For years, farming in Haridwar’s sugarcane belt followed a familiar pattern: more chemicals, more fertiliser, and rising cultivation costs. Productivity remained the priority even as soil fertility declined.

When you think of farming incomes in India, you think in thousands. Rarely in lakhs. And almost never double digits – Rs. 28 lakh a year is almost unheard of. Yet, on a small patch of land (2.7 ha) in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, that is exactly what Suman and her husband have built. Not through a single breakthrough—but through a series of deliberate, well-timed shifts.

For a village in Gujarat’s rainfed cotton belt, where farming has become increasingly difficult attributed to rising temperatures, water stress, and declining soil health, the sapling forest has become a visible sign of change.

Ambuja Foundation won the Bhu Amrit FPO of the year 2025 award. We are a leading agriculture NGO empower FPO’s and the farmer community in rural India.

Discover how climate coordinators are preparing farmers for climate-smart farming. Ambuja Foundation is a leading NGO working for the empowerment of rural farmers.

In the heart of Chandrapur’s Rajura block lies Devada, a quiet farming village where cotton reigns supreme. With 264 of its 298 households cultivating over 2200 acres, agriculture is more than a livelihood—it’s a way of life. But it was defined by outdated practices, limited tools and little access to credit.

Karnail Singh, a 79-year-old farmer from Ratyour village, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, proves it’s never too late to learn and prosper!

Once daily-wage labourers in stone mines and fields, Jashuben and Manubhai lived a life of hard labour and uncertainty. Their farm struggled with low productivity, poor groundwater, and dependence on monsoons.

When one thinks of Farakka in West Bengal, bordered close to Bangladesh, it’s often seen as a marginalised and backward region. But progressive, forward-thinking farmers like Ismail Sekh are rewriting that narrative.

Humble pulses - such as lentils, chickpeas, beans, and peas - are often overlooked in conversations about climate. Yet, they hold tremendous potential in shaping a more sustainable agricultural future, especially in countries like India that are grappling with the environmental repercussions of conventional farming practices. In the context of soil depletion, water scarcity, and growing concerns over food security, pulses offer a promising solution to many of the challenges faced by rural India. These crops not only enrich the soil and reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers, but they also support water conservation and provide a critical source of nutrition.

When you think of ‘terrace farming’ in India, you tend to envision picturesque landscapes characterized by lush green steps carved into hilly terrains – the tea gardens of Assam, rice terraces of Sikkim or vegetable terraces in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu come to mind.

As the world heats up and climate change becomes an ever more stark reality, its impact on rural life is of urgent concern. Weather patterns have changed, rains come at odd times, soaring temperatures dry up water bodies, sudden torrents destroy the produce in fields, groundwater levels decline unabated. Naturally, this impacts everything, including the primary source of livelihood: agriculture.