A land measuring 5 acre on the National Highway in the urban area of Amritsar may be worth billions of rupees to real estate developers, but for Navtej Singh, it holds a different value. He cultivates traditional crops, which are not altered through breeding, for his family and commercial purpose.
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A computer engineer by profession, Navtej Singh became aware of the importance of nature, health and food during the Covid pandemic. This realisation prompted him to return to his ancestral occupation of farming at Verka village on the outskirts of Amritsar. In 2020, he decided to transition from chemical-based farming to organic one. Over the past five years, he has experimented with various traditional crops, but primarily focuses on growing indigenous varieties of wheat and rice.
“I have cultivated ragi and other millets, but realised that wheat and rice are staples in our daily diet. These should be organic and natural. Our ancestors used to preserve crop seeds, but due to the over-commercialisation of farming and the emergence of high-yielding modified wheat and paddy varieties, we all shifted to cultivating for the market rather than for our health. I have sourced seeds of the Sona Moti wheat variety and Pakistani Basmati rice and have noticed a significant improvement in nutritional value, flavour and aroma,” said Navtej Singh.
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Now a full-time farmer, he has started commercialising these traditional crops, which are not modified. However, growing crops without chemical-based pesticides and fertilisers remains a challenge, as it requires farmers to accept lower yields. While regular wheat varieties produce a yield of 20 quintals per acre, Sona Moti wheat yields only 6 quintals per acre. Similarly, the yield of Pakistani Basmati rice is just 10-12 quintals per acre. Additionally, weed management without chemical insecticides is labour-intensive and costly, requiring manual removal of weeds. The use of organic fertilisers further adds to the cost of cultivation. Despite these challenges, health-conscious consumers seek him out and are willing to pay a premium for his organic farm produce.
“Instead of a family doctor, urban dwellers need a family farmer, who provides them organic food. I am planning to launch my own brand soon and have applied for certification from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). As people face increasing health issues and environmental crises, organic farming is not just a tradition of the past, it is the future too,” he said.
NOTE – This article was originally published in tribuneindia and can be viewed here