulbous herbs, and spring-blooming Perennial plant, perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths (). The genus is native predomin ...

beans for self-help groups and families in nearby villages. She was described by Raghunath Mashelkar, the erstwhile Director General of the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada'') is a research and development (R&D) organisation in India to promote scientific, industrial and economic growth. Headquarter ...

as 'Seed Mother'. She is an active member of the self-help group Kalsubai parisar Biyanse Sarvdhan centre (translation: Committee for seed conservation in the Kalsubai region). She has created her own methods to harvest water on farms; turning wasteland into space she can use productively. She trains farmers and students on ways to select seeds, keep fertile soils and manage pests. She is skilled in four-step paddy cultivation. She has learned to rear poultry in her yard with the support of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA).

Awards

Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Nari Shakti Puraskar to her in 2018">Nari_Shakti_Puraskar.html" ;"title="Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Nari Shakti Puraskar">Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Nari Shakti Puraskar to her in 2018 * BBC 100 Women 2018 * The Best Seed Saver award * BAIF Development Research Foundation Best Farmer Award *

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...

, 2018, instituted by the

Ministry of Women and Child Development The Ministry of Women and Child Development, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body responsible for the formulation and administration of the rules, regulations, and laws relating to Women in India, women and Children in India, c ...

, Government of India. *

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, 2020

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

presenting

to Rahibai Popere Additionally, in January 2015, she received appreciation from Prem Mathur, Honorary Research Fellow at

Bioversity International Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food security, food- and nutritio ...

and from R. R. Hanchinal, chairperson of a government body for the protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights in India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popere, Rahibi Soma 1964 births Living people Indian women farmers 20th-century Indian farmers People from Ahmednagar district Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018 winners Indian farmers' rights activists Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields 21st-century women farmers 21st-century Indian farmers 20th-century women farmers