The parliament has recently given its nod to the two contentious agriculture bills. While the government has passed those bills in its bid to transform the agriculture sector and increase farmers’ income, who are the backbone of our country’s economy, there have been lots of controversies and disagreement around them. All these inevitably lead us to think of the challenges the agriculture sector of our country faces, the hardships of the farmers and the measures that can be taken to tackle them.
With technology within arms’ reach in today’s time, what once was a huge problem, no longer is. While youths mostly opt for professions like doctors or engineers, very few choose to take up farming as an occupation however, among those handful few are some who have disrupted the sector through innovative methods.
Sachin Kale was a mechanical engineer from Nagpur and was working a high paying job at a power plant. Holding an MBA degree along with a degree in mechanical engineering, he went ahead to pursue PhD in Developmental Economics in 2007. It was during that time that the thought of starting his own business rather than working for someone else struck his mind.
Inspired by his grandfather who used to be a farmer once, his entrepreneurial inclination was naturally towards farming. Finally, he left his Gurgaon-based job and shifted to Medhapur. With lack of knowledge on crops and farming in general, he invested a significant amount of time doing his research. “Everything was a challenge, as I had absolutely no clue about arming. I had to learn everything from tilling the land to sowing the seeds,” Sachin Kale said.
Sachin Kale invested his provident fund which he has saved for 15 long years to set up a clean energy model. In 2014, Sachin Kale established Innovative Agrilife Solutions Pvt. Ltd that supported farmers through a farming model based on contract. Furthermore, witnessing the fact that paddy fields are used only for around 3 to 4 months after which they are left unused, another idea struck his mind. Sachin Kale suggested the farmers to use the land during that period to grow seasonal vegetables. Today, his company helps almost 140 farmers with an annual turnover of approx. Rs 2 crore.
