Farmers  

The shortage of labour posed a significant problem in accomplishing daily farming tasks. To find a solution, Gurucharan Pradhan, a resident of Odisha, embarked on making a machine capable of performing several tasks at once. In the year 2000, he began studying various machines and designed his own model. After 7 years of diligent work, he achieved in success in the year 2007.

Dungar Singh Sodha ventured into entrepreneurship to find a solution to the electricity problems in his village and successfully implemented his windmill model. This portable windmill, easily transportable to fields or farmhouses, is just of the right size.

Farmers commonly face challenges such as insect infestations in sugarcane crops, losses caused by stray animals, and delayed payments of their production. Dharmendra Tomar sought a solution to these issues. He introduced a simple and cost-effective solution which involved lemon grass cultivation.

Abhishek Chaudhary got the idea of making an affordable crop protection solution when he pondered on how to prevent wild animals from causing damage to the fields. The device utilizes light and sound to instil fear in animals, prompting them to move away from the fields without any harm.  

Ramesh Rupareliya, hailing from Gujarat, earns Rs 8 crore in a year with his ghee business. In the year 2005, he established ‘Shri Gir Gau Krishi Jatan Sanstha’ and started selling dairy products like ghee, curd, and milk. Today, Ramesh Bhai exports his dairy products to 123 countries.

Kuldeep Singh Rathi, the Managing Director and Chairman of ASK Automotive Limited, appeared for UPSC exams to fulfil his father’s wish. After working as a deputy SP for a few years, he quit his job and worked as a contractor in CPWD. In 1988, he established his own company and today, he makes profits in crores.

Rajpal Singh Narvariya had to discontinue his studies due to financial constraints but his curiosity drove him to explore the hidden cave of innovations he was meant to be known for. After making around 20 machineries, he has not abandoned his will to invent something new and continues on the path of creation.

Dr Prabhakar Rao worked as an architect for years in Dubai and later did his PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics. His passion to encourage sustainable farming methods among farmers brought him back to India. And now he has revived over 500 seeds of vegetables that were going extinct.

Overcoming all the obstacles at the beginning of his business, Dr Nitin Singh now works with over 1700 farmers. He produces various products from his beekeeping business and provides training to women and young individuals to become independent.

Uttar Pradesh’s Rajkumar Mishra made paddy threshing machines in efforts to make his family’s financial condition better. He was awarded with a sum of Rs 1 lakh for making these machines, by the Grass Root Startup category at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University.

Agra’s Mrinal Agrawal has a background in mechanical engineering. Despite receiving job offers from abroad, he decided to support local farmers through various programmes. So far, he has provided employment to many villagers through his business of selling milk products and vegetables.

Tathagat Barodh form Madhya Pradesh took up farming as a career after completing his studies from NIT and IIT.  He did not do a private job and has been involved in organic farming practices for the last 5 years. Crops like moringa, amla, turmeric, gram, lemon grass are grown on his fields. The other farmers of his area look up to him for inspiration and consider him a role model.

Nisha Solanki is Haryana’s first female drone pilot. She teaches farmers about the benefits of using drone sprayers. Presently, Nisha is a part of the ICAR Atari Drone Project under Maharana Pratap University, Karnal. So far, she has performed 250 demos covering an area of 780 acres of farmland.

Some thirty years ago, Sheikh Abdullah had to shut down his dairy due to new government rules. He looked for new occupations and decided to become a farmer. He started cultivating tomatoes and observing good profits with the sales, educated other farmers about it. At present, Patal Ganga Market is popular for its production of excellent quality of tomatoes and chillies.

Nagpur’s Pramod Gautam quit from his high-paying job and decided to become a farmer instead. He cultivates groundnut, turmeric, pulses, orange, guava, lemon and much more. He is considered as one of the successful farmers of Nagpur. His business has an annual turnover of Rs 1 crore.