Anyone left job for Farming??
I got laid off in 2023, and it had been very difficult for me to get a job. I somehow got a job last year, with 1/4th pay cut. I took it since I didn’t want to sit idle.
I was still looking for change(for the money part). But, didn’t get any calls whatsoever. Always rejected during shortlisting itself. Took advice, paid for resume, got consulted on resume. Nothing wrong with resume.
Currently, not sure if the current company would survive also(able to raise funds).
Have taken a decision to move back to hometown and start with organic farming. Did anyone take such decision? If so, how hard it was with organic farming and what are the resources available through govt?
I'm thinking of doing the same but not on a large scale. In the south (Tenkasi) 1 acre of land costs 5L, I'm hesitant to move there as my family and myself were grown up in metro city, both my parents are medical patients though i can get them medicine but good hospitals will be short. Also my parents are not ready to move, they are not ready to leave this comfort. I can't go alone and spend for both my parents and myself. If you have the freedom to move and try farming please go ahead.
Life will be hard in the initial part as we have housing loan, but then my whole family would be there including relatives. We have missed out on so many cultural events and holidays, family gatherings. Our child doesn’t even know much about our culture, and even doesn’t speak the language.
The only con which I see as of now is advanced medical facilities.
We are almost more than 90% sure that we will be going back to our hometown and doing this.
Isn’t farming the oldest work?
Coming from a farming family, it's not as easy at it looks. My father works day in and day out on the farm, no profit at all. The best case is we get some free stuff like coconut, bananas, mangoes etc. if you do exotic stuff, hydroponics etc you'll have to invest a lot. Do a lot of research before selecting what to grow. Don't go by profit margins. Select by area, soil, water availability etc and choose the best one. Go to some classes dltaken by govt agri universities or research institutes. they support with seeds, fertilizers, machines latest research etc. don't even think about organic unless you already have a pesticides free parcel of land that can be certified. While deciding about farming think about where you are going to sell also. Nearest city, demand centres etc. don't leave the margins to the middle man.
That's about everything i could think of. All the best mate!
Hey… Thanks for those input. My family belongs to farming family, but we had been mostly invested in paddy fields. Apart from that, we have our own fishery(right now not much taken care of). And some veggies, fruits grown for household consumption.
My sis-in-law is professor at agricultural university having done Ph.D in crop science. She suggested to first go with poly farming and then venture into organic and vertical later.
Will not be selling to middlemen at all. Will be selling directly in local farmer’s market apart from dealing with hotels and restaurants through contacts. That’s the idea as of now, but would be building more in it.
With regards to grants, there had been lately lot of organic farming happening. So, will need some kind of MOAT to get grants from universities. Hopefully, will be able to get help from sis-in-law once we move back.
Good, atleast you have some background & support via sis-in-law. That's a great start I'd say. Also start small. Don't go all in untill you get the hang of it. Yes, more than farmers market going to direct consumers would be great. You might have to do more work in packaging, finding buyers, etc but only this will decide whether you make profit or not . As soon as possible employ some labour to take care of the manual work and focus on selling part. It doesn't matter how much you produce, only how much you sell. Your best RoI is here.
My father is a retired engineer who took up farming a few years back. He gets a good amount as pension and my parents don't spend much. Farming nowadays is really really hard. He invests all his time and energy and has not got a profit out of it (coconut farm). Daily wages are way too high for workers. He is able to sustain the coconut trees only through daily maintenance. Maybe you should think twice before you quit . Start as a sidekick and learn the nuances before you quit your current job. Handling daily wages workers is a special skill that must be developed over time(my dad used to handle at least 200 such workers when he was employed but failed/failing this skill when it came to farming).
I wouldn’t be doing coconut farming. But rather focus on exotic veggies and fruits, which can give yields in a short period of time. Coconut farming and all takes lot of time for growth and yield.
It’s better to be fully in rather than doing sidekick. Doing sidekick anyways won’t be possible since I am at a different city than my parents. I have to get my hands dirty. If that doesn’t work out, I will try something else.
My current company may anyways get closed because of funding crunch. And I had tried applying jobs for the past 2 years, initially used to get shortlisted for some, but most of times used to get ghosted and for the last year, didn’t even get a single shortlist. Currently working at 1/4th my previous pay, and that hurts a lot.
Instead, I will focus on one thing and work on that alone.
That means all your hard work is now wasted? I mean, the quality of life won't be impacted?
I won’t say hard work would be wasted. The skills we gain in life will always be there with us. We will be utilizing some of it, if not all at once.
Quality of life depends how you want to consider it.
We have missed all festive and cultural activities. Our child has missed on it.
The only thing which maybe a constraint would be access to great healthcare. But the number of pros overweigh the cons.
I always wanted to do something but never had the time. I feel that this is the right time. Otherwise we always get comfortable with our lives.
Most working families children have to start from scratch(in terms of searching for jobs). Even if you become VP or CEO also, your child has to start from scratch. Positions aren’t something which you can give out to your children. This has hit me hard!
Instead, why not do something through which the child also benefits, and they have a platform to start from.
Most of our parents stuck to a single job during their lifetime and had made lot of sacrifices because of which we had been able to get some luxuries at least.
I have to think more holistically and future proof something for my kid.
bro it's a hassle is what i have got feedback.
though i would love to have a business partner to try it.
even willing to invest for the learning and fun :)
on the job, don't worry too much. You will figure out your path.
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻same plan ahead !
Yes.. that’s what the idea is. To start small and get the learnings. Have relatives from my in-laws side who are in resort business. Hopefully would try to cater to them first and then go ahead with other businesses.
