From Subsistence to Sustainability: A Woman-Led Integrated Farming Success Story from Longleng, Nagaland

Ms. M Daoje Phom, a progressive farm woman from Kanching Village in Tamlu Sub-division of Longleng District, Nagaland, has emerged as a successful agripreneur by adopting scientific and integrated farming practices with continuous technical support and guidance from ICAR–Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Longleng. Through her dedicated efforts, she has successfully transformed subsistence hill farming into a diversified, integrated, and sustainable livelihood system, thereby becoming a role model for hundreds of farm families across the state of Nagaland.

With an educational qualification of 10+2, Ms. Daoje Phom manages a diversified farm spread over 6.00 hectares, comprising 5.00 hectares of owned land and 1.00 hectare of leased land. Her farming system includes 1.5 hectares of irrigated land, two water harvesting-cum-fishery ponds covering 16,000 sq ft, and multiple livestock enterprises such as piggery, dairy, poultry, duckery, fishery, sericulture, and wild bee honey collection. She follows an Integrated Farming System (IFS) approach that integrates field crops including rice, maize, millets, pulses, and oilseeds; horticultural crops such as banana, orange, pineapple, litchi, and vegetables; plantation crops like arecanut and betel vine; along with floriculture and agroforestry involving bamboo and fruit trees. Adoption of improved rice varieties including CR Dhan series, Swarna Sub-1, Ranjit, and black rice, coupled with scientific livestock management and regular vaccination, resulted in a 25–30 percent increase in profits.

With technical and advisory support from ICAR–KVK Longleng, Ms. Daoje Phom adopted several innovative, scientific, and resource-efficient interventions. These included integrated piggery–crop linkage through gravity-based nutrient flow, establishment of a 200 sq m kitchen garden that helped save approximately ₹800 per week on vegetable expenses, scientific mushroom cultivation through Self-Help Groups, vermicompost production of 8 tonnes per year, and orchard development involving arecanut, pineapple, litchi, orange, and bay berry. She also adopted rooftop rainwater harvesting and bamboo fencing for soil and water conservation, alongside scientific livestock management with regular vaccination, which significantly reduced mortality and enhanced profitability.

In addition, she developed local medicinal plant-based remedies for livestock and adopted eco-friendly practices such as mulching, mixed cropping, composting of farm waste, and biodegradable packaging using bamboo baskets and forest leaves. These practices strengthened sustainability while conserving natural resources within the hill ecosystem.

The integrated farming approach adopted by Ms. Daoje Phom ensured year-round income generation and reduced production risks. Her field crop enterprises achieved a benefit–cost ratio of 1:1.78 with a net income of approximately ₹2.9 lakh, while horticultural crops including banana, litchi, orange, and vegetables generated a net income of about ₹4.0 lakh. Livestock and allied enterprises yielded a net income of around ₹12.9 lakh, with piggery recording a benefit–cost ratio of 1:4 and fishery a ratio of 1:2.62. Additionally, bakery and value-added products contributed an income of approximately ₹42,000 per year.

Beyond farm-level success, Ms. Daoje Phom has played a significant role in extension, leadership, and social empowerment. As a Contact Farmer of ICAR–KVK Longleng, she actively supports extension programmes of the Agriculture Department, ATMA, NSRLM, Animal Husbandry, Sericulture, and Soil Conservation Departments. She serves as the Secretary of 102 Self-Help Groups with more than 700 members, contributing substantially to women empowerment, entrepreneurship development, and dissemination of agricultural technologies.

The success story of Ms. M Daoje Phom highlights the transformative potential of women-led integrated farming systems in hill ecosystems. Through scientific interventions, diversification, and strong institutional linkages, she has achieved economic sustainability while conserving natural resources. Her journey stands as an inspiring and replicable model for farmers, extension personnel, and policymakers, particularly in promoting sustainable agriculture and rural entrepreneurship in the North-Eastern Hill Region of India.

(Source: ICAR–Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Longleng, Nagaland)