Nabeesa Shemeer Finds New Confidence on the Farm

Every morning at 4 am, Nabeesa Shemeer began her day by watering her crops. For nearly four hours, she dragged irrigation hoses across her farm in Valachira village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. By the time the work was done, much of the morning had gone. There was still a household to manage, meals to prepare, and medicines to arrange for her mother-in-law. At 47, farming was nothing new to Nabeesa. She had grown up on a farm in Nellikuzhi and continued farming after marriage. Now, her family owns about 0.4 acres of land and cultivates a nearby leased plot. Over the years, she grew banana, yam, beans, tomatoes and other crops. 

But making farming financially viable was becoming increasingly difficult. 

With rising input costs, an education loan of ₹5 lakh for her elder daughter, and a household of five to support, the income from farming was often not enough to meet the expenses. Her husband worked as a driver in Saudi Arabia, but the family still had to manage carefully.  In 2024, Parivartan, a HDFC programme implemented by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), reached her community in Valachira. Along with 60 other farmers, Nabeesa received planting material for ginger, turmeric, along with fertilisers. MSSRF’s training sessions supplemented her agricultural knowledge, aided her skill-building and offered practical on-farm advice. These trainings also expanded Nabeesa’s imagination to time-saving innovations. The biggest shift came with access to sprinkler irrigation. The new system reduced the time she spent watering her crops and eased the physical strain of manual irrigation.  

"When I saw the sprinklers working, I felt relieved," she says. “It gave me back several hours every day.”

The extra time has helped her balance farming with family responsibilities, while reducing the back pain caused by years of carrying hoses across the field. Regular visits from MSSRF field staff have also helped her monitor crop health and adopt better farming practices when needed. Today, the farm contributes more steadily to the family's income. Nabeesa helps manage household expenses, including her daughter's hostel fees, and has started setting aside small savings. Beyond her farm, she also serves as the Kudumbashree President of Ward 17 and an Area Development Society (ADS) member, where she works with other women in the community. 

Looking ahead, Nabeesa hopes to expand the range of crops she grows and encourage more women in her neighbourhood to take up farming. 

"I am planning new activities for my farm," she says. For Nabeesa, the biggest change is not just higher returns. It is having the time, confidence and support to keep farming and to keep improving, one day at a time.

Lasya S Nair is a Development Associate and Sijo Thomas is a Development Coordinator at MSSRF’s Community Agrobiodiversity Centre in Wayanad.