๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐: ๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ
Asma began farming mainly to support her familyโs food needs. Like many rural women, her work remained within the household, with limited opportunities for independent income. Though she had access to land, agriculture was largely subsistence-based and not viewed as an enterprise.
Her journey transformed through SSPโs Women-led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF) initiative supported by the Oak Foundation in Kottathara. Through the WCRF model, Asma established a nutrition kitchen garden and adopted diversified, chemical-free farming practices on 30 cents of her land. After seeing positive results, her confidence grew and she decided to explore agri-entrepreneurship.
Motivated to try something new, Asma enrolled in mushroom cultivation training facilitated by SSP in 2025. What began as a few mushroom beds in her backyard for household consumption soon proved successful. Encouraged by the results, she converted a dedicated room in her house into a mushroom production unit and gradually expanded to 200 beds per cycle.
With continued technical guidance on preparing the mushroom growing mix, maintaining hygiene, harvesting and value addition, her enterprise scaled steadily. A major turning point came when the Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Department of Kerala supported her with a โน22,500 grant under the โKoon Gramampadhadhiโ (Mushroom Village Project) scheme launched by the State Horticulture Mission to install a 200-bed mushroom unit.
Today, Asma produces 300โ540 kg of fresh mushrooms per cycle, earning a gross income of โน40,000โโน48,000 per cycle across 4โ5 cycles annually. Through value addition such as mushroom pickle, she further enhances her income, earning an estimated annual net income of โน80,000โโน1,20,000.
โI started mushrooms for my familyโs nutrition. Today, it has become my identity and livelihood. If women get the right training, even small spaces can create big opportunities,โ says Asma.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
16 February, 2026