This mother-daughter duo from Suryapet helps ryots reap profits

Vijaya Laxmi, Keerthi Priya generate livelihood for rural women with ‘Nurture Fields’ with sun-drying vegetables & fruits

Hyderabad: A mother-daughter duo from Thonda village in Suryapet district are not only solving the problem of providing nutritious food but are also helping farmers and the local community reap profits through their platform.

Odappali Vijaya Laxmi and Keerthi Priya sensed an opportunity in the sun-dried vegetable space and started Nurture Fields which procures farm produce from farmers and employs local women for food processing and drying. Currently they are in the process of dehydrating 20 varieties of vegetables and 10 varieties of fruits.

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Being curious about farming since childhood and moved by the post-harvest wastage, Priya joined her mother to partner with farmers in five villages near Thonda village and has employed 30 local women for sun-drying vegetables and fruits. In the process, they are helping the farmers reduce post-harvest wastage and generating employment and livelihood for rural women.

A BPharm graduate from BITS Pilani and MBA from IIM Calcutta, Priya worked in different private firms to gain industry experience. While she was in Bengaluru, her mother used to send her sun-dried tomatoes and this triggered the business idea.

The company is part of the Project Her&Now which is being implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnership with the Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). In Telangana, the project is running in partnership with WEHub.

“Now, we are looking forward to starting the operations of our first formal manufacturing unit in Suryapet, which will have the capacity to dehydrate at least 2.5 tonnes of vegetables and fruits per day, thus helping us scale up the business and come up with newer varieties of ready-to-cook and/or ready-to-eat food products,” said Priya.

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