With three children at home, the only time ZT Lalrithangi could study was late at night. So that is when she watched farming tutorials on YouTube and learnt what she could from other growers. She had a master’s degree in sociology and no training in agriculture. What she did have was an idea about strawberries, and the nerve to try it in Sangau, her village in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district.

Two years on, that idea has put her on a world list. She planted her first 1,000 strawberry saplings in 2024. By her own account, her strawberry earnings crossed Rs 10 lakh in 2025. On 21 September, an email reached her from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Aged 35 and known locally as Pi Mari-i, she had been named one of its 100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development. Reports say more than 600 nominees from 131 countries were considered. Only two of the 100 chosen are from India.

A government job that never came

Before farming, Mari-i taught at a private school. Like many graduates, she sat several competitive exams in the hope of a government post, and did not clear them. Her husband teaches at a government primary school and could have supported the family on his own.

She wanted more than that. She wanted to know what her education was for if she could not stand on her own feet, and she decided a government job did not have to be the only answer.

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