Jayant Barve: Maharashtra’s organic farmer who became manure millionaire

1. Jayant Barve: Maharashtra’s Organic Farmer Who Became Manure Millionaire

2. Jayant Barve Sometime in 1988, Jayant Barve was marketing chemicals, fertilisers to farmers in Vita, about 40 km from Sangli district in Maharashtra. He would also give them suggestions on sprays for various diseases. One day, a farmer walked up to him, seeking a spray to ward off crows damaging his grape crop that would be ready for harvest the following week. Barve chemical spray at remain on the grapes and reach the consumers. pesticides and thought stage any that would

3. That was a turning point in his life. The incident set Barve thinking about the harmful effects of chemicals and made him realise the importance of natural farming. An MSc in Physics, Barve, till then, had stayed away from farming despite his family owning land in Vita. He decided to opt for organic farming of grapes on an acre of land. He read books, met up with experts and after using vermicompost for a year, observed that the soil’s nutrient quality, as well as carbon and potash levels, had increased with organic farming. Not only was his grape crop excellent, but it also encouraged him to make vermicompost on a larger scale. “We bought vegetable market waste from the Vita Municipal Council for three years to make vermicompost for our farm. Our grapes were best in class and exported. But around that time I read that directly adding organic carbon to the soil leads to natural worm growth and there is no need for separate vermiculture,” recollects 77-year-old Barve, who now practices organic farming over 30 acres, cultivating fruits like mango, banana and sapodilla (chikoo), vegetables as well as cereal grains.

5. Today, the factory in Vita annually produces over 10,000 tonnes of organic manure which is sold not only across India but also exported to Taiwan, Kenya, Tanzania and other African countries. Our annual revenues are over Rs10 crore. While we sell across India, our maximum buyers are from Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,” Barve points out.

6. The Barve family uses locally available plants for pest management to make inputs like dasa parini, which uses leaves of tulsi, neem, karanj (Pongame oiltree) and other plants not eaten by goats. The leaves are fermented with cow urine and sprayed over plants. “We make panchgavya also on the farm as we have cows, which provide most of the inputs,” he says. Panchgavya is liquid manure made using a mixture of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd, banana, tender coconut and other ingredients. Besides practising horticulture over 12 acres, the Barve family grows vegetables (tomato, chilli, cabbage, cauliflower etc), sugarcane, pulses and cereals on 18 acres, generating annual revenues of Rs 30 lakh from farming. “We ourselves, which brings in better margins. We sell directly to mandis in and around Sangli,” he says. market some of the products

7. “Organic farming is also cheaper because an increase in organic matter improves water retention. This cuts water and electricity costs by 60 percent,” he says. With the rising use of chemicals, the requirement of water for agriculture has been rising in India. This has led to a decline in the water table, increasing the cost of pumping besides contaminating the soil with heavy metals. “Our costs are less than conventional farming and so sell our organic produce at market rate, which still leaves us with a good profit margin. Plus, there is a satisfaction that we are supplying healthy products to consumers,” he says.