Originally reported and written in March 2023, this story has been republished as part of our archival content. 

Every year, farmer Rakesh Gundrashiya cultivates watermelons on 50-bigha land. For a fruitful crop, he would use plastic mulching sheets as protective covers to prevent the growth of weeds, regulate the moisture content and create a micro-climate. However, the plastic would often crack.

“The cracks in the cover would promote weed growth, and the scattered plastic would make soil infertile. We were forced to employ labourers to remove the plastic cover and end up spending more in the process,” the MSc graduate, who owns 200 bigha land in the Sinor village of Gujarat’s Vadodara district, tells The Better India.

However, his worry came to an end when three years ago, he switched to non-woven mulching crop cover.

“The non-woven cover is a good quality product. Even if the cover breaks, it does not cause any threat to the soil as it is eco-friendly. This saves us labour costs…at least Rs 250 per labourer per day,” informs the 35-year-old farmer.

Rakesh has been implementing protective farming practices using products from GROWiT — a Gujarat-based direct-to-farmer startup that aims to increase farm output through protective farming.

Behind the startup are Saurabh Agarwal and Akshay Agarwal who launched the........

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