Tag: Vermicomposting

Gur Rajneesh

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A journey from Corporate to being a Composter- Gur Rajneesh

About the farmer: Gur Rajneesh holds a distinguished management degree from School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He holds a significant corporate career of 16 years in Banking & Finance and has worked for Citi Group, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. 2019 was the year when he started conceptualizing and later after a lot of research he built up his own venture named Nature’s Aashirvaad a commercial vermicomposting unit for production of vermicompost and vermiculture.

Let’s Understand Vermicomposting: This basically means “worm-farming” where earthworms feed on the organic waste materials and give out excreta in the form of “vermicasts” that are rich in nitrates and minerals such as phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and potassium. These are used as fertilizers and enhance soil quality.

Taking the journey ahead: Gur Rajnish’s journey started when he was at the phase of building and ideating, a lot of research and analysis was ongoing from his end to build the right product and process to benefit his end user. This duration was witnessed by Covid 19 which did delay certain aspects with him but a lot of quality work was done like, website, logo designing, trademark registration, packing designs, searching the vendors for packing materials and other equipment’s. Later, during June 2020, some land was taken on lease by him and this established a vermicomposting unit with just 15 beds and from there it was no looking back. Finally in October he laid his resignation and by this time his production, packing material website was ready and the Online Digital marketing campaigns were running.

As production was very less in the first few lots, it was not advisable to target the farming sector first. The feasible option was to target the Urban gardening space, he launched a campaign to get the “Free Sample” of my vermicompost. People gave him their addresses to supply free samples and he himself went home to home to provide free samples for gardening which was loved by the people of TriCity. Eventually he started getting good orders and references for business. Post this familiarity he went ahead to launch his product on various marketplaces like (Amazon/ Flipkart/Meesho /Jiomart etc). He equally got an amazing response because his Branding and Packing was very attractive and with true genuineness.

Beyond Farming: With the focus to help soil stay in good health. We all need to know and understand that nature is the best teacher for farming, so we need to think broader and it’s high time to think about enriching our soil with pure organic feed and what better than using vermicompost. This is a mechanism to maintain a pollution-free environment and in an ecological manner. Gur Rajneesh built products which are an ideal option to achieve the goal of sustainable organic farming/gardening.” With this motive, he started having farmers to visit his plant and as more and more farmers started visiting the farm, new initiative started to be and later he termed it as “Punjab Vermicomposting Training center”.

The aim of his organization is to popularize organic farming in Punjab, generate awareness amongst city folks and farmers and help develop a market for organic foods within the country.

Punjab Vermicomposting Training center provides proper training to start a unit at farmers’s own place. He helped them to provide good quality earthworms and also helped to set up infrastructure With providing a proper training to set up vermibeds, pits from initial stage to till production.

He have regular training programs scheduled at his Mohali Farm every Saturday from 11 a.m.  In addition, this is a free service for farmers and people who want to learn vermicomposting. Apart from this he provides consultancies to various Vermicomposting Units and Organic Growers.

It takes immense pleasure to share that he has trained 500+ farmers and young agripreneurs on pro-bono basis.

Currently, he has a supply to households, resorts, residential projects, residential societies, framers, nurseries and hotels.

Vision

To be a trustworthy and innovative global leader in providing genuine organic input products and solutions for organic farming in India and to become the household name in urban gardening space.

Mission

To shape the future of Indian Farmers with our comprehensive organic inputs that helps in maintaining ecological balance.

Values

  • Total integrity
  • Absolute commitment to quality
  • Respect and devotion to Mother Nature
  • No compromise on being who we are

Commitment

  • To deliver genuine organic input products to our consumers.
  • To introduce a unique and successful business model that is committed to service and integrity, and benefits all.
  • To support natural, sustainable, organic, agriculture practices that serve and protect Mother Nature.
  • To support the livelihood and well-being of farmers across rural India.
  • To encourage entrepreneurship among youth.

Prateek Bajaj

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Passionate Young Man from Bareilly Chose Vermicomposting over CA Studies Just to Make Country’s Soil More Fertile & Help Farmers Double Their Income

Prateek Bajaj is a bright example for the agriculture society by contributing his efforts in nurturing the Mother Nature and making the country’s soil more fertile. With his beautiful field of vision and inventiveness, today he is solving the country’s waste management problems with great efforts and is helping farmer too to adopt the vermicomposting technology and make their farming an economical venture rather than a loss deal.

Hailing from one of the famous cities of India – Bareilly and coming from a business class family background, Prateek Bajaj always thought of becoming a CA so that later he can join his father’s real estate business. But at the tender age of 19, this boy changed his mind overnight and decided to start the vermicomposting business.

The idea of vermicomposting came in the mind of Prateek Bajaj in 2015, when one day he attended dairy farming training at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, IVRI, Izatnagar, with his elder brother who had recently started dairy farming. At that time, Prateek Bajaj had already cleared his CPT exam and was studying for CA and with his ambitious spirit he could have cleared CA also, but once he attended the training, he came to know about the basics of vermicomposting and bio-waste. He found the idea of vermicomposting so interesting that he decided to drop his career goals and adopt bio-waste management as his future plan.

“I wondered that why we gave away all the cow dung and urine obtained from his brother’s dairy farm if we can use it in such a better way. – Said Prateek Bajaj”

He finished his training with IVRI and learned the advance method of composting with the researchers and scientists present there and fetched all the necessary knowledge required for successful vermicomposting.

Almost, after six months, Prateek shared his plans with his family, it was understandable at that time that his father would disapprove over his decision of quitting CA. But when for the first time Prateek prepared Vermicompost and sold it in the market, his father accepted his son’s decision open heartedly and applauded his work.

“For me becoming a CA was not a big deal, I could have studied for hours and cleared all the exams, but doing what I love whether it takes 24 hours at the composting plant makes me feel happy. Moreover, I don’t need any break, as I know my passion is my career and it makes my work more fun. – Said Prateek Bajaj”

When Prateek’s family agreed with his future plan, then Prateek invested in seven bighas agricultural land in Pardholi village nearby and started vermicomposting in the same year – 2015, and then there was no turning back.

While opening the new unit of vermicomposting Prateek had decided that through this he going to deal with the waste management problems and will also help the farmer to manage their agriculture activities in an Eco-friendly and economical way.

To make his compost richer he experimented with various techniques of using the society waste in a different way. He used flowers from the temple, vegetable waste, residual waste of sugar and he also added neem leaves to the Vermicompost, which ultimately boosted up the antibiotic qualities.

Well, making this venture turn into a complete profitable project, Prateek also started organic farming after buying some more land in the village. And from his vermicomposting and organic farming practices, he concluded that soil requires less compost if a definite amount of cow urine and neem leaves are used, on the other hand, it also doesn’t affect the crop yield. By adding neem leaves in the compost, less pest and insects affected the crop making the crop yield better and soil more fertile.


In his vermicomposting plant, Prateek uses two types of worms – Jai Gopal and Eisenia Foetida, out of which Jai Gopal is provided by the IVRI and is very good in making the composting method efficient than before.

 

Prateek with his constructive spirit believes in disseminating the knowledge and that is why he gives free vermicomposting training to the farmer in which he uses a small earthen pot to make compost from a small level. In the beginning, six farmers approached him and adopted his technique but today there are around 42 farmers who are profited from it. And all the farmers have adopted the technique of Prateek on their own by seeing the progress.

Prateek affirms the farmers that by investing in vermicomposting and organic farming a farmer can more economically make his land fertile and can also take better yield as compared to the poisonous way of farming. And when it comes to the marketing then organic produce always hold better price in the market.

He himself shared his experience of selling organic wheat in the market at the double price as compared to the chemically grown wheat. So ultimately adopting organic farming and vermicomposting is a profitable deal for the farmers.


Prateek also shared a chunk of knowledge with us while sharing his experience- There are two main things before using the cow dung in vermicomposting – Cow dung should be 20-15 days old and completely dry.

 

Presently, Prateek Bajaj, 22, is successfully running his Sehyogi Biotech Plant and is selling compost under the brand name YELO Khaad to different nurseries in Noida, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, and many more other cities of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Also follows other modes of marketing to sell his compost.

With the determination to clean the soil and make it more fertile, Prateek always continues with experimenting with various bacteria and input components in the compost. Prateek feel privileged and blissful of being the part of this nourishing job through which he is not only helping the farmers but is also making the earth a better place.

Prateek is doing his bit, are you? To read more inspiring stories of progressive farmers like Prateek Bajaj, download Apni Kheti app from Google Play Store.

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu

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Punjab – Malwa Region Based Farmer Paired Agriculture With Mechanized Technology, Have You Tried It…

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu, 44, keeping in mind about the Mother Nature, implements the best Eco-friendly farming practices through which time and money, both can be saved. And this thought of working in harmony with nature comes in his mind while he was far away in a foreign land.
Farming, as we know, is an age-old practice, which was followed by our ancestors and their ancestors… to cultivate food and sustain life. But, with the revolution and change in demands, today, agriculture has come a long way creating a vast history behind. Yes, there are some negative impacts of modern agriculture practices, but now not only the farming community but a lot of individuals from the city are also taking initiative towards sustainable agriculture practices.

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu is also one of those individuals who realized while living in abroad that he has done nothing for the land which provided him everything since his childhood. Although he was very successful living in abroad, learning about new farming technology, machinery and serving the community, he felt very despondent. And that was when he decided to take a long respite from his life in abroad and came back to his motherland, Punjab (India).

“After completing my graduation from Punjab University, I went to Canada to pursue higher studies and later on I got settled there. But after 5-6 years I felt a strong urge from the bottom of my heart that I need to go back to where I belong.”

Already aware of the foreign agriculture practices, Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu decided to mechanize his own way of farming and then he paired commercial farming and agriculture technology together. Moreover, he decided to start Kinnow farming rather than wheat and paddy.

“Wheat and paddy are the conventional crops of Punjab which needs only 4-5 months of labour in the field. Instead of getting stuck in the cycle of wheat and paddy, farmers should focus on horticulture crops and other agri-allied activities which can be done around the year.”

Mr. Singh designed a machine which can be taken in the orchards by attaching it with a tractor and that machine can grade the Kinnows in 6 different sizes. The machine has inbuilt 9 cleaning brushes and 4 drying brushes; mechanization of the machine up to this level has reduced the cost of labour to almost zero.

“Machine designed by me can grades around 1-1 ½ tons of Kinnow in an hour and the running cost of this machine is 10-litre diesel per day.”

According to Mr. Singh – Earlier, the main obstacle faced was during the marketing of Kinnow, labour cost of harvesting Kinnows from the orchard and then taking care of it was very time and labour consuming and also was not economical. Since the grading machine is developed by Mr. Singh, half of the problem of harvesting and grading is already solved.
This mechanized way of grading Kinnows in six different sizes has created a valuable place for Mr. Singh’s harvest in the market, as it gets more pre-eminence and better return on investment. Using this mechanized way for grading the Kinnows is a valuable addition to the “Sidhu Model Farm”, and from the last 2 years, fruits produced by Mr. Singh is achieving first and second prizes at the State Level in Citrus Shows.

This is not the only approach that Mr. Singh is following; drip irrigation, crop waste management, green manuring, bio-gas plant, vermicomposting, organic production of vegetables, cereals, fruits, and wheat, are other means through which he is trying reduce the harmful footprints of conventional farming practices on his behalf.

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu’s contribution in the agriculture field has bagged him many awards and honour at state and national level, out of which these two are the main:

• Won State Level Citrus Show at Abohar, Punjab
• Received award form PUSA Delhi for Innovative Farming
Along with farming, Mr. Singh is also master of other animal husbandry and agri-allied activities, just because of his hobby. He rears dairy animals, poultry birds, kennel dogs, goats, and Marwari horses. He has also maintained a fish pond in half acre and forestry which includes 7000 Eucalyptus trees and 25 Bush Bamboos.
With his 12 years of experience in the agriculture field, Mr. Singh has focused his attention on some important matters and want to give the message to the society through these issues, which are the major concerns in Punjab ….

Subsidy and agriculture schemes:
Farmer assumes that Government is helping us by giving subsidy and making different agricultural schemes, but this is not true; this is a way of making farmers handicapped and grabbing their land. Farmers have to understand their good and bad themselves because agriculture is such a wide field that if it is done properly with determination then it can make anyone rich.

Mind Set of Young Generation:
Nowadays, the young generation is all set to go abroad or get settled in the city, they don’t care what kind of work they have to do in there; for them farming is a dirty job. What’s the sake of investing in the education and employment, if ultimately it will result in brain drain! Youth is unaware of the fact that agriculture is such a prosperous and diverse field that it can provide more advantages, profit, and happiness than the life in abroad.

Marketing in agriculture field:
Today, the farmer also has to become the seller by eliminating the middlemen and this is the only way by which farmer can clinch their forgotten position from the society. Farmer has to adopt modern eco-friendly practices which will lead them towards sustainable agriculture results.

Everyone should remember that-
” once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.”

Kulwinder Singh Nagra

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Hope for the Better Present and Future, Turned Kulwinder Singh Nagra towards Sustainable Farming Practices

Hope is the only positive feeling which gives a person the strength to think about the future even not being sure about it. And when we know that we are thinking about the better future then our actions are accelerated automatically despite knowing some negative consequences. Same was the case with Kulwinder Singh Nagra, a progressive farmer from Nagra village of district Sangrur, for whom hope acted as the driving force to turn towards natural farming.

“Before venturing into natural farming I knew that I will face loss for consecutively two years, even after sensing this situation I decided to adopt natural practices. Because for me my family and surrounding are more important than earning money. Moreover, I am earning for my family and myself, what if, even after earning so much money I am not able to keep my family healthy… then everything is in vain.”

Coming from a farming background, Kulwinder Singh Nagra also decided to follow the same footsteps like his father. In 1997, after completing his matriculation, he started following the family old traditions of paddy and wheat cultivation. Till 2000, he continued wheat and paddy in 10 acres of his land and some vegetables like Peas, Onion, Garlic, and Bottle gourd in one acre. But somewhere in his heart, he was not satisfied with the mass production of wheat and paddy. So, gradually he started increasing the vegetable cultivation area from one acre to 7 acres and Kinnow and Guava in 1 ½ acres.

“Kinnow was less successful but Guava gave good returns and I continued it in the future also.”

Experiencing the success in horticulture, raised Kulwinder Singh Nagra’s confidence, and steadily he expanded his agriculture activities to generate more profit. From vegetable cultivation to nursery preparation he started doing everything. In 2008-2009 he started selling prepared nursery of Chilli, Onion, Pumpkin, Bitter Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Tomato, and Bel, outside Punjab in Shahabad Markanda, Sirsa, and in different Kisan Melas also.

In 2009, he thought of changing his farming practices into natural, so he took training of Kudrati Kheti from Pingalwara, where the basics of Zero Budget Natural Farming are taught to the farmers who want to make earth a better place. Keeping in mind a safe and stable start Kulwinder Singh Nagra started natural farming from 5 acres.

He was well-aware from the fact that converting pesticide and chemical treated land to organic will take a long time and he will earn no profit in the beginning. But he never stepped back from what he started. In between, he decided to upgrade his farming skill and he took training in different fields for food processing, hybrid seed production of chili and cucumber, net house cultivation of vegetables, and greenhouse management. Almost after two years, he started earning the minimal profit.

“Marketing was the main hurdle which I faced the most to sell my organic produce. As I was a newbie so it took me some time to understand the marketing strategies. In 2012, I adopted right marketing strategies and then it became easy for me to sell the vegetables.”

Another step that Kulwinder Singh Nagra took to avoid any harm to nature was that he stopped burning stubble. Today stubble burning is one of the major problems, which Punjab is encountering and on Global level also it is a big issue. Just to save the time, labour and money farmers in Punjab and Haryana are burning stubble, but Kulwinder Singh Nagra instead of burning the stubble, used it for the mulching method and the rest of the stubble for composting.

Kulwinder Singh Nagra always prefers modern environment-friendly technologies like happy seeder, cultivator, bed planter, plough, ripper, and rotavator, to move ahead in the field of agriculture flourishingly.

Currently, he is cultivating wheat on 3 acres, fodder crop on 2 acres, vegetables (Chilli, Capsicum, Cucumber, Ash Gourd, Watermelon, Bottle Gourd, Brinjal, Onion, and Garlic) on 6 acres and fruits like Peach, Amla (Gooseberry), and Kinnow in 1 acre. He uses drip irrigation to properly utilize the water at his farm.

To support his agricultural activities he is also doing dairy farming. He has 12 animals in his barn which include Murrah buffalo, Neeli Ravi, and Sahiwal. 90 to 100 kg is milk production per day, out of which he sold 70-75 kg milk in the market and uses the rest for home consumption. Now, marketing is not a big deal, he sells all the organic vegetables in the market of Sangrur, Sunam, and Samana. Merchants come to his farm themselves to buy the fruits. And in this way, he is earning the right price of his crop produce.

For all his accomplishments he gives credit to Punjab Agriculture University and his family. Today, he has become a person who inspires others with his natural vegetable farming skills; and he is proud of it. For his work in the field of natural farming of vegetables, he has received many awards and appreciation and some of them are…

• Received “Krishi Karman Award of Progressive Farmer” given by Hon. Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi at Sooratgarh (Rajasthan) – 19th February 2015.

• Received Block Level Award under ATMA, given by Shri Kumar Rahul IAS Deputy Commissioner Sangrur.

• Received award from Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana.

• Received award from Director of Agriculture, Punjab

• Achieved 1st and 2nd position many times in cultivating best vegetable variety

Well, these awards are just a few to mention, he is mainly recognized for his work for the farmer society. Farmer interactions, PAU and KVK Scientists visit at his farmhouse is organized often to provide a broad insight to the farmers to work successfully in the field of agriculture. He has also established Vermi compost plant, follows inter-cropping pattern, low tunnel technique, practice beekeeping, bed planting in wheat (in some areas) zero tillage of wheat by using No-till drill Happy Seeder, Laser Levelling before transplanting of paddy, mechanical transplanting, Integrated Pest Management and Integrated Nematode Management.

Impact of Adaptation of Agriculture Technologies:

After the adaptation of different agriculture technologies, his wheat production increased creating the record of highest wheat production across the country which was 6456 kg per hectare in 2014 by following natural farming practices. And for this achievement he was awarded Krishi Karman award as mentioned above. Farmers living nearby him idolize him and consult him to adopt more environment-friendly technologies.

Future Plan:
In future Kulwinder Singh Nagra is planning to export vegetables to abroad.

Message
“Farmers who chose the path of suicide to get relieved from the burden of loans and responsibilities, should stop doing this. God has given us numerous opportunities and abilities to achieve our life goals and we should never let these chance skip.”

 

Gurdeep Singh Brar

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A MAN’S AWAKENING TRANSITION: FROM CONVENTIONAL FARMING TO ORGANIC FARMING

The main reason behind people’s awakening is because they have finally stopped agreeing to the things that doesn’t satisfy them. It is said that when a person is evolving into something good, at that time the road may seem lonely but you are simply shedding the things and habits that no longer is required. One such person who went opposite of the society’s trend and gone through an awakening transition of conventional to organic farming is Mr Gurdeep Singh Brar.

Gurdeep Singh Brar is a resident of village Mehma Sawai , District Bathinda. 17 years back a huge transition phase came into Mr Gurdeep’s life which totally changed his views and methods of farming. Today, Mr Singh is a successful and well known organic farmer in Bathinda. And his earning is also very good as compared to the other farmers who are practicing conventional farming.

Before doing organic farming, Gurdeep Singh Brar was an ordinary farmer who used to do the same thing that he saw while growing up all his childhood. He had only 2 acres of land on which he was farming and his income was only hand to mouth.

In 1995 he came in contact with the experts of Farmer Salahkar Seva Kendra. There he discussed all his farming related doubts with them and found out all the solutions and answers of it. He also get associated with the experts of KVK Bathinda branch. After sometime the experts of Farmer Salahkar Kendra motivated him to make a small kitchen garden in 1 canal of area by providing him a vegetable seed kit. When the kitchen garden idea went successful then he expanded the 1 canal area to 2 canal and started generating good produce of vegetables out of it.

In 1999, just after 4 years he came in touch with Ambuja Cement Foundation, he co-operated with them and visited many different farms…

Some of them are:
• Nabha Organic Farm
• Bhagat Puran Singh farm in Ganga Nagar.
• Organic Farm

This whole series of visit to different farms inspired him towards organic farming. And after that he also started growing seasonal fruits along with vegetables. He uses organic method for seed treatment, traps for pest control and also prepare organic manure. For seed treatment he uses Neem Water, Cow Urine (Gau Mutr), mixture of Lime Stone Water and Asafetida water mixture. He also uses Jivamrit (made by him at home) to make vegetable yield more healthy and chemical free. For pest attack prevention he uses sour buttermilk (Lassi made by him) in his fields. He is also very conscious towards the water management so for irrigation he uses drip irrigation system.

Gurdeep Singh has also established a vermi-compost unit at his farm so that he can provide pure organic manure to the vegetables and fruits. He has made two holes of 1 canal each, where he decomposes cow dung, buffalo dung, and poultry manure.

Along with farming he also prepares seed of pumpkin, bitter gourd and ridge gourd himself at home, which completely end his need of buying vegetable seeds from the market. To increase the quantity and quality if the pumpkin, he especially uses rope mesh to give pumpkin vines proper support.

Today his vegetable are so popular that people from Bathinda, Goniana Mandi and other nearby villages visit his farm especially to buy vegetables. When it comes to marketing the vegetables, then he is never dependent on any third person. He himself sell his produce by making 500 grams of packets and in current date he is earning good profit out of it.

For his farming techniques and methods he is awarded with many local awards and he also has membership of many farming societies and organization. In 2015, he received Surjit Singh Dhillon Award from PAU. Reaching up to this level for a man who never went to school, is really considerable. Currently he is living with his mother, wife and son in his village. His future plans is to continue organic farming and provide health and chemical free food to the community.

Message Given To Farmers:
“
 Today cancer like disease is spreading among the people is because of chemicals being used by the farmers. I’m not saying that farmers shouldn’t use fertilizer and pesticide, but they should reduce its use and switch to organic farming. In this way they can stop the soil and water pollution and can also prevent cancer like deadly diseases.
”
These are some of his inventions
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Baljit Singh Kang

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TEACHER TURNED ORGANIC FARMER BRINGING REVOLUTION IN THE FIELD OF ORGANIC FARMING

Meet Baljit Singh Kang from – a teacher turned into an organic farmer. Organic farming was not the principal idea for which Mr. Kang get early retirement from his teaching profession. It was his kids for whom he took early retirement and along with that he also started farming.

Baljit Singh Kang always wanted to do something different and not be a part of monotony and old traditions, and he found that something different in organic farming. Farming was not the primary occupation of his family, as his father and brother were already settled in abroad. But Baljit wanted to do something great by staying in his own country.

Just after completing his M.A. in Punjabi, Baljit got a job in school as a teacher. After working for some times as a teacher he opened his own restaurant from 2003 to 2010. In 201o he decided to quit restaurant business and start organic farming. In 2011, he got married and after some time he was blessed with two beautiful children, a daughter and a son. Daughter is now 4 year old and son is 2 year old.

Earlier he was using chemicals on a low scale, but in later he turned towards organic. He sowed maize crop in 1-acre of land. But everyone in his village was making fun of him because he planted maize in winters. Baljit was so determined and confident that he never let the bad words and negativity affect him. When harvesting time came, at that time he harvested 37 quintals of maize and that was above his imagination. The harvested produce encouraged him to expand the framing work and he took 1.5-acre land more on the lease.

Shifting from chemical to organic farming was a huge step for Baljit, but he never looked back. He started growing vegetables on 6 acres of land. On his farm, he grew every type of fruit trees and he has also established vermi-compost plant which benefits him a lot. He hires no extra labour for his work and is earning well from organic farming.

Future Plans:
Currently, he is growing mustard, basmati, wheat, and vegetables at his farm in 6 acres of land. In future, he wants to partner with Kheti Virasat Mission to market his products on his own.
Message to farmers-
“Farmers should start working themselves and stop depending on the third person for marketing. The second thing that farmers should understand is for better future organic farming is the only solution. Farmers should stop using chemicals and start adopting organic farming.”

Rajnish Lambha

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Man Achieving Success through Organic Farming by Following His Grandfather’s Footsteps

There are very few children who take their ancestor’s occupation ahead in their life with the motive of making their father and grandfather proud of it. One such a person who after getting inspired from his grandfather, started organic farming is Rajnish Lambha.

Rajnish Lambha is a successful horticulturist based in Village Chelasi of JhunJhunu District of Rajasthan. He has a 4 acres orchard farm named after his grandfather as – Hardev Bagh and Udhyan Nursery and it has more than 3000 fruit trees of lemon, pomegranate, Bel Patra, Kinnow, Mousami etc. in it.

Choosing farming as his profession was Rajnish Lambha’s own interest. Rajnish Lambha’s father- Mr. Hari Singh Lambha was a Patwari and he had a full opportunity of choosing a different profession. And the education (double MA) that he received, from it he could have found any good job in his field, but he chose farming. Before organic farming he was into conventional farming and was growing crops like Bajra, wheat, Sorghum, Chickpea, mustard, fenugreek, onion, and garlic. But when he came to know about his grandfather’s organic farming experience he thought of taking his ancestral occupation ahead and make that work more profitable.

It all started in 1996, by planting 25 trees of Bel Patra in 1 Bigha area and implemented organic farming and no chemicals. Along with that he also started preparing nursery himself. After 8 years of hard work and efforts, in 2004-2005 finally the Bel Patra trees started bearing fruits and he earned huge profit of 50,000 from it.

This increase in profit made his belief stronger that orchard business has good yield and returns, so he decided of expanding the orchards in his whole area. In 2004, he planted 600 more trees of Bel Patra. And in 2005 along with the Bel Patra, he planted 150 trees of Kinnows and 150 trees of Mosambi in the orchards. As it is said that fruit of hard work is sweet, the results were the same; in 2013 he earned a good profit from Mosambi and Kinnows produce. And by getting inspired with that he planted 600 trees of pomegranate of sinduri variety and 250 trees of lemon. In 2012 he also planted 5 trees of mango (amrapali variety) and 5 trees of guava.

Currently he has total 3000 fruit trees in his orchard and he is gaining good profit from all the trees till date. Now even his younger brother (Vikrant Lambha) and his father (Hari Singh Lambha) are also helping in his orchard business. Other than orchard farming he also gave a try to dairy farming in 2006 with 25 cows, but he didn’t gain much profit from it and ended it in 2013. Now he has only 4 cows for domestic work.

To maintain the healthy yield and quality he prepares manure himself by using cow dung, Gau Mutr (Cow Urine), Neem water, Datura (Herb – Angel’s Trumpets), and vermicompost. And sometimes he also purchases cow dung from the market if they need it.

The main motive of Rajnish Lambha behind adopting horticulture as the main profession is that, it provides 10 times more profit as compared to conventional farming and can be easily done in an eco-friendly way. Moreover, there is very less need labour, he hires labours only when he needs to pick the fruits. Otherwise he has 2 permanent labours working for him every time. Now he also started preparing nursery for commercial purpose and is gaining good profit from it. And whenever he needs information regarding orchard farming then he consult agriculture related magazines, print media, internet etc.

To make his organic farming more updated and advanced he joined Morarka Foundation in 2009. Many farmers visit his farm regularly to learn something new from Rajnish Lambha, and he also provide them information and training without and cost. Sometimes, even agriculture officers also visit his orchard farm with group of farmers for events and training session.

From the beginning his dream was always to make his grandfather (Hardev Lambha) proud, although he is no more now, but he want to take his teachings ahead and inspire other farmers to start nursery preparation and orchard farming like him. For his great effort in the field of horticulture he is awarded by Agriculture Minister- Harji Ram Burdak in 2011 and also appreciated by Governor of Rajasthan – Kalyan Singh and many articles on him has also been published in the newspaper and magazines.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“He wants other farmers to adopt organic farming because organic farming has many health benefits as well as it is eco-friendly. Farmers should also reduce the use of chemicals. One thing they should remember that, regardless how much profit they are earning, profit can only be earned by doing something different like orchard farming.“

Kanta Desta

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THIS WOMAN FARMER REALIZED HOW SHE IS SPREADING DISEASES TO THE PEOPLE, BY DOING CHEMICAL FARMING AND MADE WISE DECISION BY SWITCHING TO ORGANIC

It is said that we should always be thankful to farmers because if you ate today something, it just because of a farmer’s hard work and the sweat that he sheds in the fields. But what if the farmer himself becomes the diseases distributor instead of food!

Today, chemical farming has become a trend to boost the agricultural yield. Agriculture has more become a business rather than fulfilling the basic food necessity. Producers and consumers of food, both have forgotten the basic purpose of farming.

In this situation, a well-said line by a famous agriculturalist- Masanobu Fukuoka explains the true purpose of farming-

“The ultimate goal of farming is not growing crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”

By going through the same situation, a woman- Kanta Desta, realized that how she has become a disease distributor and then she made the wisest decision of her life by switching to organic farming.

Kanta Desta from Samala Village was a common farmer who use to grow vegetable and fruit and many time she used to distribute it among her relatives, neighbours and friends. But one day, she came to know about the harmful effects of crops grown by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides and then she felt very bad. From that day, she decided that she will stop using chemicals and will adopt organic farming.

To make her step towards organic farming more effective she joined a program which was being run by Morarka Foundation and the Agriculture Department in 2004. She started growing many types of fruits, vegetables, grains and spices like apples, pears, Plum, peach, Japanese Apricot, kiwi fruit, nuts, peas, beans, eggplant, cabbage, radish, coriander, red pepper, onion, wheat, maize, urad, barley, beans and Baladi crops are also grown.

Her switch to organic farming positively affected her income and it was increased to 4 to 5 lakhs annually. Not only this, but with the help of Morarka Foundation, Kanta Desta created a group of women in her village and provided them with knowledge about Organic Farming, and also got them registered under the same foundation.

“I believe that providing knowledge to people in a group is better because it costs less and we can impart knowledge to more people at a time.”

Today her name come across the list of successful organic farmers. She has 31 bighas irrigated land through which she is being productive and is earning the profit in lakhs. Later she also visited NONI University, Delhi, Jaipur and Banglore to get more information about Organic Farming. And for her fervent effort, she has been honoured twice with state honours by the Himachal Pradesh Government. Other than this she has been awarded as the Best Farmer Award in Shimla on 15 August 2008 and she also got appreciated and awarded for her contribution in the field of organic farming on 13th June 2013.

Despite getting so much appreciation on a huge level, this woman never takes the whole credit to herself and she believes that all the credit for her success goes to Morarka Foundation and the Department of Agriculture who guided her on the right path.

Other than farming, Kanta also rears 2 cows and 3 buffaloes and use their dung and farm residue in small vermicomposting plant established in the area of 30x8x10 at her farm. She also use herbal spray aperture wash, jivamrit and NSDL in the place of pesticides, to improve the land conditions and reduce the expenses.

Now, Kanta feels happy and privileged while distributing vegetables and fruits among her relatives and friends, because she knows that what she is growing and giving to her closed ones is free of harmful chemicals and they will stay healthy by eating this.

Message
“Organic Farming is very important to if we want to keep our environment clean.”

Navroop Singh

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Journey of an Engineer Turned Farmer,  Reaping Food Out Of Desert by Keeping Harmony with Nature

“With wrong farming methods, we turn fertile land into desert. Unless we go back to organic farming and save the soil, there is no future.” – Jaggi Vasudev

The soil is a wealth of living beings, and out of all the living beings, only human is capable of making changes or affecting the most precious asset of nature.

Very true said by Jaggi Vasudev that by practicing wrong farming method we are turning our fertile land into desert. But here we are going to share the story of a man- Navroop Singh Gill, who is reaping food naturally out of the desert to make soil more fertile and natural resources less poisonous.

Farming is a pursuit with which human race is blessed, and practicing it in harmony with nature can bring the treasure of wellness to the people. Navroop Singh Gill understood this fact very well, long ago and for the betterment of people and Mother Nature he decided to turn towards natural farming.

Navroop Singh Gill was doing pretty well in abroad, but then one day he decided to come back to India and help his elder brother Navdeep Singh Gill in his farming venture. Soon as he started connecting himself with the real-life issues, a sudden wave of determination and spiritual enlightenment struck him and transformed him into a new individual.

“My family was not into the farming field from the beginning. My father- Kamaljeet Singh Gill, was a businessman and he owned cotton spinning and weaving mill till 1998, but due to some financial losses and circumstantial conditions he has to shut down his mill. At that time we never thought that this unfortunate ending will lead us to a beautiful beginning…Later my father started farming (conventionally) and my elder brother also joined him after completing his studies. I joined them in 2010. ”

Earlier, Navdeep Singh Gill was doing natural farming, but not on large scale. With the support of younger brother (Navroop Singh), Navdeep expanded the farming horizon step by step. Every penny saved was a step towards expanding the natural farming practices.

Another field towards which Navroop Singh Gill was allured was dairy farming, it was his love for cows, because of which he started rearing cattle also. He started dairy farming with few cows in the beginning and slowly increased the number of animals in the farm.

In 2013, the idea of “Thar Naturals” came into the mind of both brothers, and then they decided to do everything naturally – from land preparation to harvesting. As a result, crop yield increased and it was far much better as compared to other farmers using chemicals and pesticides in their fields. Steadily Thar Natural became a renowned brand and Gill brothers added more crops in their product list.

It was Navroop Singh’s positivism and family support which turned the way of Gill family’s descending sun into rising one…

…and it was Navroop Singh Gill and his family’s effort which made their natural farming initiative recognized and honoured by Krishak Samman Puraskar in 2015.

Gill family was also nominated for 2016 – Krishak Samman Puraskar award.

In 2016, third and the youngest son (Ramandeep Singh Gill) of the Kamaljeet Singh Gill decided to come back from abroad and join his brother and this how the trinity was completed.

Navroop Singh Gill- “THAR NATURALS is a vision of Gill Family to promote natural farming on a large scale and make aware other farmers of Rajasthan and other states that high yield and quality can be easily be achieved through natural farming. And Thar Naturals would never have been possible without the whole family effort.”

Today, THAR NATURALS is producing different varieties of cereals, pulses, millet, fruits, and vegetables; basically, it can be classified into four categories, namely, Agriculture, Fertilizers, Dairy and Horticulture. They are also processing some crops like Green Mung Beans, Bengal gram, Fenugreek Seeds, Chickpeas, Aloe Vera, Flax Seeds, and Canola Oil. Some of their featured products to promote natural farming which they also use in their farms are Jeev Amrit, JIYAN, and Vermicompost. They also have dairy products like milk and desi ghee (clarified butter) of Sahiwal cow for selling purpose.

Currently, Navroop Singh Gill is residing with his family in 58-RB Village in Rai Singh Tehsil of Sri Ganganagar District in Rajasthan. Mrs. Sandeep Kaur Gill (w/o Navdeep Singh), Mrs. Gurpreet Kaur Gill (w/o Navroop Singh) and Mrs. Ramandeep Kaur Gill (w/o Ramandeep Singh) are the hidden supportive members behind Thar Natural and they perform the role of main functionary of the house.

FARM STATS
Farming Technique: Mulching for water management
Implements: Have all the necessary farming machinery like tractor, trolley, harrow, and disc.
Crops: Guar, Pearl Millet, Mung Beans, Bengal grams, Chickpeas, Fenugreek, Flax-seeds
Horticulture Crops: Kinnow, Seasonal Vegetables, Canola

Dairy Farming: Gill Family have more than 100 cows of Sahiwal Breed in their farm. Navroop Singh himself take care of them with the help of few workers.


Message
“Natural farming is the only key to success for farmers in long run.”

Navroop Singh Gill is a prime example for the young farmers who want to see themselves successful in the future in the field of agriculture. Thar Naturals is an idle case of how natural farming is equally profitable as compared to farming done by using genetically modified seeds and chemicals.