I come from a family of agricultural labourers. To make ends meet, I often had to work in the fields along with my parents and could not attend school regularly. I was unable to keep up in class and did poorly in my exams, so I didn't feel like studying. Then the teachers at our village ITC Supplementary Learning Centre persuaded my parents to send me to evening coaching classes at the Centre. Today I study in Class 5 at the Mandal Parishad Upper Primary School. My average marks in all subjects has gone up to 80% from 40%. I am happy that my parents let me study and I want to complete my education. When I grow up, I want to become a teacher and take care of my parents.

My family was in a dilemma - I had completed college, but could not find a job in our village. I needed to find a viable source of income. I had our cow artificially inseminated at ITC's cattle development centre. We now have 3 crossbred cows which give us 30 litres of milk a day, bringing us a monthly income of Rs. 7,000 and most importantly, I do not have to leave my village and family.

Like most other farmers, I depended on chemical fertilisers to boost productivity. I joined ITC's training programme and went on exposure visits, attended training camps - I even did residential training at G.B. Pant University and field training in Himachal Pradesh. Now I produce organic compost - both vermi and NADEP - which I sell and also use in my fields. The sale of worms has given me a useful additional income. Today, apart from growing the major Rabi and Kharif crops, I also grow mushrooms and strawberries from which I make much higher products. My experience has changed my outlook and I am now trying to motivate other farmers in my village to adopt these practices that will enable them to earn more as well as keep our land fertile in the long term.