SUCCESSFUL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN

SUCCESSFUL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSIN AQUACULTURE SECTORS –CASE STUDIES OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA9AFAF CODE No: FI0085S20:26B. Shanthi , M. Krishnan, A.G.Ponniah.Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, (CIBA),Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),INDIA

Small scale aquaculture canaugment fish production anduplift the social and economicconditions of women. Urban male migration and othersocial problems have led to anincreased number of permanentlyor temporarily women headedhouseholds. Women’s roles in aquaculturevary greatly according to caste,religion and position in thefamily hierarchy.

Need for this study This study has made considerable effort tocapture the existing and latententrepreneurial talents of women in fisheriesand aquaculture in Tamil Nadu, India. Women are very active in aquaculture, but wehave never been able to answer accuratelythe question which is repeatedly asked of us,'How many women work in the sector?’ This study proves that women are activelyengaged in aquaculture sectors. The case studies shows that there areopportunities to improve women’s participationin aquaculture and avenues of opportunities toget more women involved.

AVENUES FOR WOMEN IN AQUACULTURE SECTOR

Objectives To document the successstories in aquaculture sector To study the socio economicstatus of successful women inaquaculture sector To develop the models for aperspective plan towardswomen development.

1. Women hatchery manager Mrs. Tamilselvi Eraniyappan, is the manager ofPeriyar Mud Crab Hatchery, KancheepuramDistrict,Tamil Nadu. Mrs.Tamilselvi Eraniyappan, possess goodleadership qualities. Twenty women employees workunder her supervision. She is having a strong expertise in fresh waterprawns and hatchery production of mud crabs. She is having a good knowledge in brood stockmaintenance, induced maturation, spawning /hatching, larval rearing, live-feed culture, postlarval rearing, maintenance of biological stock,seawater supply system, air-supply system,cleaning of brood stock and larval tanks andmonitoring of water quality parameters. Mrs.Tamilselvi Eraniyappan, is a Jamsetji TataNational Virtual Academy (NVA) Fellowshipawardee for the year 2007.

2. Women crab farmer Mrs. Sussammal Nazareen is the first woman crabfarmer in Tamil Nadu who is culturing mud crabs in awater spread area of 250 acres consisting of 25ponds. She is having an experience of 15 years in crabfarming. Crab farming is being done for 9 months in a year. Farming is being done in earthen ponds with varyingsizes from 0.1 to 1.0 ha. and with a depth of 2-6 ft. Water crabs with a size ranging from 50g -750 g arestocked in each pond. Water crabs are purchased@ Rs. 75 - 180/kg. Trash fish is fed @ 10 % of the body weight of thecrabs. Crabs are harvested by hand picking and sold in livecondition to the exporters. Mrs. Susammal Nazareen, is a role model in the villageand plays a major part in community development.

3. Women Crab farmer(Crab fattening in FRP Cages) Women Self Help Group consisting of 15 members areengaged in mud crab fattening in fiber glass cages atKancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, under theleadership of Mrs. Arulselvi. Fiber glass cages with 6 and 9 compartments are usedfor crab fattening. Each compartment was stocked with6 crabs each weighing 500g -700g. The four sides of the cages are well perforated forfree circulation of water. Trash fish collected from the landing centers are fed@ of 10% of the biomass of the crab. Feeding wasdone twice a day. Harvesting is carried out by hand picking and also byusing scoop net. The water crabs weighing 500 g – 1000 g werepurchased @ of Rs.180 – 220 per kg and hardenedcrabs weighing 700 g – 1000 g and above were sold@ Rs. 500/- to Rs. 800/- per kg.

4. Woman crab farmers(Crab fattening in pens) Smt. S. Jayabarathi, is the leader of‘Annai’ Women Self Help Group. She lives inKattur Village, Tamil Nadu. Crab fattening is carried out byMrs.S. Jayabarathi and her group in smallpens with fence ranging from 100 to 200m²in size with water depth of 1.5 m. Water crabs in the size range of 350 to1500g are stocked @1 to 3/m³. Crab fattening takes about 3 to 4 weeks. Crabs are fed with bivalve meat or trashfish daily at the rate of 5 to 10% of bodyweight.

Harvesting is done using scoop nets and ringnets with baits.This group is having good savings in thelocal commercial bank. This bank has alsoprovided this group with bank loans for crabfattening activities.Each day she and her group of 12 memberswalk more than 4 km to reach the workspot.Mrs. S. Jayabarathi has strived hard tobring in diversification in livelihoods amongher co- members.The experience of Mrs. S. Jayabarathi andher group illustrates how the SHG conceptcan be a tool to improve the livingstandards not only of women members butof the whole community.

5. Crab farmers(Crab fattening in concrete tanks)Mrs. Manickavalli, heads a WSHG atCuddalore, Tamil Nadu.Mrs. Manickavalli and her group are having anexperience of 3 years in crab fattening inconcrete tanks.A concrete tank of 10 ft x6 ft x5 ft is usedfor stocking the water crabs.Sixty six water crabs weighing 23 kg of size300 – 400g are stocked @ of 6nos/tank.Water level is maintained upto 2.5 ft andwater exchange is done daily.The culture period was 45 days.Trash fish @ 10% body weight of the crabwas given as a feed. Feeding was done twice aday.

6. Women crab exporterMrs. S. Vijaya is a manager of Madras SeaFood Exports at Chennai.She is supported by her husband.She is having 5-6 years of experience in crabexports.She purchases both water and hardenedcrabs from Orissa, Andhra Pradhesh, TamilNadu Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra andAndaman.1 - 2 t (600 kg crabs) of crabs are exportedto different places from her company daily.Fattened crabs are sold to domestic marketsin Mumbai and New Delhi and to internationalmarkets at Singapore, Taiwan and Bangkok.Despite being only primary school educated,Her innovativeness, self confidence, keeninterest has led her to thrive in this business

7. Woman shrimp farmerMrs. R.Swarnalatha, Nagapatinamdistrict, Tamil Nadu is a BS.c (HomeScience) graduate.She has got good expertise in shrimpfarming and Sea bass farming since 1994.She also works as a consultant for othershrimp farms located near her farm .She also helps her husband who is aconsultant for fish feed exports.Her self interest and motivation given byfamily members has encouraged her totake up brackishwater shrimp farmingseriously.She is a good role model among othershrimp farmers in bringing forth theirbest in income earning activities.

8. Woman ornamental fish farmer‘Ornamental Fish Culture’ is beingpracticed by 5 ‘Irrular’ Tribal WSHGsNear Chennai, South India.The traditional occupation of Mrs.Vijayaand her group is catching snakes and rats.She has strived hard to bring indiversification in livelihood among hergroup by making them understand thatthey need not depend on the incomeearned by their husbands alone.Each day she and her group members workhard and have established an ‘OrnamentalFish Culture unit’ at New Perungulathur,Kancheepuram Dst.She is a good role model among othershrimp farmers in bringing forth their bestin income earning activities.

9. Women shrimp processors(Small - scale cottage industry)Mrs. S. Selvi, is a leader of a WSHG nearChennai, Tamil Nadu.Twenty five coastal women SHG membersheaded by Mrs. S.Selvi are engaged inprocessing white shrimps Fenneropenaeusindicus.Mrs. S. Selvi and her group members have 2 7 years of experience in this venture.White shrimps F. indicus is used as aningredient for making live feed for thebrooders and shrimp seeds stocked in thehatcheries.The WSHG lead by Mrs. S. Selvi are involvedin the following processing steps like,collection of white shrimps from local villages,weighing the shrimps, processing and icepacking. The ice packed shrimps are suppliedto the hatcheries.

10. Shrimp processing planttechniciansMrs. Santhanalakshimi and Mrs. Thenmozhi, arepioneer technicians leading a women wage laboursgroup at Premiere Marine Products, LibertyGroups of Companies , Mandapam, Tamil Nadu.They are educated upto primary level.They possess 10 -12 years of experience.This experience has helped them to gain goodknowledge in processing, packing, maintaining theofficial records of the workers and markettechniques.The duty of Mrs. Santhanalakshimi andMrs. Thenmozhi begins with the collection of rawfish stocks from the marketing department in thecompany, taking attendance of the women wageearners, deciding the day’s work for the workersand distribution of raw materials that needs to beprocessed by the labourers.

11. Women clam collector(Live feed processor)Mrs. Navaneetham from Kovalam,Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, is a clamcollector and a clam marketing agent.She supplies clams to hotels and to hatcheries( feed for crabs and shrimps).The step involved in clam collection is collectionof clams and meat separation from clam shellsand drying the clam shells.Only when they get an order form the hatcheryor hotel they go for clam collection. The workstarts at 6 am and ends at 3 pm.The group members wear very light clothing anddo not consume food when they go for clamcollection in the brackish water canals orrivers.

Frequently they keep changing their areas forcollecting clams. Once, they understand that theavailability is less in a particular place. They visitsome other area for collection.They give a long gap and then reach the originalarea for clam collection. By this they help in thegrowth of clams.Mrs. Navaneetham and her group members movein rows in the brackish water canals or rivers.Though they know swimming they only swim to ashallow depth area in the water and by experiencethey can identify the areas where clams areavailable in the canals or rivers.Only when they return to the shore they havethere food or even skip their food because ofnausea feeling created by swallowing thebrackishwater in the canal or river.

They often get hurt on the feet and palms dueto sharp mussel shells found in the bed of thewater bodies.Tolerating these wounds they continue theywork.She rides motor bikes and travels 60 km perday to supply clam meat to hotels andhatcheries.She gives employment to more than 100women in the village through this enterprise ofclam meat collectionShe plays a vital role in the communitydevelopment and capacity building of ruralcoastal women.She is a role model to other women in thisfield of clam collection.

12. Women fish meal processorMrs.Vijayanthimala and her group resids near(Pulicat Lake), Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu.They are fish meal processors. She is an expert infish meal production. Fish meal production processinvolves trash fish drying, storing, powdering,sieving, drying and packaging.Fish meal prepared by this group is supplied to thefish traders in the city.Fish meal is produced with the savings money of thegroup and the profit is finally shared among thegroup.She possesses good leadership qualities, dynamiccharacter; good knowledge in the subject of fishfeed preparation, self confidence andperseverance.She provides employment opportunity to manywomen in the village.

13. Aquaculture accessories businessmanagerMrs. R. Revathy is the Managing Director of ShriHariharan Aquatech,Chennai.She is having an experience of 10 years in thisaquaculture accessories business.She is supported by her family members andfriends in managing this business.Mrs. R. Revathy supplies aqua products requiredfor shrimp farms, crab farms and hatcheries inTamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnatakain India.Mrs. R. Revathy, has emerged as a successfulwomen entrepreneur in the field of aquacultureaccessories business management.