Young entrepreneurs changing agri-business in India

Rahul Gala loves technology. And he loves it so much that he has transformed the methods of
agriculture in the arid region of Kutch. Today, he logs on to his computer in the morning, feeds in the
data and that's it. The rest is taken care by the systemright from the irrigation to fertigation in his
farm.
He grows export-quality dates and mangoes by installing a first-of-its-kind computer aided technology
in India. "I can feed data for a week's schedule and my system does it for the farm right from the
irrigation to fertigation," says the 30-year-old Gala, who's director of Jalbindu Agri Tech.
After returning from Australia to his native village Ratual (near Bhuj), Gala aimed to become an agrientrepreneur. What helped in installing this technology was his degree in horticulture from
Queensland University in Australia. He exploited an untapped opportunity and transformed the
dynamics of methods of production.
Currently, he grows 'barhi' (a fresh variety of dates) over 12 acres of land and has sown more than
600 date plants. Each plant is expected to produce 50-70 kg of dates, which is set for despatch to
Europe and Dubai under his brand Golden Dates. What's more surprising is that fellow farmers near
his village are getting accustomed to his technology and are increasingly becoming e-producers.
"Agriculture is going to create huge opportunities in India. The need is dynamism and
professionalism," says Gala. Many including Reliance, Essar and Atul Group have shown interest in
his technology. "But I like to work on my own methods and a create sense of ownership among
farmers," he adds. He has already tied-up with seven super-specialty stores in Mumbai to supply
dates and mangoes and is set to invest close to Rs 6 crore in cold-storage facilities to keep his
produce fresh for exports.
Agriculture in India is transforming its practices. As young and charged-up entrepreneurs are joining
the fray, commodities are being turned into value-added products and premium prices can be
demanded from various retail outlets. With the same available resources, young entrepreneurs are
modifying their business-models and exploiting market opportunities to improve their lifestyles. This is
not only helping the entrepreneur but also encouraging farmers to shift to a better world.
With a hope to make south Gujarat (an NRI-belt) the rose hub of the country, Kumar Patel returned to
his village Kutched (25 kms from Valsad) after working with a few consulting firms in the US. Now
Patel, at 34, has just roped in 15 rose producing villagers and entered into a buy-back arrangement
with them to market their products under his popular brand'Best Roses'.
His Rs 15 crore rose company has already started exporting to Japan, Holland, Europe, Dubai and
the US with many more negotiations going on. Patel, who is also an MBA from San Francisco,
recently established a hydroponics plant (the first in India) in his rose garden.