Tag: Stevia Green Tea

Rajpal Singh Gandhi

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RAJPAL SINGH GANDHI, REVEALING THE SWEET SECRET OF NATURE THROUGH STEVIA FARMING

Have you tasted the success sweeter than sugar? You may have not, but this income tax consultant from Banga has tasted the success 400 times sweeter than the most common sweetener, sugar, with zero calories. Yes, I’m talking about stevia farming!

Rajpal Singh Gandhi has led a movement in India and in the coming time, it is surely going to change the world’s taste.

After advising people on choosing their investment wisely for a tenure of 10 years, finally, Rajpal Gandhi thought of entering the agriculture field. Unlike the other average farmers of Punjab, Rajpal Gandhi not only had the money to start a new venture and grow natural sweetener in the sub-mountainous area in Shivalik foothills but also open a processing plant with hard research.

Well, the beginning of entering agriculture field was not that smooth for Gandhi. He started with Kinnow orchards in 2003 over 35 acres, but due to lack of marketing facilities, he was forced to reduce the crop production to half till 2008.

“I also tried planting Gladiolus, Potato, and other vegetables, but as there was no improvement in the marketing facilities, so I switched to stevia farming and that was the wisest decision that I took.”

He started stevia farming on 6 acres of land, but as there was no processing unit, so his 10 years of hard work was of no use. At last, he contacted Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, to assemble a prototype for them. And after lakhs of investments, multiple shortcomings, research and meeting of many scientists, engineers, and innovators, they came up with a sweet result.

Today, Gandhi has the only stevia research laboratory in India and it is certified by the Indian Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). By taking a soft loan from the department of biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and technology this processing plant and research centre has been established. It almost took three years to completely set up the processing unit. Dreaming and then making that dream come true was easy for Gandhi because ministry liked his innovative idea.

Today his 12-crore stevia processing plant process around 5 tonnes of stevia leaves in a shift of 8 hours, which is equivalent to the crop of 5 acres.

Starting stevia processing plant was a challenge and Gandhi turned it into an opportunity, not only for him but for many other people who are now employed just because of Gandhi’s initiative. After establishing the tissue culture laboratory and the processing unit, today Gandhi’s company is developing the more improved varieties of stevia and after its cultivation and processing, they are selling it in a powdered form in small sachets and container. Today, stevia green tea manufactured by him is booming in the market, but this is not the end.

“The expense of cultivating stevia on 1 acre is almost equal to cultivating any other normal crop on 1 acre. If anybody is interested in stevia farming then we also provide plants, and if anyone wants to do it in a large area then we also provide the technology to multiply the plants according to the area.”

Gandhi’s work has lured Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh State Government towards him. He was invited by the chief secretary of Gujarat and after that, he signed a deal to grow stevia over 2500 acres in the Aravali and Kaparganj districts with 100% buy-back clause. He also signed an agreement with Uttar Pradesh medicinal plant board Lucknow to grow this sweet plant over 4,000 acres. The increasing prosperity of Gandhi was not a small spark that would vanish in no time, but it was an explosion which attracted Punjab Ex. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal towards his work. Currently, Gandhi is in stevia promotion bureau in the state with Suresh Kumar as additional chief secretary. Not missing the chance he has already started helping the farmers in Punjab also (he is helping farmers in stevia cultivation over 25 acres in Gurdaspur, Ludhiana and Ferozepur district and slowly he will make sure that stevia cultivation area expands in Punjab by this season).

Well, these were some in-nation effects of Gandhi’s work. Even before establishing the processing plant, Gandhi visited China and South American countries like Columbia and Paraguay to know more about this plant. His visit made him sign the contract with Canadian Company Pixels Health for as much as Stevia powder Gandhi could process. Even Germans also visited his farm- Green Valley Stevia, after knowing about it.

Gandhi is also the only member from Punjab of Indian Council of Food and Agriculture, of which MS Swaminathan – “The father of Indian Green Revolution” is also a part of. In last September Gandhi was awarded by him and he declared that stevia growing was the sweet revolution for health.

In the coming time, Stevia is going to be the future crop. Japan’s 70% population has already switched to stevia and Gandhi is looking forward to investing there. Even his stevia product has also been approved by the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India in November 2015. Even Multi-National Companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola has also launched their new products called – Zero-Calorie Pepsi and Coke-life in which they are using stevia as sweetener and Gandhi is looking forward to investing in it.

Stevia is the future crop, as the plant life is up to 5 years once they are planted; and they can be harvested every after 4 months. For farmers as well as the citizens, stevia is a profitable venture as its market value is also good and it is healthy to consume.

From a fact- India had an estimated 31,705,000 diabetics in the millennium year which is estimated to grow by over 100% to 79,441,000 by 2030.

 

Gandhi says –

“In India, there is at least one sugar patient in every family and this is an alarming situation. But if we start using stevia in place of sugar then we can reduce the increasing number of the diabetic patient.”

Gandhi is doing his part in flourishing the agriculture field with new opportunities. You can also be the part of this venture by investing in stevia farming.

Message:
“
Our main mission is wealthy farmer and healthy society. Today, the falling economic condition is the main reason that is forcing the poor farmers to commit suicide, and for these types of shameful circumstances only we are responsible. To cover the losses, crop diversification is important, farmers should grow crops like Stevia and other medicinal plants, and state government and central government should act accordingly to make their plans more effective.
”

Kulwant Kaur

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“Behind every successful woman is herself”
– How Kulwant Kaur proved this quote absolutely true

In India there are many women who have extraordinary personalities, not citing the looks but their skills and confidence are what makes them amazing from the others. Nothing can stop them from accomplishing what they aim at, and the reason behind their unique persona is that they are the inspiration of themselves.

One such a woman who realized the calling and chose agribusiness as her future plan is Kulwant Kaur. As being from a farming background, Kulwant Kaur and her husband Jaswinder Singh were doing paddy and wheat farming and were also actively involved in dairy farming. From the beginning, family’s main focus was on dairy business, because they owned 2.5 acres of land and used to take land on the lease when necessary. With 30 buffaloes in the dairy farm, their milk business was flourishing very well and was more profitable as compared to farming.

Kulwant Kaur was very interested in agriculture and the trades related to it, and one day when she read about KVK Fatehgarh Sahib then she decided of joining it. She took fruit and vegetable management training of 5 days from there in 2011. On the last day of the training, she participated in a competition and won first prize in making apple jam and turmeric pickle. The first prize that she won there was her first achievement in her life, and this achievement made her so determined and inspired that she decided to start this work on her own. Her products were so good that soon she gained a good customer base.

Gradually her work speed, efficiency, and product quality got better with the time and turmeric pickle became the most in demand product of her. Later on, to enhance her skills she joined KVK Samrala for Phenyl, Soap, Amla Juice, Chutney and Pickle training. To make her training in use, she especially visited Delhi to purchase Amla juice machine. Very soon she grasped the technique of making aloe-vera juice, shampoo, gel, and hand wash from the same machine and after seeing the processed products she was enthused and gained confidence.

It was her confidence and achievements which always motivated Kulwant Kaur in doing more. Finally, Kulwant Kaur started manufacturing products at home and also marketed them herself. Her interest towards agribusiness drifted her more towards this field. In 2012 she became the member of PAU Kisan Club. And after that, she took every training given by them. Her interest towards farming was increased and slowly they reduced their dairy farm work.

Besides Paddy and wheat, now, Kulwant Kaur and her husband started growing mung beans, sugarcane, fodder crop, turmeric, aloe-vera, tulsi and stevia also. From turmeric, she is producing turmeric powder, turmeric pickle, and Panjeeri (sweet dry powder mixture made up of Bengal Gram Chickpea powder, Flour, and Clarified butter). Panjeeri and turmeric pickle are her most in demand products.

Well her journey was not that easy, she faced many problems also. She planted 1000 stevia plants out of which only half survived. As she knew that stevia cost is very expensive (Rs 1500/Kg) due to which it out of reach for common people. So, she found out a different way of selling it, she bought green tea from the market and mixed stevia in it and started selling it at Rs. 150 per 100 grams. Because of the stevia’s health benefits for diabetic patients, the tea was purchased by many local homes and other customers also.

Currently, she is manufacturing around 40 products and is selling it in the nearby market and in PAU fairs. She also has a product called Satras (made up of Tulsi, apple vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic, aloe-vera, garlic, and amla) especially for heart patients and it is very effective also.
Along with the skills, Kulwant Kaur also likes to be updated with all the latest farming machinery and equipment. She has all the farming machinery and, she uses laser leveller to level the fields. Her whole family is helping her and is working with her especially her husband. Her daughter is doing government job and her son is helping her in the business. Currently, the main focus of the family is towards marketing and less on agriculture. Her efforts in the agribusiness field have made her won first prize in Kisan Mela (Patiala) for turmeric products. Besides this, she also received Sardarni Jagbir Kaur Grewal Memorial Award at Kisan Mela (organized by Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana in 2013)

Today whatever Kulwant Kaur has achieved that is only because of her own belief. In future, she wants to market all her products herself. She also wants to impart training to other women in the society so that they can stand on their own and be independent.

Message to farmers:
“Ladies should be productive in their free time because this helps in managing the home finances effectively. They should take advantage of the food processing training and step forward in the field of agribusiness. Agribusiness is a very profitable venture in which people can make money without any big investments.”