Agripreneurs How Vidarbha’s couple entrepreneurs are rewriting playbook

 

 

 

Vidarbha and the Nagpur region have always been known for their entrepreneurial spirit. But a new wave of rural entrepreneurs and innovators are proving that wealth creation and environmental stewardship are mutually inclusive in nature. In the dusty villages of Washim and Nagpur districts, Rahul and his wife Priyanka Pole run Shree Urja Industries, converting agricultural biomass waste - especially soyabean husks into biomass briquettes. What was once considered agricultural refuse is now doing an annual turnover of Rs 5-6 crore and employing over 80 individuals. This brought about a beautiful behavioural change. Farmers who once burned their crop residue and polluted the air, are now having an economic incentive to upcycle it. Rahul’s model created a circular economy where one farmer’s waste becomes another farmer’s income. Another promising entrepreneur couple from the same district of Washim is Rahul Deshmukh, an IT engineer and his wife Priyanka Deshmukh, a Civil Engineer and an Interior Designer respectively, who began developing an agritourism centre in their native village six years ago.

 

They have created a private forest with over 5,000 trees from more than 300 species. Nature’s Bliss Agritourism can host more than 50 guests and is fully equipped with essential modern and traditional facilities. The project provides direct employment to six people from his village and indirect livelihood opportunities to around 30 villagers. Rahul actively encourages others to start agritourism ventures and allied agribusinesses along with farming, and more than 10 entrepreneurs have already launched rural enterprises with his guidance. In the bamboo sector, Rahul planted bamboo on 10 acres four years ago. He started with Vidarbha’s first prototype unit for bamboo pellets and has recently established a bamboo charcoal production unit on his farm. Let’s move to Amravati, to find another inspiring saga of Vikram and Manjari Deshmukh who came back to India after spending 14 years in Australia.

 

Their enterprise, AusTech Industries, has pioneered a ‘Livestock-farming’ model that consolidated animal feed production, fisheries, poultry farming, and ready-to-eat products, in all 30 products under one integrated roof. Here again, in this circular economy model, the poultry waste becomes the fish feed and healthy farm-fish becomes the chosen food for humans. Again, animal waste becomes a source of farm-manure to grow organic vegetables and grains. Their model has solved the fragmented agri-input challenges in a step-wise manner, working backwards from the plates to reach its origin. What binds these stories is a common thread.

 

These entrepreneurs saw bio-waste and abundant opportunities in them. They took local challenges and built local solutions. Vikram and Manjari Deshmukh have helped stabilise animal farming for over 150 farmer families. Rahul and Priyanka’s biomass initiative addresses air pollution by augmenting rural incomes. The impact metrics extend far beyond impressive earnings. Similarly, Rahul and Priyanka (Deshmukh) have helped create a bamboo-based Agrotourism model for showing the future path to their fellow villagers. The region’s future lies not in importing solutions from metros, but in nurturing homegrown innovators who understand the soil, the people, and their challenges. When a rural youth sees that their knowledge of the local agriculture and its many variants can be transformed into a scalable enterprise, it is when they understand that localised solutions can be financially rewarding too - that is when real entrepreneurship blooms.