Young entrepreneurs changing agri-business in India

Rahul Gala loves technology. And he loves it so much that he has transformed the methods of agriculture in the arid region of Kutch. Today, he logs on to his computer in the morning, feeds in the data and that's it. The rest is taken care by the system—right from the irrigation to fertigation in his farm.

He grows export-quality dates and mangoes by installing a first-of-its-kind computer aided technology in India. "I can feed data for a week's schedule and my system does it for the farm right from the irrigation to fertigation," says the 30-year-old Gala, who's director of Jalbindu Agri Tech.

After returning from Australia to his native village Ratual (near Bhuj), Gala aimed to become an agri-entrepreneur. What helped in installing this technology was his degree in horticulture from Queensland University in Australia. He exploited an untapped opportunity and transformed the dynamics of methods of production.

Currently, he grows 'barhi' (a fresh variety of dates) over 12 acres of land and has sown more than 600 date plants. Each plant is expected to produce 50-70 kg of dates, which is set for despatch to Europe and Dubai under his brand Golden Dates. What's more surprising is that fellow farmers near his village are getting accustomed to his technology and are increasingly becoming e-producers.

"Agriculture is going to create huge opportunities in India. The need is dynamism and professionalism," says Gala. Many including Reliance, Essar and Atul Group have shown interest in his technology. "But I like to work on my own methods and a create sense of ownership among farmers," he adds. He has already tied-up with seven super-specialty stores in Mumbai to supply dates and mangoes and is set to invest close to Rs 6 crore in cold-storage facilities to keep his produce fresh for exports.

Agriculture in India is transforming its practices. As young and charged-up entrepreneurs are joining the fray, commodities are being turned into value-added products and premium prices can be demanded from various retail outlets. With the same available resources, young entrepreneurs are modifying their business-models and exploiting market opportunities to improve their lifestyles. This is not only helping the entrepreneur but also encouraging farmers to shift to a better world.

With a hope to make south Gujarat (an NRI-belt) the rose hub of the country, Kumar Patel returned to his village Kutched (25 kms from Valsad) after working with a few consulting firms in the US. Now Patel, at 34, has just roped in 15 rose producing villagers and entered into a buy-back arrangement with them to market their products under his popular brand—'Best Roses'.

His Rs 15 crore rose company has already started exporting to Japan, Holland, Europe, Dubai and the US with many more negotiations going on. Patel, who is also an MBA from San Francisco, recently established a hydroponics plant (the first in India) in his rose garden.

"Most of the farmers are illiterate and belong to our community which has been, for some time, baffled with conventional sugarcane and paddy production. Now, they are earning more than 40% profits by growing quality roses," says Patel.

He adds that the strength of his business lies in having more units from the region to compete in the global market since labour is cheaper and his village is geographically well-placed to for timely cargo movement. Best Roses produces nearly 10 million roses per annum at an average market price of Rs 3.50 per stem, mostly imported from Kenya. It offers a range of roses—bugatti, aloha, aqua, avalance, Bordeaux, among others.

Source : ET.

Sandeep Maheshwari is the Founder of ImagesBazaar.com

A young man who has tasted both failure and success in a short span of time, Sandeep has become an inspiration to many.
Sandeep’s vision is to ignite and inspire the entrepreneurial spirit of tomorrow's leaders and help them succeed.
He strongly believes that,
“If you have more than you need, share it with those who need it most.”

The Journey
Sandeep, a college dropout, started as a freelance photographer and faced countless adversities to become one of the most well known entrepreneurs of India.
2000 - Started as a freelance photographer without any studio (used to take studio on rent).
2001 - Sold his camera and joined Japan Life, a multi level marketing company.
2002 - Started a company in partnership with three more people but the company closed within a period of six months.
2003 - Wrote a book on marketing and started a consultancy firm. Failed again and got back to what he was really passionate about - photography. Created a World Record in fashion photography (Published in the “Limca Book of Records 2004”).
2004 - Created a small studio set-up at home and started expanding the portfolio making business by hiring few assistant photographers.
2005 - Conceived the idea to start a stock photography website and started working on ImagesBazaar.
2006 - Launched www.imagesbazaar.com with just 8,000 images shot by a few photographers.
Fast forward to 2012. ImagesBazaar.com has got more than 10,00,000 images and videos shot by over 11,400 photographers and filmmakers from all over India. ImagesBazaar is the world’s #1 collection of Indian images and videos. Over 7,000 brands in more than 45 countries have been using ImagesBazaar’s images and videos for their advertising, marketing and publishing needs. To know more, log on to www.imagesbazaar.com.

And now, the only purpose of his life is to share all that he has learnt with the rest of the World. To help others succeed so that, in turn, they could also share with those who need it the most. After conducting numerous Life-Changing Seminars in different parts of India, lastly, he concluded it with a mega-one on the historic day of 20th October, 2012. This was his "Last Life-Changing Seminar" conducted at the Thyagraj Stadium, New Delhi, which was attended by thousands and thousands of people from all over India. Simply click on the link given below to watch a high quality video of the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDiA1p5DlLg&feature=plcp

Awards and Accolades

Sandeep was adjudged as one of the “India's Most Promising Entrepreneurs" by the “Business World” magazine in March, 2009. He has been featured in almost all the leading magazines, newspapers and television channels such as The Economic Times, India Today, CNBC-TV18, IBN7, ET Now, NewsX and more.
He is the recipient of the following prestigious awards:

"Star Youth Achiever Award" instituted by the Global Youth Marketing Forum.
"Young Creative Entrepreneur" Award by the British Council, a division of the British High Commission.
"Pioneer of Tomorrow" Award by the "ET Now" television channel.

Media Coverage

ImagesBazaar.com, founded by Sandeep has been reviewed in top magazines, newspapers and on television. Kindly click on the link below to view some of the latest press releases and interviews:
http://www.imagesbazaar.com/pressreleases.aspx

Success story of ‘Jyothi Reddy’

 This is a true Success story of an Indian lady who got married at the age of only 16, became a two child mother at the age of 18 who worked as agricultural laborer for Rs. 5 per day and today she is the CEO of a Software company in USA.

For more info click on below link...

success story of ‘Jyothi Reddy’

An IIT Mach. Engineer(Madras) turned to Farmer

This is an inspiring story. It helps you dare to think beyond the usual. It shows how single minded dedication and focused work can help one beget the dreams.

Off-beat is in. The oft beaten track, not so. One of the most interesting themes at this year’s Pan-IIT event was the session on rural transformation. IITians who have chosen an offbeat career hogged the limelight at the event. In this series, we feature some of the IITians who preferred to be different, rather than get into a corporate rat race.*The star at the event was R Madhavan, an alumnus of IIT-Madras.


This is Madhavan’s success story as a farmer

Passion for agriculture : I had a passion for agriculture even when I was young. I don’t know how my love for agriculture started. I only know that I have always been a nature lover. I used to have a garden even when I was a teenager. So, from a home garden, a kitchen garden, I gradually became a farmer! My mother used to be very happy with the vegetables I grew.

Studying at IIT Madras :My family was against my ambition of becoming an agriculturist. So, I had to find a livelihood for myself.*I wrote IIT-JEE and got selected to study at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras . I enjoyed studying mechanical engineering.*My intention was to transform what I study into what I love; mechanisation of farming. I felt the drudgery in farming is much more than in any other industry, and no one had looked into it.

Working for ONGC after IIT :I started my career at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). My father refused to give me any money to start farming. So I asked the officials to let me work at the offshore sites, on the rigs.*The advantage was that I could work on rigs for 14 days and then take 14 days off. I chose to work on the rigs for nine years, uninterrupted.

Madhavan’s farm : After 4 years, I saved enough money to buy six acres of land. I bought land at Chengelpet near Chennai.*I chose that land because the plot had access to road and water. Back in 1989, a man in a pair of trousers aroused curiosity among the farming community. That was not the image of a farmer!*Tough beginning as a farmer.I became a full fledged farmer in 1993. It was tough in the beginning. Nobody taught me how to farm. There was no guidance from the gram sevaks or the University of Agriculture .*I ran from pillar to post but couldn’t find a single scientist who could help me. I burnt my fingers. My first crop was paddy and I produced 2 tonnes from the six acres of land, it was pathetic.*When I lost all my money, my father said I was stupid. I told him, it didn’t matter as I was learning. It was trial and error for me for three years. Until 1997, I was only experimenting by mingling various systems.

A Visit to Israel :In 1996, I visited Israel because I had heard that they are the best in water technology. Take the case of corn: they harvest 7 tonnes per acre whereas we produce less than a tonne.*They harvest up to 200 tonnes of tomatoes, whereas here it is 6 tonnes, in similar area of land. I stayed in one of the kibbutz, which is a co-operative farm for 15 days.*I understood what we do is quite primitive. It was an eye opener for me. They treat each plant as an industry. A plant producing one kilo of capsicum is an industry that has 1 kilo output.*I learnt from them that we abuse water. Drip irrigation is not only for saving water but it enhances your plant productivity. We commonly practice flood irrigation where they just pump water. As per the 2005 statistics, instead of 1 litre, we use 750 litres of water.

Guru :I met Dr Lakshmanan, a California-based NRI, who has been farming for the last 35 years on 50-60,000 acres of land.*He taught me farming over the last one decade. Whatever little I have learnt, it is thanks to him.*I knew a farm would give me much better returns in terms of money as well as happiness. Working for money and working for happiness are different. I work and get happiness. What more do you need? 
No guidance in India.I said at one platform that we have to change the curriculum of the agricultural universities. What they teach the students is not how to farm, but how to draw loans from a bank!*What they learn cannot be transformed to reality or to the villages. The problem in the villages is not mentioned in the university. There is a wide gap and it is getting worse.
After burning my fingers for four years, from 1997 onwards, I started making profits.*Even though it took me four years, I did not lose hope. I knew this was my path*even though I didn’t have any guidance from anyone.*In those days, communication was slow. Today, I can get guidance from Dr Lakshmanan on Skype or Google Talk, or through e-mail.*I send him the picture of my problem and ask his guidance. In those days, it took time to communicate. There was no Internet or connectivity.*That was why it took me four years to learn farming. Today, I would not have taken more than six months or even less to learn the trick!I started crop rotation after 1997. In August, I start with paddy and it is harvested in December.

I plant vegetables in December itself and get the crops in February. After that, it is oil seeds like sesame and groundnut, which are drought-resistant, till May.*During May, I go on trips to learn more about the craft. I come back in June-July and start preparations on the land to get ready for August. In 1999, I bought another four acres. My target is a net income of Rs 100,000 per annum per acre. I have achieved up to Rs 50,000.I sell my produce on my own. I have a jeep and bring what I produce to my house and sell from there. People know that I sell at home. I don’t go through any middle man.*I take paddy to the mill, hull it and sell it on my own. In the future, I have plans to have a mill too. These days, people tell me in advance that they need rice from me. I have no problem selling my produce.

Engineering helps in farming :More than any other education, engineering helps in farming because toiling in the soil is only 20 per cent of the work. About 80 per cent of farming needs engineering skills.Science is a must for any farming. I have developed a number of simple, farmer-friendly tools for farming areas like seeding, weeding, etc. as we don’t have any tools for small farmers.*If I have 200 acres of land, I can go for food processing, etc. My next project is to lease land from the small farmers for agriculture. The village will prosper with food processing industries coming there. My yield will also be more with more land.

Abdul Kalam visits the farm : Dr Abdul Kalam visited my farm when he was the President, after hearing about what I was doing. He spent around two hours on my farm.*During his visit, he said: “We need not one, but one million Madhavans!”.If I am able to inspire or create even one entrepreneur, I will be very happy, because that is what Dr Kalam wished me to do. 

Experimental farming :Every acre of my land has ten cents of experimental farming. I have done this for the last 15 years.*This is a part of my research and development. Some of it may fail, but even if I succeed at one thing, that is enough for me.

Entrepreneurship in the village : I feel that the number of people engaged only in farming should come down. Instead of ten people, there should only be two people. I am not saying the eight should go jobless.*What we should do is, create employment in the villages based on other agro activities like value addition, processing, etc.*We can go for mechanisation in large areas so that the cost per acre goes down. In India , the cost per every meal is very high. So, my next concern is, how do you make it cheap.In America , the unskilled working for one hour can earn three meals a day. Here, in the rural areas, even if they work for one day, they can’t get one meal* a day. How do you bring down the cost? By producing more food. So, my intention is to make more food.

Food insecurity in India :The United Nations says 65 per cent of the world population suffers from food deficiency, and India ranks first in the list.About 49 per cent of our children are undernourished. This means our future generation will be affected.If we are not going to give attention to this area, we are in for real trouble. Food insecurity is more threatening than an atom bomb!

FARMS N FARMERS : CULTIVATING A CHANGE IN THE FARMS

  

There are probably a hundred ways to earn money but in a country with about 50% people employed in Agriculture and more than 68% living in rural areas, how do you bring about a change in the lives of the people? How to you talk about the indices of Gross National Happiness and quality of living when educated and bright ones decide to move from rural to urban areas only to come back on vacation? Does it matter then to talk about suicides by farmers and blaming the Government? Does it help? No.

It was questions like these which bothered the two determined minds so much so that they started a journey back to the grassroots of India not to only talk about a change but actually bring it. It was not easy for Shashank Kumar and Manish Kumar to choose a profession of helping farmers to select better crops and sell them to markets at right price. Not because they did not know much about it or they were incapable but because no one believed them at first.

Ground Work

Over a period of 6 months they met as many farmers as possible to get aware with the ground realities and what problems the farmers faced. Soon they formed a team of advisors which consisted of professors and agriculture scientists from IIT Kharagpur, IIM A, RAU Pusa, BAU Ranchi and Farms and Farmers Foundation was set to toil and perspire in the fields of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Shashank being in the field of supply chain had seen the peril of people at the ends of it, the producers and the consumers. The team came up with a model to provide 360 degree services to the farmers from soil analysis to marketing and selling or the crops. Through their approach they are trying to bridge the gap between market, knowledge, technology and farms and farmers.

Operating Model

Core Team <-> Local Centres <-> Clusters

Local Centre Representative Conducts survey of farmers and conveys what FnF does. Then profile of farmers is analysed by the core team and segregated on parameters like total land holding, historical cropping pattern and affordability of cost of cultivation. In a cluster farmers of similar profile are grouped so that same cropping pattern and same farming schedule can be planned.

Cluster head is appointed which is responsible for information flow from local centres to the farmers and conducting weekly meetings.

Training camps are also conducted in the clusters and at district levels to teach farmers about better farming methods and spread awareness against malpractices and advantages of using a scientific approach.

Current Status

The organization which started in 2010 with one cluster of 14 farmers has now spread to over 8 districts of Bihar. Products that they cover include papaya, litchi, medicinal herbs, basmati rice, maize (corn), baby corn, mushroom, turmeric, mangraila, rajma, moong, gram and seasonal vegetables.

Team

Shashank Kumar, B.Tech IIT Delhi: After working for two and half years as an Associate in a Management consulting firm, he has been working in the agriculture sector. He has worked in areas of Supply chain, Retail, FMCG and Sales Strategy, Distributor and Vendor Management, Management Information System (MIS) etc.

Manish Kumar, 5-Years Integrated M. Sc., IIT Kharagpur: He has been very passionate about social service right from his school days and has worked for many NGOs. He also co-founded a society “Sambhav” at IIT Kharagpur which works in the field of employment generation and primary education in nearby villages of IIT Kharagpur.

Dr. Mini Thakur, Professor, Political Science, Mithila University; President, Aprajita Society: Her major research areas include “Women Empowerment” and “Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI)”.

Amrendra Singh, B. Tech., NIT Jamshedpur: Passionate about social reforms. Very enthusiastic & energetic towards grassroot-level works. Has been involved in many social organizations since his college days.

Contact Farms n Farmers at:Manish Kumar: +91-9973678929(manish.kumar@farmsnfarmers.org, manishkumar.fnf@gmail.com)

Shashank Kumar: +91-8757912744 
(shashank.kumar@farmsnfarmers.org, shashank.vatsa@gmail.com)