KrishiMitra: Co-Creating a Future of Resilient Farming

My great-grandfather, Shri Tribhuvandas Patel, North Gujarat’s first borewell pioneer and a farmer-rights activist, was martyred during a protest for farmers in Lanva. His courage lived not only in resistance but in action. My grandfather carried that legacy forward—helping farmers install borewells and worked for farmers well fare.

The Birth of KrishiMitra

KrishiMitra was born out of North Gujarat’s toughest realities—falling groundwater, shrinking rainfall, and soils exhausted by decades of chemical-intensive farming. I realized farmers didn’t just need more technology; they needed sustainable, precision-based solutions that could heal the soil and secure every drop of water.

I launched KrishiMitra not as charity, but to restore dignity—to give farmers tools, trust, and real choices. With support from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ganpat University, and local agri-experts, we built farmer education curricula, women-led enterprises, and agri-tech pilots that blend tech wisdom with lived wisdom.

What began as my effort has now grown into a movement of farmers, youth, and peers, carrying forward the vision of soil health restoration and resilient farming for generations to come.

Khedut Sabhas: Where Wisdom Meets Innovation

At the heart of KrishiMitra are Khedut Sabhas—farmer circles where elders, youth, and agri-experts meet as equals. A retired farmer recalls rainfall cycles, while a teenager explains soil EC sensors. These are not lectures, but spaces of listening, storytelling, and problem-solving.

Scaling Through Peer Leadership: Our KrishiMitras (friends of farmers)

Today, 24 peer KrishiMitras are carrying this work forward—acting as:

Knowledge stewards of local wisdom
Innovation mentors for new techniques
Change catalysts organizing trainings and sabhas

They ensure KrishiMitra is not a project, but a movement across generations and geographies.

These aren’t just volunteers. They’re:

Knowledge stewards, preserving and applying local wisdom
Innovation mentors, guiding peers in new techniques
Change catalysts, organizing future sabhas and village trainings

Together, they ensure KrishiMitra doesn’t end with us—it multiplies across generations and geographies.

Youth Leadership: Retaining Talent, Reviving Pride

Farming once felt outdated to rural teens, but KrishiMitra has reframed it as a space for innovation and pride. In collaboration with Ganpat University students and Tribhuvan Vidhyalay over 120+ youth now serve as the next generation of agri-leaders.

Module 1

Echoing the spirit of Sadhguru’s Conscious Planet: Save Soil movement, this module focused on reviving the understanding...

Module 4

Cycle duration & coverage: A

compost pit takes 2–3 months to mature, producing ~200 kg of compost—enough for...

Module 7

Farmers—especially women

and elderly workers—traditionally perform weeding while squatting or bending for several...

Module 2

Guided farmers to shift from water-hungry crops (wheat, paddy) to resilient, soil-appropriate crops: cumin, castor, millet...

Module 5

SaurSinchAI, my startup’s flagship innovation, is a solar-powered, AI-enabled misting rover that adapts to soil data and...

Module 8

Earlier, farmers sold their

produce individually, often at mandis, where middlemen dictated prices. This weakened...

Module 3

Demonstrated mulching with crop residue, cotton stalks, and castor husks...

Module 6

Although many government

subsidies are available for farmers in Gujarat, most didn’t avail them due to lack of awareness...

Module 9

In the heart of rural Gujarat,

women possess extraordinary culinary skills—passed down through generations—but these...

Module	Key Interventions	Impact Metrics
Soil Health & Fertility Management	Soil testing, nutrient mapping, farmer training	• 1,800 soil tests (3,200+ acres) • 720+ farmers trained • 25–30% fertilizer savings • 10–15% yield gains • 70% farmers now choose crops by soil data
Precision Agronomy – Crop Planning	Soil-based crop selection, intercropping, saline land restoration	• 2,100 farmers adopted soil-based planning • 750+ acres shifted to resilient crops • 20–30% water saved per acre • 25–30% profit increase • 120 acres saline soils restored • 15–20% productivity gains via intercropping
Agro-Ecology: Organic Soil & Pest Management	Composting, bio-pesticides, pheromone traps, AI-based pest diagnosis	• 900+ farmers trained • 35% reduction in chemical pesticide use • Maintained yield quality on cotton, cumin, and vegetables • 20% cost savings on pest management
Crop Residue Management & Mulching	Residue recycling, surface mulching, soil cover	• 105–115 tonnes crop residue reused instead of burnt • Prevented ~200 tons CO₂e emissions • Mulched fields showed 15–18% higher soil moisture retention • Fertilizer cost savings ~₹15 lakhs collectively
Water Resource Management & Agritech (SaurSinchAI)	Solar-powered AI rover for precision mist irrigation	• 15 pilot farms across 3 villages • ~20 lakh liters water saved • 60–70% water reduction vs flood irrigation • Up to 30% yield increase • 12 youth trained as service crew • 40+ farmers signed up for pilots
Subsidy & Policy Navigation	Awareness drives, guidance on PMKSY, Atal Bhujal Yojana, drip irrigation schemes	• 450+ farmers guided on subsidy applications • 110+ successfully availed schemes • Improved adoption of micro-irrigation, composting, and mulching practices • Awareness sessions integrated into 7 khedut sabhas
Ergonomic Weed Management	Long-handled ergonomic weeder for women & elderly farmers	• 1,200 farms adopted • 15,000 labor hours saved/month • 70% strain reduction • Time per task cut from 4 hrs → 1 hr/day
Agri-Entrepreneurship & Market Access	Collective marketing, shared logistics, e-NAM price tracking	• 1,890 farmers organized into groups (5 villages) • ₹34.8 lakhs collective gain • ₹11,500–14,000 avg. per-farmer seasonal benefit • 60% transport cost reduction • Shift from subsistence → entrepreneurship
Gruh Udyog – Women-led Microenterprises	Turning home recipes into businesses, branding, live market testing	• 240+ women launched enterprises • Income jump: ₹200/week → ₹800–1,500/week • New bank accounts & WhatsApp sales channels • Generational impact: daughters manage packaging & accounts

The Bigger Impact: More Than Just Soil

Today, farmers across four villages are testing soil before planting.
Residue that was once burned now blankets the soil.
Irrigation that wasted water now flows drop by drop, guided by sun and sensor.
And in the heart of the village, a 65-year-old farmer irrigates alongside his 17-year-old grandson—one reading the soil, the other adjusting the rover.

Dadaji’s Vision, Carried in Action

Every time I explain pH using sensor, or show a farmer how to mulch his soil like a blanket, I feel like I’m fulfilling Dadaji’s dream.

He used to say, “Farmers don’t need charity. They need choices.”

Through KrishiMitra, we’re giving them the data, tools, and community support to make those choices—on their own terms.

From selecting salt-tolerant crops to irrigating smarter with the sun, our farmers are not just learning—they’re leading.