Five farmers making crores by exporting their crops

Indian farmers are emerging as important players in the global food supply chain, tapping into niche export markets and premium consumer demand abroad. Rising awareness of health foods, superfoods, organic produce, and sustainable cultivation has opened doors for farmers who are willing to innovate, adopt best practices, and build strong market linkages. 

Support from government export policies, APEDA certifications, improved logistics and digital access to buyers has further helped this shift. For most farmers, transitioning from conventional farming to export-focused agribusiness has meant increasing incomes several times over. 

While domestic markets often see fluctuating prices, exports offer farmers higher revenue certainty and significantly better profit margins. 

Today, farmers across India are exporting diverse farm produce, nutmeg, exotic fruits and organic vegetables to herbs like shatavari. They are finding success not just through farming skills but also branding, packaging and direct marketing.

These farm entrepreneurs show that small and mid-scale farmers can succeed internationally with quality produce and consistency. Here are five farmers who prove that farms can be globally connected enterprises:

1. Bijesh PK – Exporting fresh vegetables to Dubai

Bijesh left his job in Dubai to start exporting organic vegetables from Kerala. He works with 35 farmer-families and practices organic farming across 8 acres. His enterprise exports around 3,000 kg of vegetables weekly to Dubai. His turnover last fiscal was Rs 2 crore.

He cultivates vegetables and also sources from other farmers, showing that organic production and aggregation for exports can help even small setups enter the international market. 

He has built a direct supply channel to Dubai’s supermarkets for okra, long beans, green chillies and gourds. By focusing on uniform quality, careful post-harvest handling and cold-chain efficiency, he delivers fresh produce within 48 hours of harvest. 

His export venture has eliminated middlemen and brought six times higher returns compared to selling to wholesale mandis. 

Read his detailed story here: How this Kerala man built Rs 2 crore business by exporting organic vegetables to Dubai

2. K Ranjit Kumar – Exporting nutmeg 

Pollachi nutmeg has carved its place among the finest spices globally, thanks to K Ranjit Kumar, who holds a postgraduate degree in Nanotechnology from Cambridge University. He returned to his roots in Kottur village, Pollachi, in 2017 after his father fell ill. 

He revitalised his family’s nutmeg orchard and turned it into a thriving export-oriented unit. Nutmeg, a high-value spice used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, offers excellent margins when sorted and processed correctly. He collaborated with other local farmers and introduced scientific pruning, organic inputs, and advanced drying, improving yield consistency and oil content, which are critical for export quality. 

Today, he sells to buyers in Europe and the Middle East. He set up a farmer-producer company (FPC) that pushes Rs 3 crore in annual business, making a major impact on farmers’ livelihoods.

Here’s his story: How this Cambridge engineer made Pollachi's nutmeg a global sensation with Rs3 crore annual turnover

3. Rahul Rasale – Exporting exotic red grapes

Maharashtra’s Rahul Rasale grows exotic red grapes over 18 acres in Ahmednagar, earning Rs2.4 crore annually. He blends organic farming with scientific methods, which yield 10 lakh tonnes of fruit per acre. 

The three main strategies behind Rahul’s success are efficient soil management, residue-free farming, and knowledge of the export market. 

His farm has the Global G.A.P. (Good Agricultural Practices) certification required for exports to European countries. It also has the APEDA-GrapeNet registration, a residue traceability software system for monitoring fresh grapes exported from India to the European Union.

The production of red grapes per acre is 10 tonnes, and they sell at Rs 120 to Rs 140 per kg, resulting in an income of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 14 lakh per acre. It can also go up to Rs16 lakh per acre in case of higher demand.

Here’s his story: Exotic red grapes millionaire: How this Ahmednagar farmer clocks Rs14 lakh per acre; exports to Europe, China

4. Kartik Suresh – Exporter of exotic fruits

Engineer-turned-agripreneur Kartik runs Fresh ‘N’ Good that sources exotic fruits and jackfruit varieties from over 200 farmers in Kerala. He aggregates the produce on a large scale to ensure the supply volume needed for exports.

His products include mangosteen, rambutan, longan, passion fruit and a wide variety of jackfruit distributed not just within Indian cities but also to international markets, including the Gulf and the USA.

His model shows how niche crops like exotic fruits or local varieties of jackfruit can be turned into viable export-linked agribusiness, benefiting many small growers. He clocked Rs 1.5 crore turnover last fiscal. 

His story: Engineer takes exotic fruits and jackfruit varieties from Kerala to the world; clocks Rs1.5 crore turnover

5. Nimesh Verma - Shatavari export 

Nimesh transformed his family farm by shifting from traditional crops to shatavari, an Ayurvedic medicinal root with strong demand in Europe and the Middle East. With strict adherence to quality and drying standards, he has built a reliable export network. 

He started organic farming of the Shatavari in 2012 on his farm in Bahraich, UP. He processes the harvested roots (washing, boiling, peeling, drying, and powdering) and turns the raw produce into a value-added export-ready product. 

His Shatavari powder is exported to countries like Spain and Japan, besides domestic pharma buyers, making his operation export-oriented. From one acre, he earns Rs 12 lakh with a net profit of Rs 10.5 lakh. This shows high returns when crops are combined with processing and exports. 

Read his story here: This farmer earns Rs 12 lakh per acre with Shatavari farming; exports to Spain, Japan

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