Sankrail in West Bengal saw an exciting development. Many farmers who received support from Ambuja Foundation to manufacture Vermicompost have discontinued it. However, one farmer, Hanif Sheikh, continued his efforts and today has become a vermicompost entrepreneur. He sells around 12 tons of Vermicompost after holding back 2 tons for his consumption. He started with two composting pits provided by Ambuja Foundation in 2008 and has since added another four.

Apoorva Oza is one of those people you speak to who leaves you in awe of his experience, knowledge, and perspective on all things agriculture and rural development – the man’s depth of understanding on the subject, and humble, down-to-earth nature, is something to behold.

An independent impact measurement study initiated by Ambuja Foundation’s research team in 2021, highlighted that the land under Ambuja Foundation’s Wadi project in the tribal block of Bali, in the Pali district of Rajasthan, has doubled income for farmers, in comparison to the land area of other seasonal crops.

"Globally, cotton farming has had a bad reputation. For its overuse of pesticides. For child labor. On all fronts, cotton has had a lot of cleaning up to do. As a cotton-growing country, the situation in India was no different - at Ambuja Foundation, we struggled to change the ingrained practices of farmers - who were damaging the environment and barely surviving, in the process.

Ambuja Foundation kick-started organic farming promotion in 2010 in Bhagwanpur block in Uttarakhand. Today, the district is home to the Bhu Amrit Farmer Producer Organisation, a collective of organic farmers who work across the entire value chain of organic production, certification, and marketing. With 667 farmer shareholders, the group produces a variety of products and has commenced marketing them in key markets such as Delhi, Gujarat & Punjab, and has even moved their products online, via Flipkart and Amazon.

“Farming is often a subsistence business and that's what it was for me! But little did I know that I was burning away cash every time I burnt the stubble from my crop. Once I understood that the waste material could actually be used as a biomass fuel, and earn me additional income, I threw myself into it. I started supplying mustard husk as biomass, and then gradually also provided shredded juliflora as a biomass – employing 15 people for 8months of the year along the way.

“Bananas are thirsty – drinking almost 50% of water as you grow them! In this water parched area I used to spend Rs.45,000 on electricity for pumping water and on labour – and the bananas were awful!

"I was completing my graduation and had my sights set on a government job when my father passed away and our family fell into financial crisis. Being an educated person, what would people say if I simply join agriculture? But with no other choice at the time, I thought let me put my mind to good use in farming and support my family of 9.

‘Farming is a family business and we all get involved – in fact, we live as part of khiryati Dhaani where almost 30 families live and work together in close proximity. We used to grow maize but found it tough to survive, so I would work as a labourer on other farms in the district.

“It was a bitter pill to swallow - I was 59. I'd just retired. And was broken.

Since childhood, I saw my father struggling to make agriculture profitable. I was very sure that I could do better. That with my hard work and skill, I’d earn more. But somehow, it never happened …

“In West Bengal, Mandals are known to be cultivators. So despite earning my trade as an electrician at ITI, I turned to the 30-acre family farm to work hard and build a business.