I lost my husband due to tongue cancer, but I don’t want others to meet the same fate: Jyotiben

The man who knows very little about god he says god is inside us. We cannot see them with our eyes but with little broad understanding, we can feel them around us. It absolutely depends on our thinking whether we believe it or not.

Here, REAL VOICE OF INDIA going to appreciate the lady, who is really doing her best in the agriculture sector and in the name of humanity. Name of the gentle lady is Jyotiben Tank from Mangra village near Anjar taluka.
So matter is, having lost her husband to cancer, caused by chemical fertilizers, Jyotiben overcame her fears and inexperience and took a course in organic farming. She has since transformed the fortunes of her farm and family.
Her journey from home to farm has been amazing. Her achievement got recognized and awarded on a national forum in the national capital recently. She was felicitated along with 11 others for making a difference to society.
Jyotiben Jitendrabhai Tank was honoured with the ‘Amazing Indians’ award for Food Management and Nutrition.Amazing Indians acknowledges and honours the indefatigable spirit of ordinary people for their extraordinaryfeat.

Farming was never in her plans, says Jyotiben as she steps out of her tractor and walks us through her farm in Mangra village near Anjar taluka. She beams with pride as she shows off a healthy crop of varied gourd vegetables. Diminutive and slight, Jyotiben makes an unlikely farmer.

She was happy keeping home for her husband, Jitendrabhai Tank, and looking after their toddler son. Jitendrabhai, a smalltime farmer, got good money in Mundra for the vegetables he grew. As he expanded the operations of his farm, he began to liberally use chemical fertilizers and sprays to ensure larger crops. Unaware of the health hazards, he believed he was doing what was necessary to make the farm profitable. When he was diagnosed with tongue cancer, it came as a shock to everyone who knew him. He did not chew tobacco and was generally known as a healthy man of good habits.

Jyotiben found hidden reserves of strength and fight, taking Jitendrabhai back and forth to hospitals in Ahmedabad. She would stay with him while he underwent treatment and, despite her inexperience, deal with labourers and day-to-day farm matters over the phone. She spent close to Rs 18 lakh on her husband’s treatment but his cancer was at a late stage and it was only a matter of time before he succumbed.

“I didn’t know anything about farming when I married him 20 years ago,” Jyotiben says.“I was very young and had my child less than two years after we were married.I was so engrossed in my household chores and raising my son that I didn’t pay much attention to learning about the farm, though my husband loved to talk about his work.” Having learned a devastating lesson, Jyotiben’s first decision was to do away with chemical fertilizers.“They killed my husband,” she says,“and I don’t want others to meet the same fate.”

Widowed so tragically, Jyotiben refused to be intimidated by her new responsibilities. On the advice of a friend, she approached Krushi Vigyan Kendra and the Adani Foundation in Mundra where she took a course in organic farming,learning how to prepare manure from earthworms and cow dung. She began farming her four acres of landwith organic fertilizer she prepared herself. The foundation gave her the equipment she needed to get started, including sprinklers for drip irrigation. She joined a‘Farmers Interest Group’ (FIG)through ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency), a government scheme designed to help farmers become aware of innovative technologies and new farming techniques.

Jyotiben’s willingness to adapt to her new circumstances and her desire to learn as much as she could about farming has ensured the health and prosperity of both her farm and her family. Her sonis studying fine arts at college and is a gifted artist. He remains, though, by his mother’s side at the farm and pitches in whenever she needs him. Jyotiben’s small physical stature cannot mask her strength. She has made a success of her life, has educated herself to become a progressive farmer and is an example to other women that anything, even against the most imposing odds, is possible.