Venkat Iyer quit his corporate job with a mission to set up his own organic farm. His book, Moong Over Microchips, is an account of his everyday struggles as a full-time farmer. He speaks to Bhumika Popli.
Q. You had a successful job at one of the leading MNCs in Mumbai—a job you gave up to pursue your passion for farming. What got you interested in farming to this extent?
A. I was a project manager with IBM and was doing well in my job. It was seven years in the same role and I was looking for a change. After applying to various companies, I realised that all the offers I got were for project manager. What would change was the salary, the office and my colleagues. I was not looking for a change in job but a change in lifestyle. Around this time my wife, Meena, was writing a book on organic cotton in India. During the course of her research, she visited many farmers and stayed with them in their villages.
I was fascinated by her stories of village life. She told me about the organic farming that they were doing. The thought came to me that maybe I should also do farming. I asked her if that was possible and she encouraged me by replying that if 65% of our country was into farming, why couldn’t I do it. That’s how the seed was sown and we embarked on this transition from the city to the village to do organic farming.
Q. Tell us about your initial struggles after you took the plunge.
A. The first thing that one realises in the village is the lack of basic amenities. You notice the erratic power supply, the lack of a water-supply system and bad roads. Things we take for granted in the city are missing in the village. The local milkman, grocer, plumber, garbage collector, the laundry, the househelp, the takeaway joints are non-existent in a village. Besides the lack of these comforts, there was the rampant corruption that exists in villages. It was also a challenge to win the trust of the villagers initially, as most thought I was there for fun and would eventually return to the city.
Q. Did you ever consider returning to your corporate job because of the stress and difficulties you faced in the village?
A. When we decided to make the change, we were already prepared for some of the changes that we would have to deal with in a village. As for stress, it is present even in the city and probably more than it is in the village. In the first year after a disastrous rice season and a failed tur crop, I did think of returning to the city and look for a job. After a series of meaningful discussions with Meena and reading a lot of books, we concluded that things were not so bad and it was a question of time before things would improve. The next crop of groundnuts that year was a bumper crop and renewed our confidence. The thought of turning back to a stable job has never occurred to me after that year.
Q. What sort of crops do you grow in your farm?
A. The crops change according to the seasons. I grow two varieties of rice both local and indigenous, kalakarjat and kudai, a red rice. Pulses like urad (black gram), moong (green gram), tur (pigeon pea), val (field beans) and chawli (sting beans). Vegetables according to the season: pumpkin, cucumber, suran (yam), karela (bitter gourd), brinjal, bhindi (okra), gavar (cluster beans), tendli (ivy gourd), drumsticks, carrots, radish, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, broad beans, ginger and others. For spices, we have pepper, haldi, mustard, ambehalad, lemon grass, basil and curry leaves. In fruits we have four types of bananas, coconuts, chikoos, four types of mangoes, cashew nuts, passion fruit, lemons, mulberry, three types of guava, papaya, white jam, lychee, Indian almonds, jamun, two types of gooseberries and custard apples. For oil, we grow sesame and ground nuts. We also have the betel leaf plant and the betel nut plant. Besides, there are a lot of wild fruits and vegetables that grow, like karvanda (black berry), mushrooms, kartol (spine gourd) and a lot of unnamed tubers.
Q. Could you also talk about the feasibility of such a radical career shift? What should a person deciding to go your way, be ready for?
A. According to me, there are five Cs that one needs to be able to do something different. These are: Courage, Conviction, Commitment, Cooperation, Capital. Besides, one needs a lot of patience and persistence to get things done.
As for farming, a small family of four can easily grow their own food in about 3-4 acres of land. But for commercial viability, one would need more than 10 acres of land. Anyone who intends to get into farming needs to be aware that everything does not grow everywhere and at any time of the year. There are many parameters that determine the feasibility of a crop in your area. For each crop, the soil, the climatic conditions, the water requirement and the season are different and they have to be taken into account before one starts sowing them.
Q. In your book, you have raised concerns about the marketing of farm-grown produce in India. How could our farmers be made more market-savvy?
A. There are many reasons why it is difficult for farmers to market the produce themselves. Land fragmentation is one issue—low land-holding means lesser production and it does not justify the logistic costs. The lack of infrastructure and easy access to markets is another major issue faced by farmers. Poor pricing mechanism leads to fewer profits for the produce. All this leads to the creation of the middleman who then goes on to exploit the farmer’s condition and loots them. What we are attempting to do with a group of 70 odd farmers in neighbouring Vikramgad taluka [in Maharashtra], is to form a co-operative and provide them with transport and access to the market in Mumbai. There are a lot of issues faced by the group and efforts are on to resolve them and try out the go-to-market model with these farmers this year.
Q. What are the primary misconceptions in the minds of city dwellers about farmers in rural India?
A. The image projected by the media and in the minds of city dwellers of a farmer is that of an illiterate, poor, shabby person standing in the centre of his dried field staring into the sky waiting for the monsoon to arrive. The reality is far from that and today, most farmers are tech-savvy and rarely look at the sky for monsoon information. Also, the prices that one pays for in the city for vegetables and fruits gives the impression that the farmer is minting money at the cost of the city-dweller. At the ground level, the farmer would have got less than 30% of what the retail price is.
Q. In your book, you have also referred to the importance of community life in a village. How helpful has community in the Peth village been to you?
A. It took a few years before the village finally accepted that I was here to stay and did not mean any harm to the community. There have been many occasions when the community helped us out. When, for example, we could not find labour to work in the field, they would make time and come to the farm to help out, especially during the sowing and harvest seasons. They also help in finding good local seeds, when we wanted them, using their extensive contacts.
Q. What’s next for you? Are you planning any new crop or a new business model for your farm?
A. Every year I make an effort to try something new or experiment with a new idea. Our current project with a group of 70-odd farmers, is where we are trying a new model of marketing agricultural produce directly to the consumers in Mumbai. It is full of challenges and only time will tell us if it will succeed or not.
Q. How is life in the village for you?
A. Life in the village is peaceful. Living close to nature brings a kind of peace into oneself akin to meditation. There is enough and more work at the farm to keep you busy all day. There is a lot of work that goes into planning, scheduling and preparing for the various crops that are to be sown. The erratic weather and the poor power supply keep you on your toes. Overall, it is great fun to live in the village in spite of the challenges that you face daily.