Suraj Bhujbal felt like he was ‘a child who was being torn away from the arms of his mother,’ when he was forced to take up an MNC job—the first in his family of farmers to do so. The high cost of farming, persistent water scarcity, and growing sickness in the families around him from excessive use of chemicals on the field made him question the sustainability and future of the kind of agriculture his family practised.
Bhujbal hails from Valhe, Pune, Maharashtra, the birthplace of Rishi Valmiki—a region that has always struggled with water scarcity, making farming an expensive affair. But a 9-5 job with an MNC was not to be his calling.
Growing up in a family that relied on chemical farming, he witnessed firsthand the damage it caused to the soil, crops, and livelihoods of small-scale farmers.
“The cost was high, the yield was poor, and despite everything, pest attacks remained a constant. People in my family started falling sick,” Bhujbal shares.
Desperate for solutions, he thought:
“There has to be a better and less harmful way of doing this,”
and while he continued to search for answers, he took up a job to support his family.
In 2016, he started exploring alternate forms of farming and discovered the work done by The Art of Living in training farmers in natural farming, guided by the vision of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Bhujbal was inspired by Gurudev’s concern for the farming community and felt that the spiritual leader was addressing the very problems he had long faced—chemical dependency, health risks, and financial strain.
“I remember Gurudev said, ‘This planet Earth is not a mass of dead rock; it is a living being,’ and it made so much sense to me.”
The transition began with getting his first Khillari cow—a breed whose waste works as natural fertilizer and pesticide, enhancing soil health and biodiversity.
By 2019, Bhujbal joined the Art of Living’s Teacher Training Program (TTP) in Natural Farming to deepen his knowledge. The training taught him not just what to do, but what not to do in natural farming. He learned:
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Enriching soil with cow dung and urine
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Making bio-fertilizers at home at nearly zero cost
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Using bio principles to improve soil naturally
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Maximizing yield from limited land
He began by preparing Jeevamrut—a microbial-rich tonic made from cow dung and plant waste—which enhanced the soil's nutrient content.
Previously, Bhujbal practiced Ekal (single crop) farming. But with natural farming, he switched to multi-cropping:
“Even if one crop is affected, I still earn from the others.”
From just 1 kg of Ghewada (Hyacinth bean) seeds, he harvested 90 kg, earning Rs 10,000—a 12,500% return on investment. He also saved 5 kg of seeds worth Rs 400 for future use.
He no longer needed costly chemicals, saying: “Natural farming is self-reliant. Everything you need is right here on your farm. It doesn’t require huge investments.”
Bhujbal sees everyone as his customer, with India’s 150 crore population all needing food. But to him, farming is more than a business:
“It’s about my connection to the soil, the animals, and nature itself. It’s more about happiness, health, and having an adventure.”
