Bengaluru banker turns organic farmer, gets turnover of Rs 21 crore: Reports

For eight years, Amith Kishan worked eight hours a day at an insurance bank under the claims department in Bengaluru. The majority of insurance claims were for cancer cases, but when Kishan lost a client due to cancer, it was a moment of self-realisation for him. He believed the the root cause was the way people lived and the food they ate which is why, in 2019 he decided to quit and follow in his grandfather's footsteps to become an organic farmer. Now, Kishan has a turnover of Rs 21 crore, News 18 reported.

“There was a person who was insured with me. In a span of 1.5 years, he died of cancer," he told The Better India. "I did all the claiming formalities for the family. Looking at this, I understood that we need to correct ways of how we are living, and what we are eating as our food is not up to the mark. I wanted to correct that. Everything was pushing me to do something better."

In 2019, he co-founded Hebbevu Farms with his brother Ashrit after taking a loan of Rs 1.5 crore and a 15-acre farmland. But it took the brothers time to figure out their way because although their grandfather was a renowned farmer in their hometown, they had limited experience in organic farming.

“We did not know what to grow and when. When farmers in the neighbouring fields grew chillies, we would grow groundnuts. We did not understand the kharif and rabi seasons,” Kishan told the publication recalling their initial months. "We started everything from scratch. We met many organic farmers to understand the nitty-gritty of farming."

Now, Kishan's farm has nearly 700 indigenous cows and buffaloes, and about 40 different kinds of food grains and vegetables are grown in it. Along with dairy products and vegetable oils, he also sells up to six tonnes of veggies and 1,500 litres of milk every day via a store in Bengaluru and a website, News 18 reported.