Vegetable Grafting and Vermicompost

Dear Reader,

COVID was a life-changing event for almost everyone. At that time, our doctors, nurses and other medical support staff went through the worst of times. They fought against death, saw deaths and many of them became victims of death while saving others.

Kavya Dhobale, a staff nurse at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital during the Corona years, was infected with the virus after working in a COVID ward for months. She had a close brush with death. The experience changed her perspective towards life and she realised how the chemical-laden food was eating into people's immunity.

She quit her well-paying government job (drawing Rs75,000 monthly) and went to her village to promote sustainable chemical-free farming. Though people opposed her decision, she had found her calling in life. Today, she makes vermicompost, creates awareness among farmers about chemical-free agriculture and trains people to become farm entrepreneurs. 

Kavya told me her monthly turnover is Rs2 lakh. However, that’s not the only source of her happiness. The contentment of bringing about change at the grassroots level keeps the 30-year-old agripreneur motivated.

Another interesting story last week was about Rajeev Bhaskar, a guava farmer who has started grafting vegetables. While it is common for farmers to use grafting (joining roots and shoots of two different plants) to create healthy fruit plants, the technique is relatively new in vegetable farming. 

Rajeev graduated in horticulture and has an MBA in marketing. The combination of business knowledge and farming made him clock a turnover of Rs50 lakh in the first year of operations. He is now targeting Rs2 crore next season as there is high demand for his grafts which have an extended crop harvest season and yield higher outputs.

My colleague Anu put together a piece on five indoor farmers earning lakhs of rupees from a room in their house. So, if you are an urban farmer with space constraints, this one is for you. Do look it up!

Our Sunday story is about Hukitola, a British-era building on an uninhabited island in Odisha. What makes the 157-year-old structure unique is a rainwater harvesting system that is functional even today.

In the Money section, my colleague Karan has listed six financial planning tips for the self-employed, who often see income fluctuations with distinct busy and slow seasons. If you are an entrepreneur, farmer, freelancer or self-employed in any other way, I suggest you read this piece.

Happy Reading!

Warmly,
Rashmi