Chitradurga district, Challakere taluk is characterized by its dry climate and very little rainfall. Farming in this area has always been perceived as a major challenge. But there is one young person who proved that determination and inventiveness can make problems into opportunities. Ashok, an Abbenahalli village engineer, has set a good example in growing cashews which has made it profitable and started a business.
Ashok had once worked in multinational corporations, but the COVID‑19 pandemic changed his path. Amid the lockdown, he went back to his native village. Rather than go out to work, he decided to try farming on his six acres of land. His decision was unusual to grow cashew, which is not what one often finds there. But Ashok had faith in experimentalism.
He planted more than 450 cashew saplings and cared for them carefully. The plants under his care grew properly despite difficulty with low rainfall. As it stands today, the cashew trees are yielding fruit, illustrating that in challenging conditions, farming can succeed with the right methodology.
Ashok didn’t halt at growing. He moved into handling, grading, and packing cashews, so then he put himself on the list of brands selling cashews. And in doing so he added value to his products and was able to be seen directly to people. He made farming a profitable business–a model of agriculture, thus proving that agriculture could also be modern and also business-oriented.
And what makes Ashok’s story even more inspiring is that he is now an employer. He used to be working for other people, he now provides jobs to more than 15 people in his village. His quest illustrates how farming can provide income and jobs to rural communities.
Ashok thinks experimental farming can yield good profits. He has successfully established agriculture’s core principles of innovation, risk‑taking and persistence. He had to blend traditional farming with modern business practices to form a sustainable paradigm for the next generation to follow.
Ashok’s journey from an engineering graduate to a successful cashew farmer is a tale of bravery and vision. On an agricultural land traditionally believed to be tough, he has shown that, with energy and ingenuity, agriculture can prosper. As a farmer, he is not just about his own success, but about encouraging people to consider farming to be the way they can grow and see the potential in their community.
