Women floriculturists turn entrepreneurs

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Defying illiteracy, 420 women floriculturists from Kotha Reddypalem and Patha Reddypalem villages in Machilipatnam have proved that they can be successful entrepreneurs

Flower sellers from two villages have turned successful women entrepreneurs-cum-farmers by engaging in floriculture – right from growing flower-bearing plants to marketing the flowers.

About 420 women from Kotha Reddypalem and Patha Reddypalem villages in Machilipatnam mandal to grow different kinds of flowers in their backyards. Finding a way to tap the market, they started growing flower-bearing plants in every available piece of land in their villages. “Middlemen in the market try to cheat us. So, we sell the flowers on the streets and roadsides in Machilipatnam,” says B. Padmavathi, an illiterate woman who grows half-a-dozen varieties of flowering plants in her seven cents of the land. “The lowest profit on a field of five cents is Rs. 6,000 to 7,000 per month, irrespective of the season,” Ms. Padmavathi tells The Hindu. Flowers such as firecrackers, Arabian Nights and plump varieties of jasmine and other winter varieties, are grown in the fields less than 15 cents.”

Source: The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

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