How this Rajasthan farmer earns Rs35 lakh from 3 acres with organic fruit farming

From 2014 to 2020, Kapil Yadav from Behror in Rajasthan’s Kotputli appeared for various state and central government job examinations. His father worked in the Arunachal Police, while his grandfather retired from the Indian Army. After completing his M.Com from Rajasthan University, Kapil’s dream was also to secure a government job.

“Somehow, nothing worked out. I would reach the final stage after the written exams, but I never got any offers. These attempts continued till the Coronavirus lockdown hit in 2020,” Kapil tells 30Stades.

“To utilize my time, I decided to grow some plants in about half a bigha (0.3 acre). Since I had seen that traditional farming of wheat, maize and sugarcane was not profitable, so I did not want to pursue it. I also saw disasters from using chemicals. So I was sure about using organic farming methods,” he says.

Organic fruit farming

Kapil zeroed in on the organic farming of guava and procured the saplings of the Hisar Safeda variety from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU). This variety is known for its sweet taste, medium size and long shelf life, and starts fruiting after 1.5 years of sapling plantation.

Also Read: Rajasthan's woman farmer grows organic apples at 50 degree Celsius; gets Rs 38 lakh turnover from just 1.25 acres

He prepared the land by adding vermicompost and planted the saplings at a line-to-line gap of 20 ft and a plant-to-plant gap of 6 ft. “In 2022, I harvested about 30 kg of guavas per plant and made a profit of Rs75,000 by selling them at Rs 35 per kg. This was way above the Rs20,000 you can make from traditional and chemical farming in half a bigha of land,” he says.

Today, he harvests guavas twice a year and sells them from his farm at Rs50 per kg and does not go to any mandi. 

“The profit from organic farming of fruits is at least four to five times more than traditional mono-cropping with chemicals,” Kapil says confidently.

The success of guava farming gave him two business ideas – one, organic fruit farming was highly profitable, and two, the nursery business was even better as it was not easy to find good-quality fruit saplings in Kotputli and nearby areas. “I had to go to Haryana for guava and to Nagpur to procure saplings of orange and sweet lime. I knew nursery business would be viable here,” the agripreneur says.

Techniques of organic farming 

To understand horticulture better, Kapil took training from ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute (CCRI), Nagpur and ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur. 

He then purchased 525 plants of mosambi (sweet lime) and orange from CCRI Nagpur and planted them in 2023 at a plant-to-plant gap of 10 ft and a line-to-line gap of 15 ft. “The cost per sapling was Rs55 and now it is Rs72,” Kapil points out.

“Last year, I harvested 25kg of fruits per plant and sold them at around Rs30 per kg. This year, the second harvest is expected to be 50 kg per plant,” he says, adding that flowering has been good. 

“Each plant can give up to one quintal (100 kg) per season in Rajasthan at full maturity. In Maharashtra, sweet lime can be harvested twice a year,” he says. Kapil’s wife Rekha Yadav also helps him on the farm and nursery.

He relies solely on organic methods for crop success. He says vermicompost is the basis of organic farming and every farmer must use it. 

Also Read: Couple finds super success with vermicompost; clocks Rs 6 lakh monthly turnover

“I availed a 50 percent subsidy for setting up a small vermicompost unit for my plants. The annual output is around 70 tonnes. After meeting my requirements, I sell it at Rs8 per kg to nearby farmers,” he says.

The other essential equipment, he says, is waste decomposer. “It converts organic waste like grass and leaves into nutrient-rich compost, improving soil health and enhancing crop quality,” he adds.

Apart from jeevamrit, Kapil suggests using beneficial microorganisms like Trichoderma. It is a fungus that can control soil-borne diseases and promote plant growth. 

“The National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (NCONF) in Ghaziabad has developed a Trichoderma product, which farmers can buy once and keep multiplying on their farm,” he explains.

The nursery business

Kapil earns around Rs30 lakh a year from his nursery business. He uses the grafting method to create healthy plants that are sure to yield high output. 

“The grafting method joins the rootstock (lower part) from one plant and the shoot from the scion plant (the variety to be grown). Once the seedlings of say orange, sweet lime or other plant grow, they are joined with a strong rootstock and the sapling is ready after a few weeks,” he says.

He sells saplings of sweet lime, guava, lemon, orange, jamun, pomegranate, apple, plum, sandalwood and other fruits. The price is Rs80 per plant of pomegranate and starts from Rs100 for other fruits like lemon and orange are for Rs150 while sweet lime ranges from Rs130 to Rs250. 

Farmers from Rajasthan and other states come to buy the saplings from him. Last year, Kapil sold over 25,000 plants, clocking Rs30 lakh in revenues. “People can see the growth of guava, sweet lime and orange plants on my farm. I have also planted five to ten trees of all fruits so that customers know the results of our saplings,” Kapil says.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai- based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting) 

Also Read: How this farmer earns Rs 6 lakh per acre from organic farming of dates

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