In Ghel village of Punjab, Arshdeep Bahga and his father Sarbjit Bahga have created a sustainable and biodiverse organic farm that could serve as a model for farmers in the area.

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Arshdeep, a tech entrepreneur who worked as a research scientist at Georgia Tech, USA, for six years, decided to move back to India in 2016. Sarbjit, meanwhile, served as an architect in the Punjab Government and had a successful career that spanned 41 years.

The duo were fueled by the zeal to enhance agrarian patterns in the region and boost farmers’ incomes.

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With the idea of establishing a farm that reintroduced traditional practices of organic farming with a blend of modern technologies, they started the Bahga Farm in 2019-2020.

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“We spent time with farmers in the region and realised that the use of chemicals to increase the yield of crops had a devastating impact on the land,” says Arshdeep.

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He explains, “Presently, most farmers sow paddy and wheat, and sell the crops in the agriculture produce (grain) markets.”

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“Considering the average yield of 30 quintals per acre for paddy, and 20 quintals for wheat, the total grains procured per annum comes to be 50 quintals per acre. As per the prevailing MSP, these crops give a financial return of Rs 98,500 per acre per annum,” he adds.

However, wheat and rice are not enough to feed a farmer’s family, and they thus purchase vegetables, pulses, and herbs from grocery shops at hefty prices.

They found that a typical family spends around Rs 1,50,000 annually on food. This creates a significant gap between what a farmer's family earns from selling produce and what they need to spend on their own food.

The father and son concluded that rather than sticking to growing only wheat and rice, farmers could diversify their crops. For instance, if a farmer has five acres of land, they can divide it into one-acre sections to grow various crops.

“This diversified cropping model is not only sufficient to meet the food requirements up to 90% but also gives maximum profits from the same piece of land,” claims Arshdeep.

He adds that this integrated farming system leads to a yearly market value of approximately Rs 2,90,000 per acre.

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The book authored by the pair, titled ‘Building a Sustainable and Bio-Diverse Organic Farm: Case Study of a 1 Acre Model Farm in India’, discusses the findings and methods of this sustainable model.

Along with the Bahga Farm, their research led them to come up with the Zimi Bio Fertiliser and Pesticide (ZBFP) to help promote plant growth, enhance yield, create resistance against pests, and prevent bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases.

“As opposed to expensive chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which can cost up to Rs 20,000 per acre per year, the cost of preparation of this blend is less than Rs 2,000,” says Arshdeep.

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They now plan to expand the concept and scale by supporting new farmers, raising awareness about organic farming, and offering free on-farm training programmes and workshops.

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