Organic Farming  

Satyendra Verma is a strawberry farmer from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. In the early stages, he faced challenges in selling the produce and had to educate traders about the benefits of strawberries. Presently, he earns Rs 5 lakh per acre annually.

Rema Devi is a resident of Kottayam, Kerala. She has been growing vegetables and fruits on her terrace for the last 19 years. Presently, she makes Rs 55 thousand in a month from the produce of her terrace garden.

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.

78-year-old Thomas Kattakayam acquired his farming skills from his father who was well skilled in the matters of growing healthy vegetables and fruits. Over the last few years, he has cultivated 400 varieties of jackfruit. With an aim to educate people about sustainable agriculture through his initiatives, he makes Rs 4,00,000 per acre.

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.

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.

In 2016, people mocked Bhimraj Sharma for his unique idea of establishing a business with the use of cow dung. Today, he manufactures over a hundred products in his factories and sells them all over the world. His organic products made from cow dung are widely liked.

In 1987, Dharmveer Kamboj came to Delhi in search of work. He worked as an auto rickshaw driver but struggled to improve his financial conditions. After five years, he returned to his village and started making his own agricultural machines. Today, his machines are exported to 15-20 countries.

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.

Undeterred by the societal pressure, Aksay laid the foundation of his fertilizer company with the internship money he received during his college. His family was uncertain and doubtful about his endeavours but through his successful experiments he proved his capability of running s business. The present valuation of Akshay’s company is Rs 40 crore.

Sarvesh Kumar could not clear the exams for joining the armed forces even after four attempts. He changed his career path and became a farmer instead. He employs organic farming practices in his fields and earns more by selling his organic vegetables and products. Sarvesh has been awarded with the Progressive Farmer Award.

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.

Abandoning the use of traditional farming methods, Mahendra learned about the organic farming method in Madhya Pradesh. He returned to his village and opened an FPO. He has helped over 1000 farmers adopt modern farming methods and has made over Rs 8 crore in the last four years.