Pune: Organic farming has been the buzzword for many years now. It is good for health, good for the soil and great for the climate. Yet, in our country, only four per cent of agriculture land is under organic farming. Few states in India, Sikkim (100%) and Madhya Pradesh (27%) lead with Maharashtra at 1.6%. So, what is it about this good thing that makes its adaptation so difficult?
For one, it is not easy to switch from using chemicals to organic agricultural practices. According to the norm, a farmer is expected to keep the farm free from sowing for at least three years to rid the soil of the chemicals that have leached into it before beginning to use organic farm inputs. Apart from this, input costs make organic farming rather prohibitive to the small farmer even though the demand in the market keeps growing at 22.20% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2024 to 2032, according to market analysis firm Market Research Future.
Enter XEN Farms, a startup founded in 2021, to address the supply side problems of organic farming. Diptesh Mukherjee, an IIT Bombay graduate, had got a job at Whirlpool Corporation, USA, that had collaborated with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to develop among other things ways to grow food in space!
Diptesh said, “Due to the presence of micro-gravity, it is impossible to grow food there. But I developed a vacuum insulation system to prevent this loss (for which his company filed a patent) so that it could make growing of certain plants possible.”
{{/usCountry}}Diptesh said, “Due to the presence of micro-gravity, it is impossible to grow food there. But I developed a vacuum insulation system to prevent this loss (for which his company filed a patent) so that it could make growing of certain plants possible.”
{{/usCountry}}Though Diptesh comes from a family that is involved in paddy farming, he didn’t really have access to the deep knowledge that this job exposed him to. “I understood that soil organic carbon was the most important element in the process of farming. We all have studied about photosynthesis in school, but the deep role that carbon plays in maintaining our environment was revealed to me when I was working on the green technology project for NASA,” he said.
According to Diptesh, organic carbon held by the top layer of the soil holds the key to productive farming. “Take for example sand by the sea. Why can’t you grow anything there except for mangroves and palms? Because the soil there lacks organic carbon. It is pale in colour. Black soil is great for farming because it has a higher percentage of organic carbon as well as iron and other nutrients.
“It is this carbon in the soil that helps increase the fertility and microbial activity of the soil. If you observe the pattern, about 25 years ago farmers did not use the amount of fertilisers and pesticides that they use now. Typically, their requirement for these chemicals keeps on increasing over time either out of ignorance or because they are poorly informed. The result is chemicals used by the farmer ends up destroying the microbial activity of the soil and soil health, that in turn reduces its ability to absorb moisture and reduces the ability of roots to absorb nutrients from the soil. All this affects the yield quantity and quality, while still increasing the cost to the farmer.”
The solution in Diptesh’s mind lay in developing a fertiliser that could increase the organic carbon content of the top soil at an affordable price. His training and experience led him to do research on the subject. “Along with my childhood friend Pratik Sinha, we did a number of trials that eventually led to a perfect all-in-one organic fertiliser that could do many things like rapidly increase soil fertility, soil organic carbon and yield quality and quantity significantly from the very first season,” he said.
Seems hard to believe. But Diptesh has trials to back his claims. “After building our product Carbosutra, we conducted trials with more than 1,500+ farmers and 80+ crops, worked with Technoserve Foundation in a Walmart Foundation-funded regenerative farming project in Maharashtra to record the impact of Carbosutra on the individual crops.”
Running his office from 99 Springboard at Yerawada with his co-founder and field staff of eight, Diptesh said, “Pune is the epicentre of agriculture in Maharashtra.”
The benefits
The product enhances plant health and immunity as it is enriched with macronutrients, semi-macronutrients, micronutrients, and microorganisms. The diverse nutrient profile ensures robust plant growth and health. It is pathogen-free, as it undergoes solar sterilisation to eliminate harmful bacteria and pathogens, which boosts plant immunity and ensures soil biodiversity. It improves soil health by restoring organic carbon and organic matter that is one of the main issues in agriculture. It enriches soil properties as the improved soil organic carbon and organic matter lead to better water infiltration, moisture retention, nutrient availability, and biological activity of microorganisms. This reduces erosion and nutrient leaching, ensuring long-term soil fertility.
Economic option
The product helps in providing high yield and quality to farmers. The firm has recorded an average 50% and up to 100% increase in crop yield and significantly better quality (shape, size, colour, texture, taste, and nutrition). This directly translates to higher income for farmers. It’s affordable as unlike conventional organic farming, which might see an initial dip in yield, Carbosutra ensures no such dip and provides a cost-effective solution for farmers.
The product addresses greenhouse gas emissions by replacing synthetic nitrogen-based fertilisers with Carbosutra to significantly reduce N2O emissions, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gases. Synthetic fertilisers account for 13% of global agricultural emissions, and Carbosutra provides a sustainable alternative. It helps increase soil organic carbon, which is crucial for sequestering carbon and reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions. This aligns with the global need to mitigate climate change.
The product supports regenerative agricultural practices by restoring damaged soil and preserving biodiversity. This makes sustainable farming affordable and scalable. By maximising crop yield and quality, Carbosutra increases nutritional content of yield and thus contributes to food security and nutrition, which is critical for meeting the demands of a growing population.
The bane of selling
Despite the product being organic, effective, low dosage and reasonably priced at ₹180 per litre and increasing demand for organic products, sale of organic fertilisers is “not easy at all”, says Diptesh. “After having successfully developed and tested Carbosutra, we realised that selling to farmers is unlike sale of other products. First of all, the farmer is doubtful of new products, he is not willing to try out something new. And even if he does, he will use it as long as you give it to him for free. Which is what we did with our trials. Once you put a price to the product different factors come into play.
“Then he will demand that you buy off his produce like he does when he purchases chemical fertilisers from the local agricultural dealer in his village. Typically, they buy the fertilisers, seeds, pesticides on a loan and as payment pledge a portion of their produce to him. What generally happens is that the use of chemicals serves to damage the crops as well as the soil, thereby reducing his productivity. The farmer uses more of the same in the next round that creates a vicious cycle of reduced productivity, increased cost of materials and debt,” he said.
So, how will you sell? This too requires innovation.
“One has to understand the psychology of the farmer. He will use my product if I give it for free, but is not willing to buy it without the insurance of purchase of his produce. The other thing we realised is that farmers are influenced by certain big farmers of their village whose advice they will take. They are also willing to accept what the dealer of their village recommends. So, we have decided to focus on NGOs and philanthropic foundations who work with farmers and are looked upon with trust by the community. Additionally, we will get involved in CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities of large companies that use their funds to help farmers,” he said.
XEN Farms started by tying up with TechnoServe Foundation in Maharashtra that has 40,000 farmers as their FPO (farmers’ producer organisations)/FPC (farmers’ producer companies) members.
“We have launched a unique programme. We will do a ‘30 Day Challenge’ demonstration where farmers of certain villages will choose a piece of land that is infertile or known to give poor results and by using Carbosutra we will show them significantly better results in 30 days,” he said.
XEN Farms has also collaborated with Syngenta Foundation to impact the livelihood of significantly more farmers through their large network of agri-entrepreneurs.
“What this will do is give the farmers of a certain village proof that our product works and backed by an NGO they trust and will be more prone to buying our product. In fact, we did it in Nashik, Ahmednagar and Solapur. With our demos about 40%-50% farmers buy in. Then in the next cycle about 15% new farmers join. This way we plan to spread the use of Carbosutra,” he said.
The second sales technique is to tie up with large companies in their CSR activities. “We are in talks with large corporate CSR arms and a couple of philanthropic foundations that typically invest anything from ₹1 crore to ₹100 crore in such initiatives.”
Investment
So far, the duo has spent ₹60 lakh of their savings and borrowings from friends and family. “To be used in R&D, trials, government approvals and setting up of the manufacturing unit on a two-acre plot in Surat. Till date, we have received a grant from TIHAN (Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation) IIT Hyderabad of ₹25 lakh. We aim to raise funds at a later date from VCs (venture capitalist) who can get us market access. As of now, we continue with our bootstrapping plus grant,” he said.
The future
Prime minister Narendra Modi at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26) unveiled a roadmap to combat climate change and reduce India’s carbon footprint. The Union Budget for 2024-2025 has allocated ₹1.52 lakh crore to boost agricultural productivity and promote natural farming. As part of the initiative, the Centre aims to transition 1 crore farmers across the country into natural farming within the next two years. While the central government is pushing for greater use of organic farming techniques, there are challenges that startups like XEN farms have to deal with. With deep insights and innovative thinking, looks like XEN will rise up to this challenge.