Six years ago Dr Jolapuram Umamaheswari walked away from her career as a scientist in Singapore.
“When I came back to India, I was jobless but I wanted to be my own boss,” she says.
After some research she hit on silk farming, or sericulture. It involves feeding mulberry leaves to silkworms, harvesting their cocoons and extracting the silk fibres.
“Silk farming sits at a rare intersection of biology, precision, and business. It didn’t feel like I was leaving science, it felt like I was applying it differently,” she says.
However, raising silkworms on her farm in the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh proved to be a challenge.
“The early days were not easy. There were disease outbreaks, inconsistent yields, and the steep learning curve that comes with managing living systems,” she remembers.
Her scientific background helped to keep her going.
“Over time, small improvements in hygiene, feeding practices, and environmental control began to compound into better survival rates and higher-quality cocoons.”
The work paid off, today Umamaheswari produces 10 crops of raw silk a year, with the growth cycle of each batch of silkworms taking 25 to 30 days.
She makes around $1,000 (£760) a month.
“The result is like a steady, almost salary-like income. That’s what makes sericulture unique, If managed well, it gives you regular returns, not just seasonal income,” Umamaheswari says.