Seven women farmers and Sirohi

Dear Reader,

Agriculture is almost synonymous with men, probably with a turban on the head, sweating it out under the scorching sun. But do you know that over 80 percent of the farm work like sowing and harvesting is done by women?

But today, women are coming out of the shadows of their fathers, brothers or husbands and creating their own farming success stories. This week, we have profiled seven women farmers running profitable organic farms. They are engineers, teachers, social workers, and even school dropouts.

However, common among them is the zeal to succeed, adherence to organic farming, and the willingness to take risks. Read the piece to know how they turned around the fortunes of their families with their hard work. 

Our other interesting story this week was written by my colleague Anu. She spoke to Gauri Malik, who quit her investment banking job to work in Haryana’s Sirohi village. Three years later, she realised that people consider non-profits equal to free goodies and don’t want to put in any effort. She went back home to Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, and started her social enterprise Sirohi from her parents’ garage in 2019.

Sirohi empowers women from marginalized communities by training them to make zero-waste home décor and lifestyle products with fibre and waste materials. The venture hit Rs4.5 crore in revenues in FY23 and is set to achieve a much higher number this fiscal.

Last week, I spoke to Tirupur-based Deepa Muthukumarasamy, a trained clinical nutritionist who began preparing millet-based health mixes for her toddler son once he turned eight months old. Soon, one of her neighbours came up with a request to make a batch of 7 kg per month for the family. The word spread and Deepa set up Some More Foods to sell health mixes.

Today, Some More Foods offers millet-based noodles, pasta, vermicelli, cookies, and other products across India. It is doubling revenues annually and is setting up a manufacturing plant in Tirupur with a daily capacity of three tonnes. It clocked Rs3 crore in revenues last fiscal and Deepa has grown the business by reinvesting her profits and has not taken any loans. Do read this mompreneur’s inspiring story.

Our Sunday feature is on Kuzhupilly in God’s own country. It is a wonder of nature with a beautiful beach and the sea on one side and backwaters on the other. 

In the Money section, my colleague Karan has given five tips to pick stocks in a falling market. The recent correction in the Indian equity market with a steep fall in the share price of many frontline stocks offers a good buying opportunity for long-term investors. He has shared five common ratios you can use to cherry-pick value stocks.

Happy Reading!

Warmly,

Rashmi