From Homemaker to Micro-Entrepreneur: Sukanti Mohanta

Sukanti Mohanta’s journey reflects how targeted livelihood interventions can empower rural women to achieve economic independence. A resident of Gojapathar village in Keonjhar district, Sukanti lived in a joint family that relied mainly on small-scale vegetable cultivation for household consumption and limited local sales, with little awareness of income opportunities in agriculture and allied sectors.

Her transformation began in 2023 with the formation of the Gojapathar Producer Group, where she became an active member. Through regular meetings, skill-building trainings, and exposure visits under the APC project and line departments, she gained practical knowledge on improved cultivation practices, nursery management, value addition, and marketing. With technical and financial support under the RKVY scheme, she established a soilless vegetable seedling nursery, earning a seasonal income of ₹10,000–20,000.

Building on this success, Sukanti diversified her livelihood by setting up a biofloc fish cultivation unit with full subsidy support under the OMBADC scheme, generating additional income through local sales. She also adopted trellis-based bitter gourd cultivation with brinjal intercropping, improving productivity and reducing crop management challenges.

Today, Sukanti is a confident micro-entrepreneur and a role model in her village. Her enhanced income, leadership, and self-belief have strengthened her family’s livelihood and inspired other women to pursue micro-enterprises, demonstrating the impact of well-designed, women-centric livelihood interventions.