Parthasaradhi Nara from Uppanesinapalli village in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district belongs to an agricultural background. For years, his grandfather, father and uncles cultivated 90 acres of land.
“My grandfather spearheaded the agricultural activities on the farm and grew millets, pulses and other vegetables, ensuring food security for our whole family. His meticulous planning guaranteed that we did not fall short of food even during the drought years,” Parthasaradhi says.
Nara’s early life
Nara;s family expended money only on essential goods such as oil, spices and items of daily needs. Though, following the early 1990s, the situation began worsening as conventional cultivators who were previously using organic techniques to cultivate food began fluctuating to using chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
“The use of artificial fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides started entering the farming sector, and when my father and uncle took over, the use on our farm became excessive,” says the 42-year-old.
He complements that the transformation in farming methods boosted the cost of agriculture. Likewise, economic liabilities began accumulating each year. “Earlier, our agricultural land could support 50 families. But as we fell into the trap of chemical fertilisers, we started facing financial and social troubles,” he explains.
A community-driven model
When he joined the group of growers practicing organic farming, he understood that many had failed to market their produce. “The farmers had doubts about organic methods and had multiple questions about the potential market and profits. I decided to rope farmers in Anantapur district and create a good market network in the urban area,” he says.
In 2016-17, Parthasaradhi and a few of farmers began presenting their goods within a 40 km radius of his village by organizing farmers’ markets offering exclusive chemical-free farm produce
“We did not invest any money and reached out to potential buyers via friends, and connected via WhatsApp groups. The response was good, and we decided to scale up the following year, widening the product range with perishable and non-perishable items like cold-pressed oil, grains, seasonal fruits and vegetables. It became a community model,” he says.
Parthasaradhi adds that the residents synchronized with him for orders, and the farmers cultivated accordingly to deliver the fresh produce. Eventually, his friends from the IT sector decided to help him with an app to manage orders. The same year, they launched Anantha Naturals, a farmer producer company.
After the company scaled up, he quit his IT job. Since then, he has helped over 150 farmers switch to natural farming, providing fresh produce thrice a week around Bengaluru and receiving a income of Rs 1 crore per year. “The business earns a profit of Rs 10 lakh and we expect it to increase multifold in the coming year,” he adds.
FARMER OPINION
A farmer, Ramana Reddy from Vasanthapuram, says that he heard about natural farming methods while undergoing kidney treatment. “It happened in 2011, and I decided to switch to chemical-free farming with support from Parthasaradhi. Earlier, I used to suffer losses, but now my profits have increased to Rs 2 lakh per annum,” he says, adding that he is glad he hasn’t spent extra money on keeping healthy since the switch.
Parthasaradhi says this is just the kind of transformation he wants to build among the farming community to relieve and safeguard them from financial debts by heavy use of synthetic products in agriculture. “If I had continued doing this alone, I would have earned Rs 40 lakh income in a year. But I intend to help the community prosper,” he says.