Quitting 28-Yr-Long Career to Farm, Andhra’s ‘Millet Man’ Creates Empire Worth Crores
Quitting his corporate job, K V Rama Subba Reddy took up millet farming and launched Mibbles, a venture that sells healthy millet snacks. For his work, he is regarded as Andhra’s ‘Millet Man’.
Even as he worked in the corporate field for 28 years, K V Rama Subba Reddy could not let go of his dream of returning to his village to take up farming. The Andhra Pradesh native made this dream a reality in 2017, when he quit his job to become a ‘modern farmer’.
“When I was a child, I’d eat millets like foxtail millet, jowar, and Kodo millet. When I came back from my corporate life to do farming, I realised people have forgotten these grains. So I decided to bring back these millets into mainstream consumption,” he recalls.
He purchased 20 acres of land to grow millets, but things came to an abrupt halt when the pandemic arrived, forcing Rama to close his production plant.
However, the losses did not shake his determination. With his wife and mother, he utilised this time to create new millet recipes like millet ladoo, murukku, biscuits and namkeen mixtures — all gluten and sugar-free.
“There are several reasons I chose millets. One was nostalgia — my mother would prepare several dishes with various millet varieties. Second, millets are highly resistant to pest attacks and therefore do not require chemical fertilisers or pesticides to get a good harvest. Moreover, I was greatly inspired by the works of Dr Khader Vali – the millet man of India,” explains the 54-year-old.
Selling his healthy snacks under the brand Mibbles, Rama has earned over Rs 1.7 crore and aims to double it soon.
He recommends accommodating millet in meals every day. “One can live an entire day on millet. You have cereals for breakfast, biscuits for tea, and chapatis for dinner.”
Lovingly referred to as ‘millet man’ across the state, Rama has not only made good profits, but has also won the ‘Best Startup Connect Farmer’ Award by ICAR-IIMR.
Watch Rama’s story here:
Edited by Divya Sethu
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