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Farm turned into business house with bio-diversity, processing and direct sales. Located at Kathera, Fazilka, Punjab.
Key to success in farming is to be natural and independent! “Natural farming gives earning everyday in varied ways not necessary ‘money’ and by staying independent farmer attains the power as any other businessman. To be with the nature it is mandatory to have bio-diversity in the farm thus I consciously planned the crop cultivation in a way that it meets the grocery list of my kitchen as far as possible. Cereals, pulses, spices, oilseeds, seasonal fruits and vegetables are grown in the farm. These all are grown using zero budget farming practices since November 2005. I enhanced my farm income by processing the farm produce in value added products from 2007. Lastly all the value added products are sold within the farm to end consumers at premium price,” shares Mr. Vinod Jyani, owner, Jyani Natual Farm.
Mr. Vinod Jyani
Jyani Natual Farm is located at Kathera village, Fazilka district, Punjab. There are 25 types of fruits grown in the farm along with all seasonal plus regular vegetables. “We grow as many as food grains possible however commercially we grow wheat, rice, pulses, oats, barley, sugarcane and spices namely fenugreek, coriander, turmeric, chilli and mustard,” he says. Farm also has a small dairy unit of desi cow breed ‘Rathi’. The herd size is 50 cows. Fodder for the cows is 100% grown in-house.
“I was fed-up going everyday to the market for buying pesticides and other chemical farming inputs for my 130 acre farm. Besides, I was extremely concerned about the health and well being of my farm laborers and staff who were manually handling the chemicals. Hence, after attending one workshop on zero-budget natural farming I immediately took the decision to completely switch to natural farming practices instantly. Since 21st November 2005 not a single trace of chemical is being used in my farm,” recalls and shares Mr. Jyani on his switch from chemical based farming to natural farming practices.
In the beginning open-pollinated (desi) seeds were procured from the natural farmers for 2-3 years then after, “I conserved and multiplied it myself. The requirement of farming inputs for the entire farm is met from the dung and urine obtained from our Rathi cows. We do not buy any farming input from the market. We stay independent!” he asserts.
When asked about controlling the pests and diseases Mr. Jyani responds, “Bio-diversity in the farm takes care of the pests naturally. There are different birds on different fruit trees that feed of specific pests and insects found in the crops. Further, intercropping also helps in pest management. For example, we grow wheat along with three other crops namely gram, mustard and flax seeds. Gram gives nitrogen to the wheat, mustard attracts the beetle that attracts the pest and flax seeds take care of all sitting pest. Similarly paddy is grown with cow pea and maize. Maize attracts the pest and cow pea gives nitrogen to the paddy crop. In this way pests are controlled naturally.” Post harvest of grains and other crops fodder is obtained for the cows. “We grow green fodder too that completes the balanced diet for our cattle.”
Speaking on initial challenges due to instant shift to chemical-free farming, he says, “There was a drastic drop in my income levels but I was assured this change was the best decision in the favor of my farm, staff and family. To update and upgrade myself in natural farming methods I visited many farms and conducted series of experiments on the farm myself. It was a challenging yet an interesting learning curve that I cherish till date. Then I started processing the farm produces within the farm premises to augment the incomes. For example, we never sell sugarcane instead we make jaggery, white sugar and cane suage. And the molasses is used as fodder and compost.”
Some more processed products are pure cow ghee, mustard oil, fruit squashes, flour and pickles etc. The processing is done using machines and manual methods. All the products are consumed and sold within the farm. “We follow ‘locally produced and locally sold’ system. We run agri-tourism center as well as training center. Thereby our products are consumed at these centers and rest is sold to directly to consumers through advance booking. Our products are sold at 25% higher price than the market price because we give the best quality food products. We sell mustard oil at Rs. 150/liter and ghee at Rs. 1500/liter,” informs Mr. Jyani.
In time to come, Mr. Jyani wants to continue his present operations with same principles and encourage other farmers to switch to chemical free farming and turn natural and independent. He concludes, “No farmer will ever incur loss in natural farming. The yield might be less initially but it gets compensated in the long run by many folds. Further get into processing and direct sales of farm products to earn high profits. Lastly I feel with increased income farmer son will be inclined to be farmer with a pride!”
Contact details:
Jyani Natural Farm
Village Kathera, National Highway No 10, Abohar - Fazilka Road, District Fazilka, Punjab, India - 152121
Phone: +91 9417233251
Email: info@jyaninaturalfarm.com, vishav@jyani.in
Key to success in farming is to be natural and independent! “Natural farming gives earning everyday in varied ways not necessary ‘money’ and by staying independent farmer attains the power as any other businessman. To be with the nature it is mandatory to have bio-diversity in the farm thus I consciously planned the crop cultivation in a way that it meets the grocery list of my kitchen as far as possible. Cereals, pulses, spices, oilseeds, seasonal fruits and vegetables are grown in the farm. These all are grown using zero budget farming practices since November 2005. I enhanced my farm income by processing the farm produce in value added products from 2007. Lastly all the value added products are sold within the farm to end consumers at premium price,” shares Mr. Vinod Jyani, owner, Jyani Natual Farm.
Mr. Vinod Jyani
Jyani Natual Farm is located at Kathera village, Fazilka district, Punjab. There are 25 types of fruits grown in the farm along with all seasonal plus regular vegetables. “We grow as many as food grains possible however commercially we grow wheat, rice, pulses, oats, barley, sugarcane and spices namely fenugreek, coriander, turmeric, chilli and mustard,” he says. Farm also has a small dairy unit of desi cow breed ‘Rathi’. The herd size is 50 cows. Fodder for the cows is 100% grown in-house.
“I was fed-up going everyday to the market for buying pesticides and other chemical farming inputs for my 130 acre farm. Besides, I was extremely concerned about the health and well being of my farm laborers and staff who were manually handling the chemicals. Hence, after attending one workshop on zero-budget natural farming I immediately took the decision to completely switch to natural farming practices instantly. Since 21st November 2005 not a single trace of chemical is being used in my farm,” recalls and shares Mr. Jyani on his switch from chemical based farming to natural farming practices.
In the beginning open-pollinated (desi) seeds were procured from the natural farmers for 2-3 years then after, “I conserved and multiplied it myself. The requirement of farming inputs for the entire farm is met from the dung and urine obtained from our Rathi cows. We do not buy any farming input from the market. We stay independent!” he asserts.
When asked about controlling the pests and diseases Mr. Jyani responds, “Bio-diversity in the farm takes care of the pests naturally. There are different birds on different fruit trees that feed of specific pests and insects found in the crops. Further, intercropping also helps in pest management. For example, we grow wheat along with three other crops namely gram, mustard and flax seeds. Gram gives nitrogen to the wheat, mustard attracts the beetle that attracts the pest and flax seeds take care of all sitting pest. Similarly paddy is grown with cow pea and maize. Maize attracts the pest and cow pea gives nitrogen to the paddy crop. In this way pests are controlled naturally.” Post harvest of grains and other crops fodder is obtained for the cows. “We grow green fodder too that completes the balanced diet for our cattle.”
Speaking on initial challenges due to instant shift to chemical-free farming, he says, “There was a drastic drop in my income levels but I was assured this change was the best decision in the favor of my farm, staff and family. To update and upgrade myself in natural farming methods I visited many farms and conducted series of experiments on the farm myself. It was a challenging yet an interesting learning curve that I cherish till date. Then I started processing the farm produces within the farm premises to augment the incomes. For example, we never sell sugarcane instead we make jaggery, white sugar and cane suage. And the molasses is used as fodder and compost.”
Some more processed products are pure cow ghee, mustard oil, fruit squashes, flour and pickles etc. The processing is done using machines and manual methods. All the products are consumed and sold within the farm. “We follow ‘locally produced and locally sold’ system. We run agri-tourism center as well as training center. Thereby our products are consumed at these centers and rest is sold to directly to consumers through advance booking. Our products are sold at 25% higher price than the market price because we give the best quality food products. We sell mustard oil at Rs. 150/liter and ghee at Rs. 1500/liter,” informs Mr. Jyani.
In time to come, Mr. Jyani wants to continue his present operations with same principles and encourage other farmers to switch to chemical free farming and turn natural and independent. He concludes, “No farmer will ever incur loss in natural farming. The yield might be less initially but it gets compensated in the long run by many folds. Further get into processing and direct sales of farm products to earn high profits. Lastly I feel with increased income farmer son will be inclined to be farmer with a pride!”
Contact details:
Jyani Natural Farm
Village Kathera, National Highway No 10, Abohar - Fazilka Road, District Fazilka, Punjab, India - 152121
Phone: +91 9417233251
Email: info@jyaninaturalfarm.com, vishav@jyani.in