R Pappammal is an Organic Farmworker from Thekkampatti Village near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, who received the Padma Shri in 2021 for Organic Farming. She is known as an agricultural innovator and is linked with the education department of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
She has collaborated with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University over the decades. Pappammal came across the term organic agriculture. She returned home and began researching it. Her techniques became well-known, and the University began sending undergraduates on field trips to her area. She would fly to their farmers’ meetings.
Using dangerous chemicals generates toxic remnants that have a detrimental effect on the soil on multiple levels, affecting soil microbes, wildlife, and even humanity. Soil depletion has consequences that extend beyond the agricultural land that is lost. It has enhanced contamination and sedimentation in rivers and streams, blocking these channels and decreasing fish and other aquatic animals. Furthermore, deteriorating areas lose the capability of retaining water, which can exacerbate flooding. Organic farming can assist in minimizing the effects on agricultural production by reducing soil depletion and erosion, along with the loss of vital land.
Her Contributions to the Society
She discovered organic farming at a farmers’ gathering and used it to cultivate crops such as millets, lentils, and grains during the rainy season. She has been growing bananas via micro-irrigation alongside traditional rain-fed crops for the previous ten years. She rose to prominence as a leading farmer and an emblem of women in agriculture after joining the ICAR’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra in the Coimbatore district, which is run by the Avinashilingam Institute of Home Science for Women.
She posed as an immediate leader after receiving rudimentary preparation from the KVK’s local executive council. She organized other women in agricultural expansion operations using her natural organizing skills. As a prominent figure of the Avinashilingam Institute of Home Science for Women’s extension center and a representative of different committees at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in Coimbatore, she was instrumental in developing lab-to-farm innovations.
She was an early supporter and champion of innovative projects among her fellow female farmers. Under her supervision, she successfully executed a granary program in 2007 by assuring the involvement of other farmers. Despite having little formal education, she contributed significantly to organic farming.
