The Story Of Siddhesh Sakore-  Crusader for organic farming

Here’s The Story Of Siddhesh Sakore-  Crusader for organic farming

To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves. – This statement from Gandhi has a lot to learn for one to understand the basic philosophy behind farming.  India has lakhs of farmers who have been in this profession more out of family demand or inheritance. The youth today are moving away from farming as a profession due to various issues such as no sustainable income, dependency on climate and rainfall, low education levels,  vicious circle of low income, debts, and no funds to maintain the farm land etc. 

The present generation farmers have seen so much struggle, depression, suicides,loans etc in this profession that they do not want to go back to farming. 

Yet, there are few who are fighting to hold onto their land and ancestral profession and want to encourage the coming generation to go back to farming as a lucrative career to choose. 

We have this young crusader Siddhesh Sakore from Kendra village, 60 kms from Pune, who took the baton to fight this battle to prove that the agricultural revolution is the need of the hour and needs priority attention as the lives of 70% plus of the Indian population depend on it. 

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Siddhesh Sakore is a mechanical engineer from a modest farmer’s family in Kendur. Education and the expenditure to gain a degree is a far fetched dream for a struggling farmer’s family. His father aspired that his son should not live such a tough life so hoped that Siddhesh move to another profession to have a stable income.They took a bank  loan to pay for his mechanical engineering degree, with the hope of getting a good placement and the family can step out of this vicious circle of loan and depression. 

After completing  his engineering degree, he interned at the NGO Vigyan Ashram, where engineers develop initiatives for their businesses. He was involved in the soil admittance project, which required him to examine the soil of ten other villages besides his own. When he analyzed the soil in his village and the other ten villages, he was shocked to find that 90% of the soil was nitrogen deficient and had an average organic carbon content of only 0.7%. This hit the panic button for him and he realized that something has to be done immediately. This was the turning point in his career path. 

Due to his own sad experience, Siddhesh’s father had always opposed his son becoming a farmer since he was a child. Working with an NGO relating to farming, Siddhesh could not focus on his engineering. His father panicked and got him a job with a salary of rs 10,000. This minimal  salary would not even cover their loan installments. Siddhesh decided he will follow his calling to work as a farmer, to promote it as a successful career. With experience, his father knew the soil had deteriorated and Siddhesh would not be able to earn much and face disappointment. The youth were all moving away from farming and looking for better pastures. About 95% of farmers are paying debts and are unable to earn enough money to get out of this trap.

Similar situations erupt in many families where two generations don’t see eye to eye, and this led Siddhesh to leave his family and house.

Siddhesh took this up as a challenge and wanted to find solutions to the above issues and not escape like thousands of other youths. He wanted to find ways out for the farmers to receive fair compensation for their hard work. He conducted a study and found that composting was a possible solution to the problem. He then created composting machines at the Vigyan Ashram NGO.

This led to the launched of his composting technology start-up.

Siddhesh, being highly positive, started his composting technology start-up to convert organic waste into compost from the entire Pune city. He believed that the amount of compost produced could significantly improve the fertility of his village’s soil if applied there. Siddhesh collaborated with an NGO he had previously worked with to develop the composting technology. The path is never easy and three months after launching the start-up, Siddhesh failed due to a lack of entrepreneurship skills and knowledge to generate finances and market his business. Gaining training was expensive and getting support is not easy when you are just starting off. 

However, he came across Kanthari, an organization based out of Trivandrum, Kerala, who agreed to support his mission. Siddhesh was selected as one of only 20 people in the world to be part of their residential program. In addition, they raised €8250 as a scholarship for Siddhesh’s project. This was a life changing experience for him. 

During the Seven-month training module in Trivandrum , Siddhesh learned and practiced skills such as fundraising proposal writing, financial administration, and other entrepreneurial abilities needed to run a successful business. While continuing his course, he explored and researched the soil dexterity of his rural soil. This session made him learn more about the excessive use of chemicals and soil degradation in villages. Also that even though these chemicals like herbicides and insecticides were manufactured for the benefit of farmers, their side effects were tremendous. 

Now that the gap of inexperience was filled, Siddhesh was totally confident to initiate a non-profit organization called AGRO RANGERS.

The main mission of his organization was to encourage farmers to switch from hazardous chemical agricultural practices to more ecologically friendly organic farming practices. He took it up as his responsibility to convert farmers to organic farming methods.

As an experiment , he wanted to work on his fathers land and test his ideas, but unfortunately, his family did not support him as they were not yet sure about Siddhesh’s plan to pursue agriculture as a career. 

Finally he rented farmland and a house 40 km away. He established a model farm on that land which demonstrated higher income in a small space with a minimal investment, thus proving the benefits of organic farming. He wanted to prove that organic farming could be a solution to the lifelong problems of 72% of the farming population of our country. 

As expected, the path of crusaders is filled with thorns. He faced challenges and obstacles, yet he kept his struggle on, to create the model for others to follow. Slowly things started settling down and he started earning Rs 20,000 on a regular basis.

To share his experience and progress, he invited young farmers and entrepreneurs to his farm to motivate them. Siddhesh organized  training sessions on the farm, and through the AGRO RANGERS initiative, he trained hundreds young people in organic agricultural practices. Being a farmer himself, he worked on the farms along with other farmers to gain their trust and confidence and also learn through practice on a daily basis. Hard work always pays off and over time, he added to his land bank as farmers joined his model.

He used his engineering background to bring in technology and digital benefits to his project, along with being a hands-on farmer. Few other progressive entrepreneurs joined hands with him on their start up called Future Step. 

AGRO RANGERS focuses entirely on helping farmers. Obstacles  like  COVID-19 pandemic, and other natural calamities, created a huge financial blockage and Siddhesh had to leave his rented land and was having a tough time raising funds for his model farm and residential project. Survival was tough. But he had to stick to his commitment to motivate others. 

He shifted his focus to farmers and provided technical information to 25 of them. These farmers are now connected to over 200 Pune residents, providing them with organic produce daily through regenerative organic farming. He used new methods but still maintained his roots and age-old farming methods used by his forefathers to combat chemical farming. 

The impact recognition grew slowly. 

​Through AGRO RANGERS, they conducted 22 training sessions in regenerative organic agriculture and agroforestry, leading to the training of more than 1,300 youngsters, women, and farmers in farming practices that promote regeneration. 

Surveys of about 600 acres and 100+ acres of agroforestry sites have been implemented with the help of 63 farmers.

In total, over 40,000 saplings of 30 different species have been planted, and an agroforestry model has been implemented in 23 different villages.

This initiative has indirectly created employment opportunities for over 8,000 women. 

Furthermore, 297 soil samples have been tested, and the plants have sequestered 14 tonnes of carbon since being planted.

 The initiative has also helped to improve soil quality by applying more than 150 liters of microbiological biofertilizers and 100+ tons of cow dung on 100 acres of farmland.

Siddesh feels he is moving on the right track as more and more farmers are shifting to organic farming. Every revolution starts with small steps and resistance, but it is a positive start. Organic farming is a highly demanding option for farmers that requires a lot of skills, resources, and dedication. Organically grown products are in demand now as there  is social awareness and the government is also encouraging farmers to use safer farming methods and giving a lot of subsidies and schemes. The general public has become extremely careful and conscious about what they are eating especially after Covid. The demand is increasing but yet the market to sell these products is still not ready. Siddesh is now trying to meet this demand and working on the required online platforms also so that a win-win situation is created. This platform should be easily accessible to every farmer or buyer so that a lucrative revenue model can be successfully created. 

Though the past has been tough, yet, Siddhesh is hopeful that the future is brighter. Sometimes, to bring a change , one needs to fight against all odds and Siddhesh has proved that farming will no longer be looked down upon any more and more and more youth will take it up as a career happily. 

In 2022- 2023  the survey shows that about 4.43 million organic farmers exist which is the highest in the world and young crusaders like Siddhesh Sakore  will be leading the way which will also impact climate change and environment. 

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