Dr. Saravanan comes from Somangottai village, which belongs to the Mulanur block of Tiruppur district. Even though his father was a teacher, agriculture was a part of his domestic life, and he developed his interest in agriculture at an early age through practical work on his family's farms. Inspired by love for land and environment, he did his Ph.D. in Agriculture with specialization in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU).
His initial research involved pollution caused by cement kiln dust and tannery effluent, and he worked as postdoctoral fellow and assistant professor at TNAU and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture. Although his scientific contributions were significant, Dr. Saravanan always had a desire to work directly with farmers and the land. In 2017, he did something that was quite unconventional when he quit academia to become a full-time organic farmer.
A Farmer by Heart, An Agripreneur by Vision
He started Pasunthamil Organic Farm in 2019 and started growing organic moringa on 20 acres of certified land and spread it to other farms in Tiruppur, Erode, and Madurai districts on a partnership and leasehold basis. He also grows papaya, coconut, and fodder crops. Four native cows and one North Indian breed are part of his farm to cater to his organic composting mechanism.
Dr. Saravanan understood that the conventional moringa cultivated for drumsticks tended to get sold at distress prices during season times. To overcome this, he shifted to cultivating moringa for leaf cultivation, which commands high export value. He partnered with a nutraceutical firm on a buyback arrangement with a fair price and sustainable demand.
His farm earns a net income of Rs. 16 lakhs every year, with a net profit of Rs. 12 lakhs, which is a sustainable and profitable source of livelihood.
Innovation in Post-Harvest Handling and Market Linkages
To preserve the nutritional content of moringa, particularly Vitamin C and chlorophyll, Dr. Saravanan co-developed a hybrid shade drying method with the Post Harvest Engineering Department of TNAU. This easy-to-use, low-cost solar tunnel technology provides greater retention of nutrients and color to dried leaves.
Through his venture Arms for Farmers Pvt. Ltd., initiated in 2022, he provides training, consultancy, organic inputs, and marketing services to farmers. The venture has established strong supply chains for moringa and millet-based value-added items. He was also a Director of the Kodanthur Moringa Farmers Producers Company from 2021 to 2023 and mentored more than 300 farmer-members.
Community Outreach and Impact
Dr. Saravanan's work is highly collaborative in nature. He has a Farmers Interest Group (FIG) of 20 farmers, which he has developed into a very active cooperative model of growing organic moringa. He has also helped women farmers, like Devi Velusamy, shift to organic practices and access export-linked chains of production.
He has equipped scores of farmers in Tamil Nadu with training under ICAR-KVK programs, national meets, and stakeholder meets. His YouTube videos chronicling moringa cultivation practices have attracted hundreds of thousands of views, opening up scientific information to farmers.
Expanding Horizons: A 100-Acre Moringa Project and More
One of his most ambitious projects is a 100-acre cooperative moringa leaf cultivation venture around Chennai. He is the technical mentor there, mentoring six existing farmers with five more to join. His other projects involve organic papaya cultivation with the Red Lady variety, which is renowned for its shelf life and transportability, on multiple farms.
Recognition and Role in GFBN
Dr. Saravanan has received several accolades, including the Progressive Moringa Farmer Award from the International Moringa Research Organization in 2021 and the AgriPreneur Award from Isha Foundation in 2023. He also led the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for establishing a Moringa Export Zone in Tamil Nadu.
Recently, he joined the Global Farmer Business Network (GFBN), a Krishi Jagran initiative to connect and guide progressive farmers. As a GFBN member, Dr. Saravanan shares his journey, innovations, and lessons to mentor others toward sustainable and profitable organic farming.
Vision for the Future
In the future, Dr. Saravanan hopes to scale up cooperative organic farming, bring more farmers onto moringa leaf production, and build stronger farm-to-global market value chains. He also continues to optimize biodynamic and indigenous input-based methods, firmly grounded in ecological principles but scaling up.
From research papers to compost piles, from classrooms to shade-drying tunnels, Dr. Saravanan K.'s path is an uncommon combination of academic achievement, community outreach, and entrepreneurial determination. It's not a story about cultivating moringa, it's about cultivating farmers, communities, and a future based on health and sustainability.
Note: Global Farmer Business Network (GFBN) is a dynamic platform where agricultural professionals—farmer entrepreneurs, innovators, buyers, investors, and policymakers - converge to share knowledge, experiences, and scale their businesses. Powered by Krishi Jagran, GFBN facilitates meaningful connections and collaborative learning opportunities that drive agricultural innovation and sustainable development through shared expertise. Join GFBN today: https://millionairefarmer.in/gfbn
