Kerala: Rema Devi is a 57-year-old woman from Kerala. At the age of 38, she started cultivating organic vegetables near her home as a form of hobby. An activity she once pursued as a passion, later turned into a full-time business. Presently, she makes Rs 55 thousand in a month from the produce of her terrace garden. 

Who is Rema Devi?

Rema Devi is a resident of Kottayam, Kerala. She holds an MSc degree in Botany. Her husband who used to work as a professional photographer, died in the year 2015. She is a single mother of two children; her daughter is married, and her son works in Bangalore. Rema Devi shares that she has been engaged with the cultivation of organic vegetables since she was 38 years old. 

Rema Devi’s inspiration

Rema Devi shares that her grandmother who was devoted to grow her own vegetables in her small garden, inspired her to pursue the same hobby. As a kid, she used to help her grandma in gardening from where she gained the knowledge about plants and trees. She learned about the organic fertilizers and insecticides that are best suited for a plant’s health. 

She has been growing vegetables and fruits on her terrace for the last 19 years. She became a popular name in her locality due to her immense knowledge about plants, which prompted her to launch her own YouTube channel to share gardening insights with other people. 

Terrace gardening

Rema Devi shares an incident which led her to take this occupation seriously. Once when she purchased vegetables from the market, she could smell a pungent chemical odour from them. She found it concerning and decided to give up consuming market’s produce for her family’s health. From then on, Rema Devi pledged to grow all kinds of vegetables in her little garden.

A successful business

Rema mentions that as people gradually became aware about the benefits of organic farming, they took a special interest in learning more about the same. Additionally, her journey was featured in newspaper articles, and her work gained recognition. She began selling vegetables seeds from her home-grown produce. These seeds are priced between Rs 25 to Rs 40 per packet. She earns around Rs 55 thousand from the sales alone.