Dreams do come true

Jaya Surendran is a 51-year-old housewife turned farmer and cattle breeder from Thrissur district of Kerala. Her husband, involved in farming for decades was the sole bread winner for the family of four. Jaya decided to do something of her own and took up farming to meet the growing expenses of the family.

She started with vegetable farming on the side line of family’s paddy field and a small piece of adjacent land taken on lease. Initially neither her husband nor her family supported her idea of doing farming. However, the agriculture office supported and gave her ample training along with hybrid seeds to start her agriculture enterprise. She participated in various training related to vegetable farming during the initial stages. Her efforts were rewarded with good yields in the first harvest.

However, she needed more capital and land to increase her earnings. Meantime, she came to know about Muthoot Microfin and upon knowing about the organisation’s modus operandi, she joined a nearby JLG and availed her first cycle loan of ₹30,000. Jaya utilised the entire amount plus her savings to buy new farming land. Apart from paddy, she added varieties of seasonal vegetables and scaled up her farming.

Two loan cycles later, Jaya added two cows to her shed that increased the dairy production. She is now providing milk to three tea shops and several neighbours and nearby cooperative milk society. Her monthly profit now from farming and animal husbandry averages ₹25,000. Jaya is now on her fourth cycle loan of ₹65,000 and has also taken a personal loan from the organisation. Today, Jaya is a role model for her villagers and a living example of women empowerment. She is thankful to Muthoot Microfin for enabling her in making her dreams come true.