Indian farmers face significant challenges in agriculture - fragmentation of land ownership, increased cost of cultivation, deteriorating soil health, uncertain market spaces. In addition to this, climate change is a major threat. It seems there is no end to the hurdles that the humble Indian farmer must jump over.

When it comes to key stakeholders in agriculture and rural development in India, there is no bigger player than NABARD who, with a 7, 50,000 crore balance sheet, are a primary investor in the revitalisation of rural India. It makes sense then, for Ambuja Foundation to work closely with them – after all, both organisations are working towards the same vision – rural prosperity!

Ambuja Foundation joins hands with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for the implementation of Watershed Development projects in Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh. Owing to Ambuja Foundation’s successful past experience in the field of Watershed Development in Solan under CSR mode where Ambuja Foundation is implementing 9 watershed projects, NABARD has now selected the Foundation to support farmers in the Mandi region – improving their production and livelihood.

India is the largest cotton producer in the world, with 5. 8 million farmers making a living from the crop, along with millions of people who work in the sector. But in the past the industry has had a bad name, labelled as one that ‘consumes too much and produces too little’ – too much water, too much pesticide, and low productivity per hectare.

On the occasion of Rajasthan Diwas, Ambuja Foundation promoted Farmer Producer Organization in Marwar Mundwa, Green Desert Farmer Producer Company, launched their own brand of spices called ‘Marwari Hatadi’.

The inspiring stories of Ambuja Foundation’s beneficiaries have been captured in a stunning coffee table book format – highlighting their perseverance and ‘unstoppable’ drive in pursuing their livelihoods and passions.

Prahlad Ram and his wife, Parma Devi, have built a reputation for themselves across Rajasthan. It seems their jeera, which is being exported to the US, is being purchased in bulk by the Indian diaspora and rumor has it, even Vice-President Kamla Harris has tried it!

Never in her wildest dreams did housewife Renu Thakur imagine where cows would take her in life! From Nauni village in Darlaghat all the way to the offices of the Ministry of Finance, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in the Himachal Pradesh State Government, Renu has been on a wild ride. Renu was one of the 30 founding members of the women only Amrit Dhara Dairy Milk Cooperative, which has grown from strength to strength - swelling to 300 members today.

Ravikiran Saini is a fourth generation farmer from Bhagwanpur, Uttarakhand. On the surface he may look like a simple farmer, but this man is passionate about organic farming – so passionate and experienced in fact that he moonlights as a regular guest lecturer at IIT Roorkee.

In the early 2000’s, farmers in the tribal belt on the border of Telengana - Chandrapur were at the mercy of local money lenders, who monopolised the cotton market – often refusing to pay market rates for crops and pushing the already marginal farmers further into poverty.

58% of India’s population depends on Agriculture as the primary source of livelihood. However, it contributes to only about 18% of the country’s GDP.

The future of farming hangs in the balance, where the average age of an Indian farmer was 50.1years, and only 1.2% of rural youth aspire to be farmers, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (2017) which surveyed 30,000 youth across the country.