Northeast India has remarkable stories of cultural and nutritional enthusiasts who are spearheading a movement to revive and preserve the vanishing biodiversity and bring back the rich crop varieties of the past.

Smt. Smida Shangpliang, a resilient 51-year-old single mother from Laitlawsnai village in the South West Khasi Hills District, of Meghalaya is one such champion who transformed not only her own life but also the lives of many around her.

The life of a single mother is a daily struggle, especially when managing a household of four. Smida’s unyielding determination and unwavering work ethic guided her through these challenges. With a 1.5-acre agricultural plot, she cultivated a diverse array of crops like paddy, squash, leafy vegetables, and potatoes for her family. Agricultural activities and labour work were their lifelines.

Recognising Smida as one of the lead farmers from the village interested in farming and reviving indigenous knowledge to grow healthy food, the FARM NE programme, facilitated by the Nongstoin Social Service Society (NSSS), promoted her. Encouraged by FARM NE, she embraced organic farming and immersed herself in a one-week training on Integrated Farming in September 2022. This training became the catalyst for change, said Roselin Mary Lyngdoh Marshillong, Field Programme Associate, at NSSS.

Smida’s newly acquired knowledge-empowered her to apply her learning in the field. and start applying in her field. She also started making her bio-fertilisers, bio-nutrients, and vermicompost. Her commitment to sustainable practices extended to bokashi piggery farming, enhancing the ecosystem of her farm.

However, her passion and creativity didn’t stop there. Discovering her knack for making “squash juice, the FARM NE team promoted her to start a small enterprise in fruit processing or squash juice processing to further diversify her income. NSSS, under the FARM NE Project, supported her with a processing machine through Shlem Saindur Village Organisation (VO), as she is one of the members of Shlem Saindur VO in producing squash juice.

In August 2022, Fate introduced Smida to buckwheat through training by the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA). This marked the beginning of a new passion. Buckwheat, or Jarain,” as it’s known in Khasi, holds immense potential not just as a nutritional powerhouse but also as a cash crop. Buckwheat can be used as an ingredient in dishes such as noodles, cakes, biscuits, and porridge. It is considered a superfood that improves health benefits such as boosting heart health, improving digestion, weight management, managing diabetes, etc. This learning made her grow her confidence and expand her knowledge of growing buckwheat.

Armed with newfound wisdom, Smida embarked on her buckwheat cultivation journey. She also received 8 kgs of buckwheat seed as a startup under the programme. This opportunity made her start cultivating buckwheat, and at her first trial, she cultivated only 5 kgs along with other crops as mixed cropping in her small plot of land.

The road was not without hurdles. She faced criticism from her neighbours about the buckwheat, but it didn’t dampen her faith. As a result of her hard work, the first buckwheat harvest yielded 20 kgs, which was sold at Rs 80 per kg.

She realised Buckwheat’s potential to transform not only her life but also her community. Despite the challenges, she doubled her buckwheat farming to 0.5 acres, reaping a bountiful harvest of 38 kgs in June 2023.

Smida became the torchbearer of knowledge and resilience to inspire her village and neighbouring communities. “As a role model in the village in cultivating buckwheat with passion and hard work, the community is now seeing her as a role model,” says Mr John Gilbert Marwein, the Community Educator of FARM NE.

Smida Shangpliang is now a seed leader, has promoted six farmers in the village, and aspires to establish strong market linkages for her produce and continue spreading the word about the transformative power of buckwheat. NSSS’s FARM NE project encourages her to extend her learning to other farmers from Laitlawsnai and other nearby villages.