How to Make Farming Profitable? Himachal Couple Earn Double with 25 Kinds of Crops

It was almost midnight. 

Ranjit Singh was half-asleep when his wife, Jaswinder, woke him up and reminded him about the workshop on natural farming. He wondered what she was yapping about and went to sleep.

The next morning when Ranjit enquired, he got to know about the Subhash Palekar Natural Farming workshop that could benefit the couple immensely. On her advice, he immediately left for Solan, 150 km away from his village in Kanshipur, Sirmaur, in Himachal Pradesh.

After training, Ranjit’s perspective on farming took a complete U-turn. “For decades, we had been growing crops using chemical fertilisers like urea, weedicides, and chemical insecticides. I never knew the gravity of the harm that we were causing ourselves and to those buying crops from us,” the 57-year-old tells The Better India.

Considering inorganic farming a sin, the couple decided to convert their entire seven-bigha (1.4 acre) land into a natural farm. “Before training, I thought of growing crops on a small part of our land using natural farming, but later, I swore never to use any chemical fertilisers in the field again,” he adds.

After a month-long training, Ranjit returned to his wife with secret tips and techniques of natural farming. Jaswinder, meanwhile, knew it was the training that could have convinced her husband to shift to natural farming.

Since 2018, the couple has been cultivating at least 25 kinds of fruits, vegetables, grains, and spices including lemons, moringa, Caprica chilies, pomegranate, sugarcane, turmeric, wheat, paddy, guavas, cauliflower, spinach, onions, beetroot, ginger, carrot, and more through zero budget natural farming.

Zero input cost, double income

For Jaswinder and Ranjit, using chemicals to boost production from the field was the only way to farm. But the soil kept asking for more. “We noticed that our fertiliser usage kept increasing every year. Initially, we were able to grow our produce using 5-7 kg of urea, however, we were later forced to add 10-12 kg per bigha,” she shares.

“Also, there were additional input costs for recurring fertiliser and pesticide usage. The input costs for us were Rs 2,000 per bigha in a season. Now, this has been reduced to zero,” she adds.

As the name suggests, there are zero production costs in zero-budget natural farming. It is the practice of growing crops that eliminates the application of chemical inputs like urea.

“There are a lot of advantages of natural farming, the first one being the availability of toxin-free food and rejuvenated soil health,” says Jaswinder.

In the first year of application, the production for the couple was one-third less than the inorganic farming. 

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However, the couple was not demotivated.

“We were aware of the losses in the initial years. People would comment how we incurred losses switching to natural farming but we were happy to incur these instead of spending lakhs in medical treatments from eating toxic food,” she adds.

It took them 1.5 years to reap the benefits, the couple shares.

“Today, we get three quintals of produce per bigha. One of the advantages of natural farming is that although the production is the same, the rate of this produce is double. For instance, our wheat is sold at Rs 4,000 whereas the inorganic wheat is for Rs 2,200 per quintal. Similarly, our sugar is priced at Rs 100, compared to Rs 50-60 per kg from the market,” she points out.

With zero cost of production, the couple has doubled their income from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh by selling vegetables and fruits. Their produce has earned a huge demand among the local schools, teachers, and officials.

Jaswinder also processes the low-grade vegetables into pickles, vinegar, and chutneys. Annually, she processes up to eight quintals of vegetables like lemons, cauliflower, reddish, beetroot, and ginger into value-added products. This earns them an additional income of Rs 1 lakh annually.

Bijamrit, brahmastra, agnihastra – components of natural farming

Instead of buying chemical fertilisers and insecticides, the couple makes their own natural products using simple ingredients like cow dung and urine, and agro-waste like leaves and jaggery.

“Firstly, we make bijamrit which is a formulation of cow dung, urine, and chuna (lime). It is used to treat seeds before sowing. After germination, which takes about 15 days, we fertiliise the soil with jivamrit,” she says.

Sharing the technique to prepare jivamrit, Jaswinder asks to start with five kg of cow dung and mix it with seven litres of cow urine in a 200-litre drum. 

“To this, add 1.5 kg of besan (chickpea flour) and jaggery each. Fill the water to the rim and stir the mixture. Take 40 litres of jivamrit to fertilise one bigha of land,” she explains.

Meanwhile, Ranjit shares his secrets to preparing natural insecticides such as brahmastra and agnihastra that enhance plant disease resistance, provide nutrients, and control insects.

“To make brahmastra, take one kg of four kinds of leaves and neem. Crush them and add in four litres of cow urine and dung. Boil the mixture. After two boils, cool it down and strain it into a tank. It will be ready to be sprayed on crops after 48 hours. You can also store this insecticide for six months,” he shares.

“If insects are still not controlled, we use our agnihastra. It is prepared using spicy green chillies, peppers, and garlic. It is sure to control pest attacks,” he adds.

Jaswinder points out, “In addition to the natural fertilisers, ensure to make the medh (field boundary) wall higher so that chemical water from neighbouring fields does not seep into your soil.”

Interestingly, the couple has received immense recognition for their work. In April this year, they were awarded by the Agriculture University of Sirmour. On the occasion of the International Women’s Day in 2022, they were honoured by the Deputy Commissioner of Sirmaur, IAS Sumit Khimta.

“We are small farmers who are receiving so much recognition. It is a big achievement for us. We never knew we would get opportunities to address thousands of people in front of the officials like the governor,” says Jaswinder.

More than recognition, Jaswinder takes pride in receiving compliments from her guests. 

“Earlier, if I ignored the phulke (wheat chapati) for some time, they would harden and dry out. But those prepared from the naturally grown wheat remain soft. We get lots of praise from guests for the taste and aroma of our chapati and vegetables. When asked, we tell them the magic behind it is natural farming!”

Edited by Padmashree Pande. All photos: Ranjit Singh.