Eleven-year-old Vaighasree, residing in a village in Kerala's Kannur, does many things unusual for her age. To start with, she watches YouTube, not for cartoons but for agriculture videos. She is mostly outdoors, not playing with her pals, but growing vegetables in her home garden. 

A Class 6 student at Olavilam Ramakrishna High School, Vaighasree spends her evenings tending to tomatoes, cucumbers, ridge gourds, brinjals, and green chillies. “Once I reach home after class, I take a bath and head straight to the plants,” Vaighasree said. “I prepare the soil, plant seeds, water the plants, and check for pests. If I find any, I set traps.”

Vaighasree takes after her father, Sreekanth. In 2019, while recovering from an accident in Chennai, Sreekanth, a hotel owner, realised that growing plants was the best way to heal. “Initially, she used to watch me work in the yard. Later, she would spend her evenings after class from 4 pm until nightfall helping me. Now, she does everything on her own. I am mostly in Chennai for work," he said.

After school, she returns to her garden, prepares the soil by removing stones and mixing limestone powder. The soil will be left as such for 10 days before it can be used. "We use organic fertiliser, which is made by mixing dried cow dung and other materials in a 200-litre drum. I plant new saplings or seeds, tend to growing vegetables and water them," Vaighasree said. Most of the seeds are high-quality hybrid varieties sourced from Thalassery.

According to her mother, Rasna, Vaighasree’s learning didn’t stop in the garden. “She would initially plant seeds here and there. When they grow and give fresh produce, she would be very excited. She’s learnt how to grow different vegetables and sets pest traps by herself. Her father is her biggest supporter. He gets her whatever she needs," said Rasna.

The family’s 8-cent plot is now home to several vegetables. “We don’t sell the produce. We use it at home and share it with neighbours, friends, and relatives," Sreekanth said. Vaighasree even contributes to her school’s noon meal programme, once donating six bags full of ladies' fingers.

In 2024, Vaighasree was honoured with the 'Kutti Karshaka' (child farmer) award by the Kariyad Grama Panchayat. A year later, after switching schools and coming under a different local body, she received the same award, this time from the Chokli Grama Panchayat. Officials from both panchayats and Krishi Bhavan have visited her home to see the garden. Now, her younger sister Vaidehi, aged 7, has also started lending a helping hand.