Rajasthan: IIM Kolkata student quit overseas job for organic farming

AJMER: Ankita Kumawat , 33, who had done her marketing course from IIM Kolkata and worked in USA for some years, found that she could work for her own country and returned to Ajmer. She is now producing organic milk and grocery and selling internationally online from her small village of Badliya.


Her husband Lokesh Gupta , 35, also an MBA, is now growing organic vegetables and lentils in 80 hectares and is giving employment to over 100 people.

The couple aims at providing organic food for the middle and lower middle class.

During lockdown, Ankita came as an employment-provider for her village selling organic milk products and veggies. She is proud that after studying in a prestigious institute, she is able to do something for her village.

Both Ankita and Lokesh are residing at her farmhouse in Badliya village on Jaipur-Beawar highway and having about 50 cows of local Rajasthani breed. “We utilise the dung and cow urine as manure and even use them as pesticide,” Ankita said.

The couple said as any other young professionals they too had dreams of a good job after their studies and they worked abroad, too, but they were missing something. “Before joining farming, we did a lot of research and worked as a labour in the dairy of my father for a year,” added Ankita. She quit her job in 2014 and started her own farming business.

She said she started the dairy with her father to provide pure and fresh milk to children even as she started understanding the rural economy.

Now, this couple is selling more than 150 organic products online and also delivering on demand to local people. Lokesh said that they are now farming at different lands with local farmers to yield organic products.

The aim is to make farmers aware that chemicals are destroying their lands and therefore it is important to move towards organic farming, “Yes, we failed in many experiments, but we research regularly,” added Lokesh.