Deepak Sabharwal was shocked to learn the ‘poison’ label on pesticides used on his household’s farms. He shifted to natural farming and began Earthy Tales, with a mission to assist extra farmers make the swap.
Friday nights for Deepak Sabharwal have been relatively distinctive. The Delhi-NCR resident would rush after work to catch a bus to Pushkar, Rajasthan. He traded his formal shirts and pants for cargoes shortly and travelled over 400 km.
Whereas individuals lazed round at house or frolicked assembly family and friends, he visited his household farm. For 2 days, he would stay amidst nature, with no contact of any kind with the surface world.
There was no mild at night time, no air con, no laptops and no community for these two days. He would begin his day by visiting the farms and getting his fingers soiled. This routine continued for nearly three years.
However one superb day, a label startled him.
“The pesticides that we have been utilizing had the phrase poison written on them in three languages. What have been we rising?” wonders Deepak in a dialog with The Higher India.
The realisation that they have been feeding poison to the soil and vegetation, and additional consuming and promoting this was a tough tablet to swallow for this MBA graduate with a high-flying company profession. As he studied methods to begin natural farming, he was hit by one other blow.
His mom had been identified with most cancers.
This was the second of reality for the 48-year-old. From right here on, all his efforts have been directed in direction of transferring to natural farming on their 21-acre land. Eager to unfold the fruits of this pure labour, he began promoting this produce in Delhi-NCR.
With a mission to offer natural meals to shoppers and inspire farmers to shift to natural farming, he began Earthy Tales in 2017. Immediately, they work with over 500 farmers throughout the nation and have served 15,000 shoppers, making a turnover of Rs 4 crore in FY 2023-24.
A weekend go to that sparked an thought
Deepak earlier used to develop amla (gooseberry), fruit and veggies within the farm.
When the price accountant first got here throughout the dangerous pesticides getting used on the crops, he spent a number of sleepless nights. To study natural farming practices, he took a sabbatical from his job at Common Electrical (GE) and spent just a few months visiting farmers in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan itself.
Seeing farmers in Jalgaon and different areas of Maharashtra practise natural farming made the price accountant perceive that farming will be accomplished the best way nature supposed it.
“Earlier than the inexperienced revolution, farmers in India have been basically practising natural farming. All we needed to do was return a number of a long time,” he shares.
Whereas it sounds nice on paper, as soon as the soil will get used to chemical fertilisers, it takes plenty of time and persistence to revive it or carry it again to its former glory.
“Essentially, soil or vegetation don’t want something non-natural. Chemical substances are alien, however when you’ve pumped them in for many years, they get used to it. So we began with a small portion of land. The primary and most vital factor to do is give attention to the soil,” provides the entrepreneur.
He began utilizing cow dung and vermicompost. Whereas in chemical farming one tends to kill pests, one of many ideas of pure farming is that pests are integral and may co-exist.
As soon as the soil began regaining its well being, he began multi-cropping. Pulses and flowers could be grown collectively. After just a few months, he noticed good outcomes.
Whereas the output won’t have been equal to the one earlier, it was freed from dangerous chemical compounds.
Conserving at this for a few years introduced their harvest again to authentic numbers. Buoyed by the outcomes, he expanded to rising different pulses on the farm as properly.
He began getting this recent produce house and distributing it to family and friends. This was the identical time when consciousness concerning the significance of consuming pure meals was rising.
Realising the inherent demand, he arrange the corporate, shaped a Fb web page and WhatsApp enterprise account. Apparently, he was one of many first adapters of WhatsApp enterprise in India, and has additionally been featured as a case examine for successfully utilizing the platform.
Deepak would personally ship the fruit and veggies and groceries to clients in his Maruti Suzuki Swift automotive; embodying the ‘Direct-To-Shopper’ (DTC) precept fairly actually!
“I might get the products by bus and ship it in Delhi-NCR,” he says. The farm-to-fork enterprise grew by means of phrase of mouth and after personally delivering items to over 500 clients, the previous finance skilled expanded the Earthy Tales workforce.
Immediately, the licensed natural model sells over 300 merchandise, together with fruits, greens, ghee, oil, pulses and worth added merchandise like jams. Vegetables and fruit are delivered in Delhi-NCR, whereas the opposite merchandise are delivered throughout India.
The bestsellers, apart from the fruit and veggies, are cold-pressed oils, stone chakki flours, in response to Deepak.
Motivating farmers to farm natural
As demand elevated, they began mentoring small and marginal farmers. They urged them to shift to natural farming and gave them a platform to promote their produce too.
He shares that convincing farmers was a problem as they have been apprehensive concerning the yield and marketplace for the produce.
“We assist farmers by offering them market linkages and shopping for their produce at a charge greater than those they obtain usually. Farmers can get the identical yield they obtain at the moment solely after a interval of three years. It’s not going to occur in a single day,” explains the CEO.
Earthy Tales has a workforce on the bottom that trains farmers and gives them with inputs, market linkages and getting an natural certification. The farmers are requested to begin with 30-50 p.c of their land after which improve it to their whole farm.
Jatin Kumar Saini, a farmer from Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, used to develop grains on his three-acre land. “However that wasn’t very worthwhile,” he shares.
A workforce from Earthy Tales visited his farm about three years again and requested him to begin rising greens on a small portion of land. As this began giving him an excellent return, at present he grows cucumbers, chillies and different greens in his whole farm.
“My earnings has elevated virtually 4 occasions after the interventions from Earthy Tales,” he says.
The farm-to-fork firm has educated over 500 farmers to date. It’s incubated by the federal government beneath the Ministry of Agriculture’s Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) – Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RAFTAAR) scheme.
Earthy Tales has additionally arrange two farmer coaching and assortment centres in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
What began with Deepak delivering merchandise twice every week in his automotive now delivers merchandise twice a day in Delhi-NCR and 11 different cities. “We need to turn into a farmer’s greatest good friend,” says Deepak.
Edited by Padmashree Pande, Pictures Courtesy Deepak Sabharwal
