March 2026
Janki Kushwaha’s journey reflects how DS Group’s CSR interventions are redefining rural livelihoods by combining technical knowledge with entrepreneurship, enabling farmers to move from debt to dignity.
In a small village in Madhya Pradesh, a woman and her family of four relied on traditional farming practices, using outdated seeds that yielded low and uncertain returns. With only two acres of land and mounting debts, she struggled to repay loans taken from relatives. Her seasonal earnings remained limited to about Rs. 5,000, insufficient to meet even basic household needs. This is the story of Janki Kushwaha, a farmer from Maumasaniya village in Madhya Pradesh.
Everything changed for her when field staff from Manjari Foundation, a partner of DS Group, visited her village. They introduced the Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP) and invited her to join. Curious about entrepreneurship, Janki voluntarily signed up, hoping to find a way to improve her livelihood.
The program, with four modules, was structured to build both confidence and capability. During the training, Janki learned to look at farming differently; she learned to recognize what she already had, what was holding her back, the opportunities she could use, and the risks she needed to prepare for. Alongside this, participants were also taught financial planning, marketing, and simple record-keeping that helped them think like an entrepreneur. “I realized farming was not just about growing crops. It could be managed and run like a business,” she recalls while speaking at a session.
Armed with this knowledge, Janki began cultivating vegetables on one acre of land, while dedicating the other acre to grains. She adopted drip irrigation, a method that initially felt difficult but soon proved invaluable. It helped her conserve water, reduce weed growth, and support dense plantations. Over the year, her vegetable yield rose to nearly 40 quintals, with crops including brinjal, tomato, onion, and gourds. On the second acre, she followed a three-crop cycle of pulses, oilseeds, and wheat, producing 30–35 quintals annually
The impact was immediate and measurable. Her annual income, once limited to ₹60,000 at best, rose to nearly ₹2.5 lakh in peak cycles. After deducting expenses, she now nets around ₹1,00,000 annually, with savings of ₹20,000. Previously, weekly sales of brinjal alone (nearly 100–150 kg at ₹30 per kg in wholesale markets) brought steady cash flow. Hybrid seeds and improved cycles further strengthened her returns.
The extra income went towards repaying old loans, investing in better farming tools, and, most importantly, securing her children’s education and medical needs. Beyond her own progress, Janki has become an example in Maumasaniya. Fellow farmers, once hesitant to move away from tradition, now visit her fields to learn about hybrid seeds, marketing, and the drip irrigation system. Her success has sparked conversations in the community about farming as an enterprise, not just subsistence.
“The biggest change for me was learning how to plan. Earlier, I worried only about the next harvest. Today, I can think about the next year and the future of my children,” Janki said while narrating her journey.
This article is a case study shared on behalf of DS Group, based on a grassroots impact initiative in rural Madhya Pradesh. For further information, Mr. Chavi Malhotra may be contacted at chavi.malhotra@prpundithavasred.com.
