Sabarmatee receiving Padmashree from President Kovind

Sabarmatee Tiki (born ) is an Indian conservationist and farmer living near to

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...

in the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

. With her father she runs a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

called Sambhav which promotes

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

and runs seed swaps. The achievements of Tiki were recognised in 2018, when she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar and in 2020 with the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

Career

Tiki was born . She lives in the

Nayagarh district Nayagarh district is one of the 30 districts of Odisha state in eastern India. It was created in 1st April 1993 when the erstwhile Puri District was split into three distinct districts, namely Khordha, Nayagarh and Puri. The district is borde ...

, near to

in the state of

in India. Her father Radha Mohan bought land in the 1980s that was a wasteland. Using

techniques, father and daughter rejuvenated the land after three years. They then took on more land, building up to 90 acres. Amongst other things they grow clove bean,

jack bean ''Canavalia ensiformis'' (jack bean) is a legume which is used for animal fodder and human nutrition, especially in Brazil where it is called ''feijão-de-porco'' ("pig bean"). It is also the source of concanavalin A. Description ''C. ensif ...

sword bean ''Canavalia gladiata'', the sword bean or scimitar bean, is a domesticated plant species in the legume family Fabaceae. It is used as a vegetable in interior central and south central India, though not commercially farmed. The unripe pods are al ...

and

black rice Black rice, also known as purple rice, is a range of rice types of the species ''Oryza sativa'', some of which are glutinous rice. There are several varieties of black rice available today. These include Indonesian black rice, Philippine heirl ...

. Together they set up a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Sambhav which promotes organic farming and seed exchanges. She left her job at

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

in 1993 in order to work full-time for Sambhav. By 2021, Sambhav had collected 500 seed varieties for preservation. It holds training days and runs an annual Seed Festival. The NGO has partnered with a self-help group called Ma Saraswati to promote women's rights and environmental causes in local villages. It promotes the

System of Rice Intensification A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

(SRI) which is designed to maximise rice yields and according to Tiki also makes the labour process easier for women working in the

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre ...

Awards and recognition

The work of Tiki was recognised in 2018, when she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India's highest civil award for women. In 2020, she received the

alongside her father in recognition of their decades long promotion of conservation and organic farming. Minister

Piyush Goyal Piyush Vedprakash Goyal (born 13 June 1964) is a politician, chartered accountant and cabinet minister of the Government of India having portfolios such as Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affa ...

said the two were "unsung heroes".

Selected works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiki, Sabarmatee 1960s births Year of birth uncertain Indian farmers Indian women farmers People from Nayagarh district Nari Shakti Puraskar winners Padma Shri Award Indian conservationists Indian landowners Indian women activists Living people 21st-century women farmers 21st-century farmers