Sweet Chilies

Sweet Chilies (Resolving Cane Bane & Earning Profit)
Sugarcane farming is a lucrative business but it is a water-intensive crop and over a period of time, it also deteriorates the quality and fertility of the land. The Tanishka Team in a village that was ailed with water scarcity broke the shackles of frog-in-a-well mentality and found an exotic breed of chillies from the Middle East that could be grown here in India. In the very first year, the Tanishka Group not only convinced the villagers to try something new, but also achieved 100% export and earned a good profit as well.

KRA
Solving water scarcity and soil deterioration problem by thinking out of the box and doing extensive research. Then convincing all villagers to try something new and achieving 100% exports in the very first yield.

Sugarcane farming is a lucrative business but it is a water-intensive crop and over a period of time it also deteriorates the quality and fertility of the land. Tanishka Group here took the initiative to come up with a solution to this problem. In order to motivate the local farmers to adopt drip-irrigation in their farms, Megha Bankar, Ashwini Korke and fellow Tanishka members first met the Sugar Factory head. Then, taking a step forward, they decided to go for low water consumption crops in their own fields. While researching about which crops they could go for, they stumbled upon G-4, a type of chilli that has tremendous demand in Dubai and other Middle Eastern countries. This was only the first step toward success.

As a pilot project, the Tanishka ladies acquired seeds of this type of chilli and cultivated it in their fields. When they saw a good outcome, they convinced all other villagers to take the bold step of trying out this new crop in their fields as well. It wasn’t an easy feat, but they got 30 acres under cultivation for this chilli brand. Progressing in a systematic way, Tanishka team carried out pre-cultivation land- and water-testing. They also supplied the seeds, pesticides and fertilizers, and did weekly inspection of crops as well. Farmers in this area were used to rotating pomegranates with sugarcane before, but with Tanishka’s efforts, they tried out this new crop and achieved 100% exports in the very first yield.

A total of 30 acres were under cultivation with about 6,500 plants per acre and a yield of about 1 tonne per acre. The villagers got a rate of about Rs. 100 per kg in Dubai and earned a profit of Rs. 60 per kg. With their monumental success, the nearby Tanishka Teams have become motivated to try and replicate this crop rotation model in their villages as well.