Rathnamma Gundamanttha, a visionary women farmer from Srnivasapura taluk in Kolar in a remarkable tale of empowerment and agricultural success has achieved the title of the "Richest Farmer of India." felicitated by M C Dominic, Founder and Editor in Chief and Shiny Dominic, Managing Director of Krishi Jagran. Her journey from a farm woman to a billionaire agripreneur is inspiring.
Rathnamma manages a diverse range of farm activities in her two-acre Mango orchard, one-acre millet field, one-acre sericulture plantation, and one acre of curry leaf plantation.
Embracing cutting-edge technologies recommended by ICAR-KVK Kolar, she has adopted good agricultural practices to optimize her yields and is earning more than one crore annually.
The turning point in her success story came when she participated in a five-day vocational on-campus training program on "Women Empowerment through Value Addition, Marketing, and Health Benefits of Minor Millets" at ICAR-KVK, Kolar, from July 3 to July 7, 2017.
Undeterred by challenges, Rathnamma ventured into value addition and processing, specializing in millets, pickles (Aonla, Mango, and Tomato), and masala powder products. Leveraging technologies from ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad, and UHS, Bagalkote, she established herself as a pioneer in the field.
One of her significant achievements is the adoption of low-cost ripening chamber technology to naturally ripen her garden Mangoes. Additionally, she sources raw Mangoes from FPOs and SHGs, ripens them, and sells them in branded three kg boxes to apartments in Bengaluru and online platforms since the 2018-19 season.
With financial assistance from ATMA, Department of Agriculture, and Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI), New Delhi, she set up a millet processing unit in 2019-20 and a pickle unit in 2022-23.
Currently, she focuses on millet-based value-added products like cleaning and packing of millets, millet malt, millet upma mix, millet dosa mix, Mango pickle, Aonla pickle, Tomato pickle, masala powder products, all marketed under her brand name, "Vedic Food Products."
Her dedication and entrepreneurial spirit have made her the richest woman farmer in India and a symbol of women's empowerment in agriculture.
Rathnamma Gundamanttha's success demonstrates the immense potential within the agriculture sector and inspires farmers nationwide.
