editorialteam
New Member
Software professional turns into agripreneur with aloe vera farming and processing
“I always wanted to become an entrepreneur and had a fancy towards manufacturing cosmetics. Aloe Vera caught my attention for its amazing medicinal properties that is apt to be the key ingredient in cosmetics. To know more in detail about the crop I decided to grow it on my own,” Mr. Bhagat Kranthi L describes the reason for the switch from IT industry to farming. He started growing aloe vera on his own farmland in 2012, 40 kms away from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. In 2015 he began producing aloe vera soap. He talks about aloe vera farming intricacies, venturing into contract farming, processing, challenges and future plans. Excerpts:
I started on a small scale by cultivating aloe vera saplings initially on 10 acres land. The crop grows well and requires less monitoring. I observed there was huge demand of the crop and supply was quite less! It further caught my attention and soon I had a tie-up with 7-8 companies for aloe vera hence I increased the cultivation to 100 acres.
The demand was still unfulfilled that is when I started involving in more farmers on contract basis. Being educated I could self-learn the techniques for growing aloe vera and finding the market but farmers found it really challenging with respect to production and marketing. Therefore, contract farming model was appropriate where I provide them the planting material, farming know-how and assistance in selling the end crop.
Entire lifecycle of aloe vera is six years. The saplings are grown at the distance of row-row 4 feet and plant-plant 2 feet. It takes 15-18 months to give the first harvest. Later to which every quarter we get the harvest. I use drip irrigation for effective and efficient use of water. As the waiting period for getting first harvest is very long so it is good to go in for intercropping with flowers.
It took me three years to get my hands-on perfectly for aloe vera production. Next it was time to move on with processing. To do so I first took training for making aloe vera based cosmetics. Then I started aloe vera processing with hand-made soap, investing Rs. 3 lakh. Presently I produce the soaps against bulk orders. I take the minimum order of 10 thousand soaps. I supply to the traders and exporters. It takes one week to produce for the order. Soaps are packed in individual packs without any brand name at my processing unit because my client puts his brand! Pricing varies as per the quality of the ingredients used that is decided as per the client’s order. I am happy to share the progress is consistent!
Since 2012, I am on self-learning journey therefore faced many challenges! First and foremost, controlling weeding was a hurdle for me. Next challenge was identifying the suppliers for the aloe vera. Social media helped largely to overcome it. All was going on fine then I felt the dare to maintain the supply. Hence I started contract farming where it is very difficult to win the trust of the farmers for aloe vera farming. The crop takes 15-18 months for giving its first harvest and this period is really long to consider for the farmers. To solve it I started looking for established farmers so that helped in winning the confidence of other farmers in the vicinity. Logistics was another issue faced so I did a tie-up with some transporters enabling me to supply the crop within Hyderabad along with other cities in different states like Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. In processing, the challenge was subsidy! The entire document and approval process is quite tedious. If it was quick then we can be more efficient in the value addition process. In a nutshell so far every challenge has opened a new door for expansion for me!
In time to come I want to bring in more technology in farming. I seek better solutions in irrigation independent of electricity. Also water precision is my area of attention. Next I hope to use drone helicopters for spraying the organic manure in the field so that it is well absorbed by the plants and saves on labour cost. And I will be adding more products in aloe vera processing. Entrepreneurship is surely a risk but if taken up with perseverance it is more satisfying and rewarding!!
(As told to Shweta Dhanuka)
Contact details:
Mr. Bhagat Kranthi L
B-4-122, B K Enclave, Maktha Miyapur, Hyderabad - 500 049
Mobile: 09849200867 , 08790901367
Email : bobghat@gmail.com
“I always wanted to become an entrepreneur and had a fancy towards manufacturing cosmetics. Aloe Vera caught my attention for its amazing medicinal properties that is apt to be the key ingredient in cosmetics. To know more in detail about the crop I decided to grow it on my own,” Mr. Bhagat Kranthi L describes the reason for the switch from IT industry to farming. He started growing aloe vera on his own farmland in 2012, 40 kms away from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. In 2015 he began producing aloe vera soap. He talks about aloe vera farming intricacies, venturing into contract farming, processing, challenges and future plans. Excerpts:
I started on a small scale by cultivating aloe vera saplings initially on 10 acres land. The crop grows well and requires less monitoring. I observed there was huge demand of the crop and supply was quite less! It further caught my attention and soon I had a tie-up with 7-8 companies for aloe vera hence I increased the cultivation to 100 acres.
The demand was still unfulfilled that is when I started involving in more farmers on contract basis. Being educated I could self-learn the techniques for growing aloe vera and finding the market but farmers found it really challenging with respect to production and marketing. Therefore, contract farming model was appropriate where I provide them the planting material, farming know-how and assistance in selling the end crop.
Entire lifecycle of aloe vera is six years. The saplings are grown at the distance of row-row 4 feet and plant-plant 2 feet. It takes 15-18 months to give the first harvest. Later to which every quarter we get the harvest. I use drip irrigation for effective and efficient use of water. As the waiting period for getting first harvest is very long so it is good to go in for intercropping with flowers.
It took me three years to get my hands-on perfectly for aloe vera production. Next it was time to move on with processing. To do so I first took training for making aloe vera based cosmetics. Then I started aloe vera processing with hand-made soap, investing Rs. 3 lakh. Presently I produce the soaps against bulk orders. I take the minimum order of 10 thousand soaps. I supply to the traders and exporters. It takes one week to produce for the order. Soaps are packed in individual packs without any brand name at my processing unit because my client puts his brand! Pricing varies as per the quality of the ingredients used that is decided as per the client’s order. I am happy to share the progress is consistent!
Since 2012, I am on self-learning journey therefore faced many challenges! First and foremost, controlling weeding was a hurdle for me. Next challenge was identifying the suppliers for the aloe vera. Social media helped largely to overcome it. All was going on fine then I felt the dare to maintain the supply. Hence I started contract farming where it is very difficult to win the trust of the farmers for aloe vera farming. The crop takes 15-18 months for giving its first harvest and this period is really long to consider for the farmers. To solve it I started looking for established farmers so that helped in winning the confidence of other farmers in the vicinity. Logistics was another issue faced so I did a tie-up with some transporters enabling me to supply the crop within Hyderabad along with other cities in different states like Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. In processing, the challenge was subsidy! The entire document and approval process is quite tedious. If it was quick then we can be more efficient in the value addition process. In a nutshell so far every challenge has opened a new door for expansion for me!
In time to come I want to bring in more technology in farming. I seek better solutions in irrigation independent of electricity. Also water precision is my area of attention. Next I hope to use drone helicopters for spraying the organic manure in the field so that it is well absorbed by the plants and saves on labour cost. And I will be adding more products in aloe vera processing. Entrepreneurship is surely a risk but if taken up with perseverance it is more satisfying and rewarding!!
(As told to Shweta Dhanuka)
Contact details:
Mr. Bhagat Kranthi L
B-4-122, B K Enclave, Maktha Miyapur, Hyderabad - 500 049
Mobile: 09849200867 , 08790901367
Email : bobghat@gmail.com