Champajhar, a revenue village in Thakurmunda Block of Mayurbhanj District of Odisha, is about 80 Km away from the district headquarters Baripada. People from heterogeneous castes like ST, SC, OBC and General are the main residents of this village.

Malti Mohanta from Chamapjhar, an amateur agri-entrepreneur has adopted seedless nursery as a livelihood option to supplement her family’s income. Malti resides with her husband Deepak Mahanta in a joint family. They cultivate paddy for home consumption purposes, but they are ignorant of the opportunity to increase their income through other agricultural activities and selling the produce in the market.  But, Malti getting out of household chores could bring change in her family’s livelihood when CYSD intervened in her area with Agriculture Production Cluster (APC) program in partnership with Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) through formation of Producer Groups and followed by various capacity building orientations.

Malti became one of the members of Chindigiri Producers Group and got the opportunity to attend several capacity building programs, along with other women members, organized by CYSD APC team, Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, etc., related to cultivation of vegetables using different methods and entrepreneurship models like, seed line preparation, value addition, etc. Getting training and exposure, Malti showed her interest towards preparation of vegetable seedlings through adoption of soilless nursery model.

Malti’s unwavering determination to become a successful agri-entrepreneur brought her in contact with the CYSD program team. After listening to her carefully, the program team committed to help Malti fulfil her dream. The team discussed with various government departments and finally the horticulture department came one step ahead to support Malti under the RKVY scheme. After completion of the formalities between Malti and the Department of Horticulture, she started the venture in Aug-2023. The total cost of the project being Rs 6,56,314/-, Malti contributed Rs 2,84,782/- and the RKVY scheme granted Rs. 3,71,532/- for this venture.

In every step, the CYSD program team assisted Malti, and extended technical guidance in seedling preparation, seedbed management, disease & paste  management and marketing, etc. Initially, she made an investment of Rs. 10,000/- with regard to procurement of seeds like brinjal, tomato, chili, cabbage, cauliflower, and cherry tomato seeds, and seedling preparation. After selling the first batch of seedlings at market price, she made a total profit of Rs.15000/-.“Within a month’s time, the seedlings were ready for sale and the profit which I acquired was fairly satisfying,” says Malti with a cheerful voice. While Malti’s aspiration to become an agri-entrepreneur is gradually getting fulfilled, she has become an inspiration for other women farmers in her community.