Five women farmers who took big risks and now earn in lakhs

Across India, women are stepping into roles once reserved for men -- managing farms, adopting new technologies, and shifting to organic or natural farming. From the orchards of Himachal to hydroponic farms and polyhouse agriculture, Indian women are taking risks and proving that agriculture can be a path to empowerment.

Historically, women have always contributed significantly from sowing and weeding to harvesting. However, they rarely decided what or how to grow.

Over the last decade, however, change has been gathering momentum. Factors such as shrinking farm incomes, government support for women farmers, and rising education levels have created opportunities for women in farming.

Yet, the risks are real. Farming demands capital, patience, and resilience against unpredictable weather and market swings. However, success stories are multiplying as women attend training programmes and take up farming after higher education, which helps in marketing and sales.

Here are five farmers who show that women can make farming profitable with training and technology:

1. Pranita Vaman, Maharashtra

After completing her MBA in 2019, Pranita set up her first capsicum polyhouse on one acre in Junnar, Pune district, in 2020. While her family had never experimented with polyhouse farming, she went ahead and earned a profit of Rs 10 lakh in the first year.

After proving her farming strategy, she expanded to two acres in 2021 and currently cultivates capsicum over 25 acres. Of this, six acres are under polyhouse cultivation, and 19 acres are shade net farming. She sells red, yellow and green bell peppers in western India and provides free consultancy to farmers. Her annual turnover is Rs 4 crore.

Her story: MBA woman farmer earns Rs 4 crore annual turnover by growing capsicum in polyhouse

2. Smarika Chandrakar, Chhattisgarh:

After working for five years in the telecom sector in Pune, Smarika got back home in Charmudiya village in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari. Smarika, who did her MBA from MIT School of Telecom Management, Pune before completing her engineering from Raipur, quit her job and began farming in 2021.

She now grows tomatoes, cucumber and other vegetables in Chhattisgarh. One of the biggest vegetable growers in the state, she harvests 60,000 kg of brinjal and 55,000 kg of tomato per acre and sells veggies in local mandis and other states. Her annual turnover is over Rs 1.5 crore.

“We have tie-ups with brokers and decide rates a day before harvesting. They go to Bhubaneswar, Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Vishakhapatnam,” she says, adding that her MBA education came in handy in forging market tie-ups.

Here’s Smarika’s full story: MBA woman farmer harvests 55000 kg tomatoes per acre; turns around her family farm

3. Anita Negi, Himachal Pradesh

Whenever Anita sprayed fertilisers or pesticides on the crops in her farm in the Talagali village of Banjar sub-division in Kullu, her hands would itch and she would get a severe headache. The soil had hardened.

When she took training in natural farming, her family discouraged her from shifting away from chemicals. She began natural farming in her kitchen garden to prove the concept. The results were good, and she gradually converted four acres of her family's land into a natural farm. She grows fruits and vegetables in the Talagali village, prepares saplings, and trains farmers for free. Her annual turnover is Rs 60 lakh from 4 acres.

Here’s her story: Himachal’s woman farmer increases income 6 times by shifting to natural farming; provides free training

4. Vidhu Rajeev, Kerala

As a housewife, Vidhu never imagined she would be a farmer one day. However, now, in her mid-forties, she is an agripreneur in Kerala's Kottayam.

Vidhu Rajeev has turned her family’s barren land in Kottayam into a zero-waste integrated farm that grows vegetables and spices besides dairy, poultry, and fishery operations, earning over Rs2 crore a year. She also turns farm waste into biogas and manure.

Read more here: How this Kerala woman turned barren land into a Rs2-crore agribusiness

 5. Ashwathy P Krishnan and Jisha VV, Kerala

Friends Ashwathy P Krishnan and Jisha VV shut down their civil services academy following a slowdown during COVID-19. They ventured into hydroponic farming and now grow lettuce, kale, herbs, and microgreens over a 1400 sq ft unit in Ernakulam. Farming isn’t a viable business model unless you innovate and adopt technology,” says Ashwathy.

So the duo uses modern technology to combine precision, protection and vertical farming to maximise space usage. “The backbone of the farm is the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT). In this system, plants sit in net pots with oasis cubes, a biodegradable and inert medium,” she adds. They harvest around 60 kg of leafy greens weekly, retailing them at Rs450 a kg.

Here’s their story: Civil services trainers take up hydroponic farming in Kerala; retail lettuce at Rs450 per kg

(Riya Singh is a Ranchi-based journalist who writes on environment, farming, sustainability, startups, & women empowerment)

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