Kindly review “Mayhem of the Miserables!” @ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075
Thirty eight year-old Narsamma belongs to the Schedule Caste and lives with her husband Rudrappa, three sons and one daughter in Narasambadhi village in Agali Mandal of Anantapur district. She had one acre of dryland on which she cultivated red gram and groundnut. The crops were dependent on rain which was often quite scarce.
Since there were many flowering plants in the village, Narsamma strung flowers into garlands for a living. She was paid Rs.7 for each kilogram of flowers she made into garlands, and she was able to string two kilograms of flowers in a day. Whenever Rudrappa did not get work, he helped her. Their combined income was about Rs.35 per day. When the rains were good, they got Rs.8, 000 from the crops. As this amount was not sufficient for food and the children’s education they stopped sending the children to school.
The watershed programme was initiated in the village and Narsamma joined the Ambedkar self-help group of women. Here she saved Rs.30 per month regularly. Narsamma and Rudrappa had long wanted to start floriculture on their land, so when their neighbour sunk a borewell on his land they requested him to give them water for their field. The farmer agreed to provide water for 5 hours a day at the rate of Rs.20 per hour. Though this was not a small amount the couple was determined to cultivate flowers. They needed Rs.15, 000 to set up a floriculture business, so Narsamma took a loan from the village organisation’s livelihood fund.
They planted jasmine (tube rose), Kanakambaram and Kagada on their one acre of land and watered the plants once every week. After three months the Kanakambaram started flowering and a month after, so did the Kagada.
Profit from Kanakambaram:
Income:
• Yield of 10 kg flowers once in 3 days at Rs.120 per kg Rs. 1,200
Expenses:
• Plucking (at Rs.20 per kg) Rs. 200
• Expenditure on stringing the flowers together (at Rs.20 per kg) Rs. 200
• Total expenses: Rs. 400
Profit Rs. 800
Plucked 10 times in a month, hence total profit per month Rs. 8,000
Profit from Kagada:
Income
• Yield of 10 kg flowers once in 3 days at Rs.70 per kg Rs. 700
Expenses
• Plucking Rs. 100
• Expenditure on stringing the flowers together (at Rs.7 per kg) Rs. 70
• Total expenses Rs. 170
Profit Rs. 530
Total profit per month is about Rs. 5,000
Both varieties together fetch a profit of Rs.13, 000 and after meeting other expenses like power they had a stable monthly income of Rs.10, 000.
While they were waiting for the jasmine, to flower, which would be only after one year, Narsamma took a jasmine garden on lease. She invested Rs.30, 000 out of her monthly income. The change in Narsamma’s life was beyond imagination. She not only earned ten times her earlier income but also became a proud flower-producer. Floriculture brought many changes to their lives. She repaid an old debt of Rs.20, 000 which she had taken to pay for surgery. Her children now go to a good school for which she spends Rs.20, 000 per year. The couple now wears good clothes and eat vegetables, meat, milk and fruits. And they can do all this without being in debt.
No comments:
Post a Comment