Graduate Homemakers from Kerala Earning Income Through Organic Farming

The four of them were typical homemakers, with the kitchen serving as their world. However, the area's crops were entirely damaged by the August 2018 flood, and that also changed their way of life.

They are a group of organic farmers who are now quite well-known in their village as a result of the agriculture department.

Meet her friends, Geetha Jayakumar, 50, Savitha Jayakumar, 38, Jayasree Harikumar, 42, and Vidya Jayaprakash, 42, who lives in Thalayar on the banks of the Varattar River in Kuttoor, Tiruvalla. Vidya says, "We never imagined that we would become farmers.

"In the past, like many homemakers, we could only prepare curries in our kitchens if we were provided the vegetables. But the 2018 flood reset the path of our life as all of the crops in the community were left damaged"   Agriculture department officials launched a campaign to encourage villagers to return to farming after the disaster.

Their remarks provided us with fresh perspectives and a chance to reimagine our lives. As a result, we decided to put on farmer shoes," she explains. And now, on over an acre of property, they are growing organic vegetables. We're busy producing, protecting, and marketing our crops, so life is fantastic. We are also learning about new farming trends, says Vidya.

Bitter gourd, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, chilies, cucumber, elephant yam, lady's finger, plantain, pumpkin, snake gourd, ridge gourd, tomato, peas, and spinach are the main crops grown by the women. "Even though we are all graduates, we had trouble finding jobs.

Our world was in our kitchen. We can now provide our families with a small income to our families every month.   Even though we only work on our farms for three hours a day, we each make Rs 5,000 per month, says Vidya.

The grama panchayat and the Krishi Bhavan, according to the farmer's friends, are providing all support to carry on with farming. They receive seeds and saplings at no cost from the Krishi Bhavan. The department also provides manure at a reduced cost.

“To help the farming be successful, agriculture officer Thara Mohan and assistant agriculture officer Biju P are always available," says Jayasree. They now farm the land owned by their families. The friends, however, plan to lease more land to increase their vegetable production because of the huge demand for their food.