How Odisha’s ‘Drone Didi’ Kumudini Swain Built a Rs 1 Cr Farmer Producer Company

On a morning in Sirampur village in Odisha’s Khordha district, a group of women look towards the sky as a drone moves over acres of farmland. One of them holds the remote controller while the machine sprays a fine mist of fertiliser over the crops below.

For women farmers here, spraying an acre once meant walking through the field with a heavy tank strapped to the back, spending hours at work while being exposed to chemicals. Today, a drone can spray an acre in about six minutes and cover up to 25 acres in a day.

At the heart of this shift is 40-year-old Kumudini Swain, fondly known as Odisha’s ‘Drone Didi’.

A pandemic and an unexpected return to farming

“I had never imagined that in just a few years, we would build something of this scale,” Kumudini tells The Better India, reflecting on a journey that began during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Armed with a BSc degree, Kumudini had spent years working in Odisha’s dairy sector, including with Milk Mantra and Sundarani Dairy. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everything came to a halt. The company she and her husband worked for shut down, leaving them without a livelihood.

“We came back home with our two sons. There was nowhere to go, nothing to do. That’s when we turned to the only thing we had: our land,” she says.

On their two-acre farm, the family began cultivating vegetables. What started as a survival measure soon showed Kumudini that farming could also become a viable livelihood. 

As the months passed, she began looking beyond what was happening on her own land. Around her were other farmers facing many of the same problems she had encountered: limited access to better inputs, uncertain markets and few ways to increase what they earned from farming.

“I started wondering, if this works for us, why not for others in the village?”

That question stayed with her. Kumudini began speaking to farmers around her, trying to understand what they needed and whether they would be willing to work together. The idea was simple at first: if farmers could pool resources, access training and find better ways to grow and sell their produce, perhaps farming could become more viable for more families.

Getting a thousand farmers to build together 

Those conversations eventually took shape as Maheera Farmer Producer Company Limited (FPCL). What began with Kumudini reaching out to farmers in and around her village has since grown into a collective of 960 members.

With support from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Khordha and NGO NIGAM, Kumudini began mobilising farmers, many of them women. Getting people to trust a new collective, and invest their own money in it, took time.

“Convincing people was the hardest part,” she recalls. “Most didn’t want to invest money. I had to spend from my own pocket at times and keep explaining why this would work.”

The initial capital came from farmers themselves, with Rs 5 lakh raised through share contributions, alongside a loan from Samunnati Finance. That money slowly began taking physical shape around them. The team leased five acres, built a 12,000 sq ft mushroom unit, planted fruit trees and set up a poultry shed. 

For Kumudini, each addition also gave farmers another reason to believe that the collective they had hesitated to invest in could actually work. As more people joined, the collective grew. Today, Maheera FPCL records an annual turnover of over Rs 1 crore. Nearly 70% of its 960 members are women, while 60% are young farmers.

For Kumudini, however, growing the collective also meant finding practical ways to make farming cheaper, safer and more profitable for its members.

Simple ideas that cut work and waste 

For Kumudini, innovation did not always mean bringing expensive machinery into the field. Often, it began with looking at something farmers were already using, wasting or struggling with and asking if there was an easier way. 

Paddy straw, once burnt as waste, is now collected and used for mushroom cultivation, creating an additional income stream for women working from home. A shift from glass bottles to polypropylene bags for storing mushroom spawn has made the process cheaper and more reliable.

The same thinking found its way into other livelihoods. In goat farming, rotary feeders have reduced labour and feed wastage. Sewing machines have helped women turn tailoring into a steady source of income.

Then came the technology that would make Kumudini known as ‘Drone Didi’. 

The drone that cut a day’s work into 6 mins 

In 2022, Kumudini was introduced to agricultural drones through a government-supported initiative. For a woman who had returned home during the pandemic and begun again on two acres of vegetables, the next chapter took her hundreds of kilometres away to Pune.

She spent 15 days there training to operate agricultural drones and returned to Odisha with a DGCA-certified licence.

Soon after, her company, Maheera, acquired its first drone, a setup worth Rs 15 lakh provided under a pilot project. 

“At first, people were hesitant,” she says. “Women had never handled machines like this before. But once they saw the benefits, everything changed.”

Today, Maheera has two drones operated by trained personnel, including Kumudini and her husband. These drones spray liquid fertilisers like nano urea and pesticides with remarkable efficiency.

“One acre can be sprayed in just six minutes,” she explains. “Earlier, it would take an entire day.”

According to Kumudini, drone spraying has cut spraying costs by 60 to 70%, reduced direct exposure to agricultural chemicals and made application much faster.

The change was visible beyond the fields too. Kumudini began noticing how people looked at the women operating the machines. 

“Women who had never touched machines are now operating drones. People look at them differently now, with respect,” Kumudini says.

Cutting out the middlemen

Making farming faster and cheaper solved only one part of the problem. Once a crop was harvested, farmers still had to answer another familiar question: who would buy it, and at what price?

Technology soon entered that part of their work too.

Through the e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) platform, Kumudini’s company began connecting directly with buyers across India. By aggregating produce and listing it online, she says farmers have been able to secure prices up to 60% higher by reaching buyers directly.

“For the first time, farmers felt they had control over their own produce,” Kumudini explains.

Alongside this, Maheera provides support across different stages of farming, including access to seeds and fertilisers, harvesting machinery and market connections. 

“A farmer doesn’t need to go anywhere else,” Kumudini adds. “Everything is available through us.”

‘I always wanted to support other women’

The numbers tell one part of Maheera’s success story. The changes inside individual homes show another.

For 40-year-old Sulochana Mohanty, work was never unfamiliar. Even before joining Maheera, she was running a small enterprise called Dakhya Foundation, where she made disposable products and tried to create work opportunities for other women.

But like many small rural businesses, growth was slow and uncertain.

“Earlier, I was earning around Rs 25,000 a month. It was enough to manage, but not enough to expand or support more women,” Sulochana says.

Joining Maheera FPCL changed that trajectory.

Through the collective’s support, including market access and more consistent demand, her enterprise began to grow. They sell their produce with the help of Maheera FPCL and run a profitable business alongside. Today, she employs around 30 women and earns between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 a month, with her business turnover touching Rs 50 lakh.

“What made the biggest difference was the ecosystem,” Sulochana shares. “Here, you’re not working alone. There is support, there are buyers, and there is a system that helps your work reach the market.”

Her association with Maheera also introduced her to drone-based spraying. 

“Earlier, spraying pesticides meant spending an entire day in the field, carrying heavy equipment and breathing in chemicals,” she says. “Now, with drones, the same work gets done in minutes. It’s faster, safer, and much more efficient.”

For Sulochana, however, earning more has also allowed her to create work for other women.

“I always had a dream that I could help other women stand on their feet,” she says. “Today, I am able to give work to 30 – 40 women. That gives me a different kind of happiness — one that is not just about earning but about lifting others along with you.”

‘Today, I don’t have to ask anyone for money.’

For 30-year-old Chumina Patel, the journey began inside her home.

A homemaker for years, her days revolved around household responsibilities and caring for her children. She had no independent income and little exposure to opportunities beyond her village.

That changed when she joined Maheera FPCL a year ago.

Through training programmes supported by agricultural institutions, she began with two goats provided under a government initiative. With consistent care, she says that number grew to 15 within two years. 

At the same time, she trained in mushroom cultivation, learning how to use paddy straw, once considered waste, to create another source of income.

“Everything I learned, I applied at home,” she says. “Today, I manage mushroom cultivation, take care of my farm, and also handle my household work.”

Her two-acre farm now grows vegetables like brinjal, cucumber, and beans, supported by her husband and father-in-law. The waste from mushroom cultivation is reused as compost, reducing her dependence on chemical fertilisers and lowering costs.

For Chumina, the most personal change arrives at the end of each month: she now has money she has earned herself. “Earlier, I didn’t earn anything. Now, I earn more than Rs 25,000 a month and I didn’t have to take out any loan to start,” she says.

That income has also changed her place within the household. 

“In my family, I am now seen differently. I contribute to expenses, I save for my children, and I don’t have to ask anyone for money anymore,” she shares.

Her neighbours have begun approaching her too, asking how she manages the different activities on her farm. 

“If a woman believes in herself, she can do anything she wants. Being part of a group like this makes things easier; you get training, support, and direction. It saves time, reduces risk, and helps you earn more,” Chumina smiles. 

Many more drone flights to come 

The collective Kumudini once struggled to convince farmers to join; now it has nearly 1,000 members, around 70% of them women. But the number she is thinking about next is not only Maheera’s turnover. She wants every woman associated with it to earn enough to make her own financial choices. 

“I want every woman farmer associated with us to become independent. Not dependent on loans, but empowered through work.”

Back in the fields, the drone eventually makes its final pass and descends. The women gather around it, the same machine that can now finish in minutes a task that once consumed hours of their day.

For Kumudini, the technology matters because of what women can do with it. “Farming is no longer just about hard labour. With the right technology, it can become a source of dignity and leadership for women. We are just getting started.”

All images courtesy Kumudini Swain