MBA from IIM-Bangalore takes up organic farming in Sundarbans; empowers local farmers

Biplab Das had a plush job with IT services and consultancy major Accenture in Bengaluru when he decided to quit. An MBA from the prestigious IIM Bangalore, he was born and schooled in the Rangabelia village in Sundarbans, West Bengal, where his father was a government school teacher.

Despite his education and job away from the Sundarbans, he visited home frequently and realised that nothing had changed over the years, especially in education. 

“I understood rural challenges. I wanted to add value to rural youth and community,” Biplab tells 30Stades.

“Working with children inspired me, and money matters less after a point,” says Biplab, inspired by Padma Shri awardee, the late Tushar Kanjilal, a renowned social worker and environmentalist.

Biplab decided to quit his job and started the Kishalay Foundation to improve learning outcomes in remote rural schools in the Sundarbans. He registered the foundation on August 23, 2013, with his college friends Soumitra Dandapat and Jhilam Nandi, and his IIM batchmate Saurabh Kumar Das. 

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Currently, Biplab manages and oversees all the work at Kishalay, which has also ventured into organic farming, empowering women and local farmers. 

From education to organic farming

In 2015-2016, the Kishalay Foundation started learning centres for pre-primary kids in Godkhali, Sundarbans. “We are currently running 40 learning centres of which 31 are in the Sundarbans, six in Murshidabad, two in Purulia and one in Harwahdihi village in the Jharkhand-Purulia border,” he says.

The idea of starting Kishalay Organics, a farm-to-kitchen model, took shape while they were focussing on the nutrition of the children along with education intervention.

It was formally launched in 2022. “We used to supplement midday meals with nutritious food like eggs and add vegetables,” says Biplab.  

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“We wanted to provide the children with organic vegetables and fruits which are otherwise full of pesticides. We have a three-acre land parcel that was initially given on lease where people were using chemical farming happening,” he says.

“In 2018, we took over the land and converted it into an organic farm (Kishalay Organics Natural Farm). Our annual turnover is now Rs. 18 lakh,” says Biplab. 

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Organic rice, vegetables and more

“We stopped using chemicals for farming from day one of taking over the land. We used cow dung and urine-based and natural neem oil pest control.” The farm has over 250 plantations like mango, banana, cherry, water apple, guava, black plum, mud apple, paddy, maize etc. 

They also produce indigenous rice varieties like Navara Red Rice, Gobindobhog Rice, and Dudheswar Rice, moong daal, red corn, lemon grass, potatoes, ground nut, ghee etc. 

“Along with diversified fruits, we planted some saag (spinach), lemons, lemon grass etc,” he says. 

Biplab notes that they don’t have to use any organic pest control, as it is naturally controlled. “We haven’t yet received a certification for our farm but recently conducted a soil test for nitrogen and phosphorus and the results came back as normal. We were advised by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (West Bengal) to put some chun (quick lime).” 

Kishalay has also installed biogas units for 10 families. “We plan to extend this to 100 families. This would ensure they don’t buy chemical fertilisers and use the slurry as organic manure. I am trying to build an organic community,” he adds.

Biplab wants to create awareness among the community about the benefits of organic farming. “I tell the farmers that they themselves should eat organically grown food for them to know the difference.” 

While there are some organic seed banks in some islands in the Sundarbans, it is still at a nascent stage.  

Farmer empowerment

Kishalay also procures naturally grown vegetables, crops and organic groceries directly from organic farms, giving them a higher-than-market price. It also sells cold-pressed mustard oil, honey, jaggery, tea, spices and A2 desi ghee among other products.

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Parallely, they have also developed women’s groups interested in organic farming. “We are currently focusing on the women’s groups. The government has a domestic market certification called Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). Farmers form their own groups and monitor each other. A regional council grants the certification.” 

They currently have five women’s groups, with 15 to 20 members each. “It has been successful because we sell the vegetables grown by them in Kolkata,” he says.

“We deliver to a few apartments in Narendrapur. In Kamardanga village, 17 families are growing spinach, laal saag (red spinach), German turnip and cauliflower. 

Biplab talks about how the former agriculture minister of West Bengal, Purnendu Basu, who has done a lot of work on sustainability in agriculture, helped Kishalay Organics. “I joined his group. That is how we set up a stall in Rajarhat (Kolkata) in October 2023. The government allocated 16 stalls to 32 FPCs through a lottery system without charging money. They only take two percent of our earnings for maintenance etc. We don’t have to pay rent.” 

Kishalay Foundation runs on donations. “We get CSR funding and some collections from the learning centres.”

“Our earnings cover the salaries of our employees. If donations stop then we have Kishalay Organics as a back-up.” While Kishalay has started online delivery outside Kolkata, they still need to work on the delivery logistics. “I want to make the supply side stronger,” says Biplab.  They sometimes take individual orders on WhatsApp from other Indian cities but not on a large scale. 

(Sravasti Datta is a Bengaluru-based independent journalist, who writes art, culture and human interest stories)

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