Bhagalpur: Two homemaker-turned-farmers, Rinku Devi and Vinita Kumari, from the remote hinterland of the Maoist-hit Banka district won the Jagjivan Ram Abhinav Kisan Navachar Puraskar (Jagjivan Ram Innovative Farmer Award (Zonal)-2018.

The national award, sponsored by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Icar), was presented to the duo in New Delhi on July 16 on the Icar foundation day. The award includes Rs 50,000 each and a prize.

The success story of Rinku and Vinita's struggle started with the need to produce mushroom for livelihood, which helps many others to eke a living and the mushroom which they produce commands good demand in the markets of the neighbouring states.

"To recognise the outstanding contribution of innovative farmers for initiatives in development adoption, modification and dissemination of improved technology and practices for increased income with sustainability, the two women farmers were selected for the zonal awards," said R.K. Sohane, director, extension, Bihar Agricultural University (BAU), Sabour.

The stories of Rinku (28) and Vinita (42), both from Jhirwa village under Chutia panchayat in Banka, was inspiring. Simple homemakers, both toiled from dawn to dusk in their household work and sometimes in the fields. "Our husbands had low income, making it hard to run the families," said Rinku.

"I had decided to take some loan from the bank but didn't manage a single paisa even after running from pillar to post. Then someone told me to go to Krishi Vighyan Kendra (KVK), Banka, and take a five-day training. It had changed my life after which I started mushroom production in my house," Vinita recalled.

Rinku also narrated a similar story. The mushroom produced by the duo has now become a brand and people from even Bengal have started visiting Jhirwa village for their mushrooms.