Kholeshwar Jaivik Sheti Mission Farmerproducer Company Limited

Up here in Kanheri village, which is part of the Akola district, we’ve been looking at our fields and realizing that things need to change. Kholeshwar Jaivik Sheti Mission Farmerproducer Company Limited is our way of trying to get back to the basics of organic farming. We run things out of Prakash Gopalrao Pohare’s house in the Sarap area. A lot of us were worried about how much money we were spending on sprays and powders that didn't seem to be helping the land in the long run. So, we started talking about going back to jaivik, or organic, methods. It’s not easy, and the yields aren't always as high at first, but the quality is better. We gather at Prakash’s place to share seeds and talk about how to make natural fertilizers from what we have on the farm. Akola is famous for being one of the hottest places, so we really have to watch our water and our soil health. We are just a group of local farmers, not some big organization from the city. We speak the local language and we know the local problems. We’re still learning the business side of things, like how to keep the books and register everything properly with the government. But we’re doing it together, and that’s what matters to us. We just want to leave the land in better shape for our grandkids and keep the village strong.