Nagendra Naidu Dharmavarapu from Andhra Pradesh left his high-paying job and based Farmties India Personal Restricted. He used his ancestral household land to domesticate Yellow Dates which is now incomes him earnings in lakhs. Here is all about this uncommon superfood.
Whereas a lot of the youth within the nation are heading in direction of company jobs, only some flip in direction of farming. Affected by varied elements, particularly excessive threat and low profitability, no farmer would need his son to turn out to be a farmer.
“I do know that there’s a sure perspective in direction of taking over farming. However I used to be very positive from the start of my profession that I might find yourself within the agriculture business,” says engineer-turned-agriprenuer, Nagendra Naidu Dharmavarapu, the founding father of Farmties India Personal Restricted.
In keeping with Nagendra, you will need to discover one’s area of interest in farming to earn earnings. He discovered his area of interest in Yellow Dates, an excellent meals, which is incomes him Rs 3.5 lakhs per acre.
Intrigued by the product and the way he discovered his market, The Higher India had a dialog with Nagendra the place he recollects his preliminary days of brainstorming to make earnings.
Again to his roots
Born right into a household of farmers, Nagendra grew up in shut proximity to the problems farmers confronted every day.
“I used to be intimately acquainted with these challenges and had grown up pondering potential options. In my thoughts, it was clear that I needed to be an agripreneur,” he provides.
Even whereas Nagendra was in an engineering school, he would ceaselessly return house and spend time on the farm.
“I had a powerful affinity for the farms and was very decided that someday I might additionally transition into the agriculture house,” he says.
After finishing his diploma he pursued an MBA and began working in a startup. “I later moved on to firms like Apple, Tracxn, and I-PAC, understanding how high quality management and provide chain works,” he says.
He even acquired a failing firm and turned it round right into a profit-making one in 2018. “Nevertheless, I used to be at all times pondering of how I might enter the agri house. I wanted a stable plan — and area of interest product, the best labour and a powerful provide chain,” he says.
Whereas he was having fun with his work, his true ardour lay in farming. “It was a threat that I used to be taking as my jobs had been very excessive paying. Leaving all that and transferring into a well-recognized but unknown house was a leap of religion for me,” he says.
By late 2018, Nagendra was already searching for a possible product that he might develop. “I didn’t should look wherever for farms as my household owned lands close to Anantapur which can be in proximity to Bengaluru,” he says. “The one challenge was water shortage.”
This challenge too was solved when a identified motor firm manufacturing unit opened only a few kilometres away. “This introduced water to the world and likewise grew to become a tipping level for me. I used to be now positive that I needed to utilise this piece of land,” he says.
Discovering a marketplace for yellow dates
Earlier than transferring into agriculture, Nagendra did numerous groundwork visiting varied villages.
“There have been numerous fruits similar to papaya, coconut, and mangoes that might develop properly within the weather conditions however I didn’t wish to enter that house. I used to be conscious that the federal government provides numerous subsidies to farmers to develop these. This makes it accessible to everybody who needs to get into the business,” he says.
Nagendra was searching for a crop that was area of interest and with fewer gamers available in the market. “I needed a crop that requires a minimum of 5 to six lakh rupees as funding per acre. This might get rid of the competitors. Additionally, I needed one thing that was very region-specific.” he says.
He narrowed his search all the way down to avocados, dragon fruit or dates.
“Out of those, I realised that climatically contemporary yellow dates could be new in India however would additionally develop very properly. Dried dates are fairly widespread however contemporary dates are comparatively unknown however extraordinarily nutritious,” he says.
Since Nagendra was unsure how this number of dates would develop within the weather conditions, he began with simply 20 acres.
“I had grown up seeing wild dates rising within the area however not yellow dates. Whereas it might have been an enormous miss, fortunately it wasn’t, and the local weather fits completely to develop the plant,” he says.
“I needed to import the Yellow Dates seeds from overseas as these are usually not obtainable in India,” he says. Nevertheless, one chunk of the fruit was all it took to grasp its immense shopper attraction and market potential within the nation.
“The style was addicting and I knew as soon as the shoppers discover out in regards to the fruit, it’s going to be successful. I reached out to my pals from school and we raised some funds. In 2021, I had a fantastic yield and we had been promoting in and round Anantpur,” he says.
With time he began to succeed in out to greater gamers like shops promoting natural meals, Swiggy, Massive Basket, Zepto, Nation Delight and so forth. “We additionally began to succeed in out to company workplaces of those marketplaces. The CEOs would style it and fall in love with the fruit. That is how we discovered a marketplace for it,” he says.
What began with simply 20 acres of farming land is now an empire of greater than 1,400 acres of cultivation.
“The revenue margin is 37 % and we make practically Rs 3.5 lakhs per acre up to now,” he says.
“Our most important focus is sustaining the standard of the dates. We segregate them in accordance with the standard and ship one of the best ones out. I’m absolutely conscious that it’s the high quality and availability of the fruit that has created marketplace for us, and I wish to give my finest to retain it,” he provides.
For those who want to do that superfood, you may attain out to Nagendra at 91642 96999.
(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All Image Credit: Nagendra)