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 many of the youth within the nation are heading in direction of company jobs, just a few flip in direction of farming. Affected by numerous elements, particularly excessive threat and low profitability, no farmer would need his son to change into a farmer.

“I do know that there’s a sure perspective in direction of taking on farming. However I used to be very positive from the start of my profession that I’d find yourself within the agriculture business,” says engineer-turned-agriprenuer, Nagendra Naidu Dharmavarapu, the founding father of Farmties India Personal Restricted.

In line with Nagendra, it is very important discover one’s area of interest in farming to earn earnings. He discovered his area of interest in Yellow Dates, a brilliant 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 remembers 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 each day.

“I used to be intimately accustomed to 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 often return residence and spend time on the farm.

“I had a robust affinity for the farms and was very decided that someday I’d 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 corporations 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 all the time considering of how I may enter the agri house. I wanted a stable plan — a great and area of interest product, the correct labour and a robust 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 shifting into a well-known but unknown house was a leap of religion for me,” he says.

By late 2018, Nagendra was already on the lookout for a possible product that he may develop. “I didn’t should look anyplace for farms as my household owned lands close to Anantapur which can be in proximity to Bengaluru,” he says. “The one problem was water shortage.”

This problem too was solved when a recognized motor firm manufacturing facility opened just some kilometres away. “This introduced water to the world and in addition 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 shifting into agriculture, Nagendra did quite a lot of groundwork visiting numerous villages.

“There have been quite a lot of fruits akin to papaya, coconut, and mangoes that may develop nicely within the weather conditions however I didn’t wish to enter that house. I used to be conscious that the federal government provides quite a lot of subsidies to farmers to develop these. This makes it accessible to everybody who desires to get into the business,” he says.

Nagendra was on the lookout 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 could 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 nicely. Dried dates are fairly widespread however contemporary dates are comparatively unknown however extraordinarily nutritious,” he says.

Since Nagendra was undecided 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 may 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 will not be out there 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 customers discover out in regards to the fruit, it’s going to be a hit. I reached out to my associates from school and we raised some funds. In 2021, I had an incredible yield and we had been promoting in and round Anantpur,” he says.

With time he began to achieve out to greater gamers like shops promoting natural meals, Swiggy, Large Basket, Zepto, Nation Delight and so forth. “We additionally began to achieve 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 almost Rs 3.5 lakhs per acre thus far,” he says.

“Our most important focus is sustaining the standard of the dates. We segregate them in response to the standard and ship one of the best ones out. I’m totally conscious that it’s the high quality and availability of the fruit that has created a great marketplace for us, and I wish to give my greatest to retain it,” he provides.

In the event you want to do that superfood, you possibly can attain out to Nagendra at 91642 96999.

(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All Image Credit: Nagendra)