THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING FAIR TRADE

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING FAIR TRADE

Meet the Farmers

Beginning with a single farmer in 1999, the ORGANIC INDIA farmer partner community has grown to 2,232 farmers across 121 villages throughout India. All have embraced organic, regenerative agriculture and have witnessed social, environmental, and economic recovery as a result. The ORGANIC INDIA farmers are at the heart of the ORGANIC INDIA mission and vision — to serve a community dedicated to healthy conscious living by providing true wellness solutions. It is our pleasure to introduce you to three ORGANIC INDIA farmers and their families.

Kailash Organic India farmer

Kailash Singh

Kailash Singh was ORGANIC INDIA’s first farmer partner.

When ORGANIC INDIA’s founders approached farmers with a proposal to convert to organic farming, they were met with deep skepticism — the “Green Revolution,” an attempt to industrialize India’s agriculture in the 1960s, had left rural communities and the environment in ruin. Farmers, driven into debt and poverty, had nothing but distrust for outside interventions.

Kailash Singh was the first farmer to partner with ORGANIC INDIA, with results so spectacular that other farmers asked to partner with ORGANIC INDIA the following year. When asked what changed his mind, one farmer replied, “I have seen the return of birds I haven’t seen since I was a child.”

Kanhalya Organic India farmer

Kanhaiya

Kanhaiya is the ORGANIC INDIA Brindavan Farm Manager. Before joining ORGANIC INDIA in 1999 he had been a committed spiritual student and practitioner. He says that in 1995, he learned of the spiritual sage H.W.L. Poonja, known as Papaji, in Lucknow and at the same time was told about a company run by a westerner, Bharat Mitra.

“After my father passed in 1999, I was inspired to have a meaningful life and came to Lucknow to meet Bharat Mitra. He immediately made me his farm manager and since then there has been no looking back,” he said. In the last 20 years, Kanhaiya has raised his family at the farm, “In the beautiful lap of nature. I am grateful to ORGANIC INDIA for transforming our lives.”

Kanhaiya added that he was privileged to serve his spiritual teacher. “I thank Papaji for giving me inner peace and joy,” he said.

Maya Organic India farmer

Maya

Also known affectionately as “Chukti,” Maya is one of the ORGANIC INDIA “Rose Ladies,” a group of women who grow, care for, and harvest organic roses for ORGANIC INDIA Tulsi Sweet Rose Tea.

In her own words, “My work is to pluck rose leaves and flowers — I laugh with my co-workers and my day passes just like that — laughing. I feel good when I water and care for the plants and put leaves and grass into the compost. Since I have started working at Brindavan farm, there is no headache and no worries — as long as I am alive I will work here. My heart is healthy and at peace, and my message to the world is ‘Namaste’.”