I never finished school. I was in eighth standard when I stopped studying and began working with my father in our fields. At the time, in our village, once boys learned to read and write, many of them joined their fathers on the land. Farming was what our families had done for generations, and we believed that the best way to learn it was by watching the people before us. 

Every morning, I would go to the fields with my father. I watched him prepare the land, sow the seeds, apply fertiliser, and take care of the crops. Then I followed what he did. He had learned farming from his father, and I learned it from him.

Over the years, I continued farming the same way. Twenty-five years passed. Then one day, a team from Dr. Reddy’s Foundation came to our village. They spoke to us about some of the farming practices we were following and explained that there were better ways to manage our land and crops.

I was honestly taken aback. I had spent most of my life farming. So when someone told us that some of those practices might not be helping us, my first reaction was to question them.

How could something we had been doing for so long suddenly be wrong? But the more I understood, the more I realised that they were not saying everything we knew about farming was wrong. They were showing us ways to do some things more efficiently.

Still, listening was one thing. Trying it on my own land was another. I was not ready to take a risk with my entire farm. So, I decided to try one of the methods on half an acre first. The team introduced us to the Seed Drill Machine for sowing.

Earlier, sowing required more labour and expense. Using the machine helped me save around ₹700 per acre on sowing costs. But what surprised me more was what happened to the crop. The yield from the half-acre where I had tried the new method was better than the rest of my field. The following season, I decided to use the same method across all four acres of my land.

I got nearly six quintals more yield. The plants looked greener and stronger, and I also found that they required less fertiliser and pesticide. Later, I was introduced to the Zero Tillage method for wheat cultivation.

Until then, we had always followed a familiar process after harvesting rice. To clear the land quickly, we would burn the rice stubble. It was the fastest method. But preparing the field was also expensive. Because we ploughed the land, the leftover stubble would often get stuck in the equipment. We had to plough the field several times to prepare it properly, which meant spending more money on every round.

With Zero Tillage, instead of repeatedly ploughing the land, we used a method that allowed us to sow wheat with much less disturbance to the soil. There was less smoke and pollution because we were no longer burning the stubble. The soil remained healthier. And I saved around ₹2,000 per acre by reducing the cost of ploughing. Today, I get up to 20 quintals per acre.

I also decided to get my soil tested. Earlier, we applied fertiliser based mostly on experience and guesswork. Sometimes we thought the land needed more, so we added more. We never really knew what the soil was lacking or what the crops actually required. 

After getting the soil report, I began applying fertiliser according to what my land actually needed. The soil started looking healthier, and I was no longer spending unnecessarily on fertilisers.

With the improved income, I am able to support my children’s education. My son is now completing his graduation, and my daughter is studying in twelfth standard.

I want them to learn things I never had the opportunity to learn. And I want them to build a future where they have more choices than I did.

Twenty-five years after I first began farming, I was back to learning again, this time in my own fields. And perhaps that has been the biggest change of all.