Mayurbhanj —Sept 28 [UDN}: Jaimani Behera, a woman from Begunia village under Jashipur block of Mayurbhanj district, has emerged as an inspiring example of women’s entrepreneurship by earning around ₹8 lakh annually through her nursery business.
Coming from a traditional potter family, Jaimani grew up making earthen pots and other clay products. However, instead of continuing the family’s traditional occupation, she chose to explore a new livelihood opportunity through plant nursery and seedling production.
Jaimani had developed an interest in doing something different since her high-school days. Her association with a women’s Self-Help Group (SHG) opened a new avenue for her. After serving as a federation secretary for nearly 10 years, she drew inspiration from the organisation PRADAN and decided to undergo professional training in nursery management.
She received 45 days of training in two phases at a training centre at Khordha Dera. The training helped her acquire knowledge and skills related to raising quality vegetable seedlings and managing a nursery enterprise.
To start her business, Jaimani obtained a ₹60,000 bank loan. With guidance from Block Mission Shakti and PRADAN, she collected seeds of various vegetables and crops from Baripada under the ‘Mo Bagicha’ initiative.
In 2019, she began producing seedlings on a small piece of land and initially sold them at the Jashipur weekly market. Her business gradually gained popularity because she supplied quality seedlings at affordable prices. Farmers from surrounding rural areas began showing increasing interest in purchasing seedlings from her nursery.
As demand increased, her enterprise expanded significantly. For the last five years, Jaimani has no longer needed to visit the weekly market to sell her products. Farmers and other customers now visit her nursery production centre directly to purchase seedlings required for different agricultural seasons.
Her business, which initially focused on seedlings of cabbage, chilli, tomato and brinjal, has now expanded to include a wider range of agricultural activities. Alongside the nursery business, she has also cultivated hybrid maize on around five acres of land, achieving good yields.
Jaimani says the support of her husband and other family members has played an important role in expanding her livelihood activities. Her personal ambition is to provide her children with higher education and secure a better future for them.
Her journey from a traditional potter family to a successful nursery entrepreneur demonstrates how skill development, institutional support, access to credit and personal determination can create new livelihood opportunities for rural women.
Jaimani’s success has become a source of encouragement for other women in rural areas, showing that with initiative and hard work, women can establish their own enterprises, achieve financial independence and become self-reliant entrepreneurs.
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