“Who says that farming can’t be profitable? People generally have a notion that it’s small and not viable. Nothing can be farther from the truth,” says Smarika Chandrakar.

This enterprising MBA graduate grew up in a farming family in Charmudiya village in Chhattisgarh. Her childhood was spent in the lush green paddy fields with her father and grandfather, where she learnt her first lessons about life and farming. Like any other business, they had good and bad times, which the young girl was quick to adapt to.

When it came to choosing a career, she chose to pursue an engineering degree in computer science in Raipur, followed by an MBA from Pune. After working as a senior business development executive for over five years in Pune, she decided to move to Raipur to be closer to her family.

This allowed her to spend weekends at home, which were invariably at the farm. She started learning the finer nuances of paddy farming, and their discussions at dinner turned into how they could improve productivity and the profits.

Smarika realised that vegetable farming would be more profitable than paddy, and she slowly started experimenting with the same on their land. The results were astonishing and........

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