From taunts to triumph: Pakhowal woman leads zero-budget natural farming with her husband

“Nobody had tried apple or dragon fruit here in our area,” she recalls. And she decided to take the challenge owing to the lack of organic fruits in the local market.

And while her husband supported her natural farming, many in her village scoffed.

“Why is she experimenting with crops that don’t even belong to Punjab?” People taunted, “Why is she working in the fields despite having a comfortable life?”

But what began with taunts soon turned into community leadership. Rupinder — with her husband, Major Singh — set up Kulraj Natural Farm.

What began with taunts soon turned into community leadership. Rupinder — with her husband, Major Singh — set up Kulraj Natural Farm. (Express Photo)

Together, they also formed several women’s groups and merged them into the Pakhowal Farm Producer Company, with 300 members as of today. “We want to ensure that farmers, especially women, get better markets and recognition,” she says.

Natural farming, however, didn’t give much results in the initial three-four years.

Major Singh explains that the soil subjected to chemicals for a long time takes time to adapt to natural farming.

Rupinder says, “In the beginning, some virus attacked our apple crops and we lost the first batch during the initial years. But we didn’t give up and slowly found our way. We succeeded and have been growing apples successfully for the past five years.”

“Our income is two to three times more than what a farmer earns from wheat–paddy in the entire year,” she says, adding that their expenditure is almost zero. “Natural farmingis like zero-budget farming, which the Centre had once promoted in its annual budget.”

Today, standing on their 15-acre farm in Pakhowal, Rupinder and her husband — a retired professor of physics — are seen as one of the pioneers of apple farming. They are also among the first to practice natural farming in the area.

The woman farmer inspired her husband to join farming after his retirement in 2021.

Their son, Japneet Singh, an MSc, also left his job in the IT sector to return to farming. The couple also has two daughters, both PhDs.

Major Singh says: “As a teacher of physics, I always believed in experiments. When my wife began, people mocked her. But now people visit us for guidance.”

“I realized that even going abroad meant hard work. So why not work here, where it benefits our state, family and community?” Japneet says, adding that, “Farming today is not backward — it is entrepreneurship if you approach it scientifically.”

On around three acres, along with the traditional red rice, they also grow paddy and Basmati. They also manage seasonal vegetables including mustard greens, a staple for sarson ka saag.

Their 3.5 acres of orchards has 50 fruit varieties that include guava (14 varieties), dragon fruit, banana, mango, jackfruit, apple, kinnow (four varieties), grapes (five varieties), pomegranate, jamun, falsa, berries and lemon (five varieties).

A boundary of desi roses adds fragrance and also serves as raw material for gulkand.

Realising that natural farming alone would not sustain them, the couple also set up their own processing unit. Today, they produce multiple items on public demand, including atta (from different wheat varieties), idli mix, poha, biscuits, noodles, jaggery products, jams, candies, turmeric powder, pulses and oils. The pulses include arhar, moongi, black and white urad, and chholia; oilseeds include toria and sarson.

Their farm now reads like a catalogue of biodiversity. They grow traditional wheat varieties like Sona Moti, Black Wheat, Bansi, Sharbati, Chapati Number, Sujata and 306 (a variety of Sharbati). The yielding equals to eight to 12 quintals per acre — almost half of chemical farming yields. But their wheat sells at ₹5,000 to ₹12,000 per quintal — two to five times the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of about ₹2,400. Most of it is pre-booked by customers. They now have 250–300 permanent customers, some of whom store wheat with them.

“Soon we are going to invite families to visit, pluck fruits themselves and let their children experience agriculture,” Rupinder says.

The family has built a direct-to-customer model instead of selling to traders. They also use WhatsApp groups to update customers about available fruits and products. People come to the farm to purchase, and the family also provides home delivery.

The farm, which has become a hub of learning, also employs 9–10 labourers when required.

Both Rupinder and Major Singh regularly attend PAU training—9–10 so far—and share knowledge with others.

“But now our farm is zero-waste. We use waste fruits and vegetables for bio-compost, utilise dung from five Sahiwal cows, run two biogas plants and make vermicompost and bio-fertilizers using neem water, jaggery and farm residues,” he says, adding that they are also introducing drip irrigation. In addition, they also sell cow milk to customers.

They also supply plants to those starting orchards along with running terrace gardening classes.

“Farming is not just labour—it is science, innovation, and community building,” the couple says, adding that, “We wanted to give a platform to the next generation.”

More than yielding just wheat and paddy, Punjab’s fields can nurture hope, health, and sustainable livelihoods, Major Singh conclu