◦ In 2017, Shri. Prashant Sarkhot, an enthusiastic social worker was disturbed by the plight of people. There was a steep rise in diseases. People were unhappy and were popping medicines. But these medicines weren’t curing people, they were only suppressing the symptoms. This left him with unending questions.

◦ Through various meetings with villagers and exploring different books, he realized that the availability of pure and natural food is a pre-cursor to leading a healthy life. One workshop led to another and slowly he understood the essence of Dr. Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF).

◦ His farm was a rocky patch of land. He had never used chemicals on it. But after understanding SPNF, he started using the natural farming techniques of Mulching, homemade preparations such as Jeevamrut, soured buttermilk, and multi-crop farming.
◦ Today, with consistent efforts, Sarkhot Farm has a rich Flora and Fauna. Almost every fruit & vegetable grown tastes heavenly.

◦ In his efforts to make people realize the importance of Natural farming and its products, he inspired his son Shri. Pranav Sarkhot.

◦ Pranav got deeply influenced by Natural farming as he kept on attending workshops and meeting natural farmers. This led to the birth of Sarkhot Natural Farms, a community of Natural Farmers.

Natural farmers practice Natural farming. As there is no use of chemicals, pesticides, colorants, growth hormones, herbicides etc. the yield in Natural farming is optimum. Thus, the farmers can sustain themselves if they sell the produce at a reasonable price. However, there is no platform for Natural farmers. APMC does not recognize the difference between chemically grown produce and naturally grown produce. Here agents decide the rate of items. Thus, when the farmer sells natural produce in APMC, he suffers losses.

o Sarkhot Natural Farms acts as a platform for natural produce. Here, Natural farmers sell their produce for a Fair price based on their production and their overall requirement in the present scenario of inflation. But SNF keeps its margin low so that consumers can get 100% naturally grown items at affordable rates.

o SNF also educates consumers through write-ups and calls.

o Natural farming is also known as Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF) or Zero budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) or Subhash Palekar Krishi (SPK) or Spiritual Farming.

o Natural farming means creating a farm environment that replicates nature. To replicate nature means to make the environment conducive to the natural life cycle. The farmer achieves this by making his farm earthworm-friendly using desi cow dung, desi cow urine, and homemade preparations of Jeevamrut, Bheejamrut, Ghanajeevamrut, Bhasma, etc. Homemade preparations make use of naturally made jaggery as its key ingredients. Jaggery attracts earthworms and microorganisms. Thus, a lifecycle starts which gradually improves the soil fertility. There are no growth hormones or any chemicals used from outside and so the yield is also optimum or only so much as the soil, trees & plants can bear naturally. Thus, this is also known as poison-free farming.

o Natural farmers are those farmers who practice Natural farming.

• • In chemical farming, chemicals help in increasing yield, but such yield is devoid of necessary nutrients. Plus, growth hormones, ripeners, artificial colorants, pesticides, and herbicides not only abuse the soil but also get in the human body and remain undigested. This leads to build-up of toxins thereby resulting in diseases.

  • Naturally grown produce is pure and thus increases vigor and stimulates overall health.

• • Nutritional value of naturally grown produce is high. Consuming such products helps in restoring your health.

  • One can experience positive changes in the body such as increased vigor and energy, more concentration power, better sleep, improved skin and hair texture, stable mindset & stress-free life.

  • It is heard that consumption of only Natural produce for consecutive fifteen days, drains out the impurities created by the intake of chemically grown products and junk food.

• Local market produce is chemically grown with the use of harmful chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers and injected with growth stimulants, harmful colors, etc. This results in high yield (output) however, there is low or no nutritional content left in the produce.

  • As the output is high, it is feasible for the farmer to charge less to push his products into the market. However, even here the Middlemen (brokers) pay less to the farmer but charge more from the consumers.

  • Today, natural farmers are low in numbers as against demand for natural produce. As a result, production is very less than the demand. While deciding the cost of natural produce, two factors which obviously influence are: its high nutrition value along with nice taste and the other is short supply due to less number of farmers practicing Natural farming. Encouragement by Govt. will definitely increase the count of farmers who opt for natural farming. As more farmers start practicing natural farming, supply will increase and will reduce prices. 

  • Since, Sarkhot Natural Farms is a community of Natural farmers, i.e., a direct-from-farmer initiative. It cuts down all the middlemen in between and sells to the end consumer.

  • It gives a fair price to the farmers and takes reasonably from the consumers. This is because, SNF encourages people to consume poison-free food, stay healthy and Stay Happy & encourages farmers to adopt Natural farming.

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  • In Natural farming, there is a total absence of harmful chemicals/injections or any stimulant to alter the shape, size, or shine.

  • Nature works in a certain way; you may call it dull or having absurd shapes and sizes, but the nutritional value is enormously high

  • As consumers, we should understand that the nutritional value is more important than the way it looks.

  • We always encourage our consumers not to consume natural produce only by eyes as you will end up noting only the outer appearance and may not appreciate its nutritional value. Have the natural produce, by aligning all your senses with gratitude towards Mother Nature. This way your body can absorb all the nutrients from the produce and become calmer and stress-free.

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  • Every fruit, vegetable, grain, pulse, and all agricultural items produces a self-protective layer to protect itself from insects/pests.

E.g.: Orange, Banana, and Onion have peels to protect them, Similarly, Apples, Grapes, and plums produce a substance (natural wax) that gives them a slip and hence protects it from insects/pests.

• • Natural wax is completely safe/edible just after washing it with normal water. There is no need to soak it in Hot water / Saltwater. You may even consume it without washing, however, we recommend washing it once as the product is transported from farms and may have dust.

  • We have posted a sample Apple Video from a Natural Apple farm at Shimla, where you can see that the wax is present even when the apples are still on the tree i.e., it is Nature’s defensive mechanism

  • In market artificial wax is also available. This is sprayed on chemically grown produce. An additional layer of chemical wax is applied along with harmful colors and pesticides to make it look fresh and prolong its shelf life. Chemical wax is harmful for consumption. You may also notice that such product is available throughout the year but does not have a fresh taste, and crunchiness and is mostly mushy from the inside due to overuse of harmful chemicals.

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  • First, do not Panic. Insects/ Worms are a part of the Natural life cycle.

  • As the natural product has no chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, colorants, growth hormones, etc., the nutritive value of food is high. This also means that insects & worms are attracted to this food.

  • If you receive, worms/insects in dry grocery at the time of delivery, Drop us a WhatsApp message with photos on 9920999100 within 10 days from delivery.

  • If you have kept the items unused for some time and you see insects/ worms. Just, sieve the produce and separate out the sieved food.

  • Sunlight is very potent and keeping this product in sunlight will ensure that the product remains good for a reasonable amount of time. If no sunlight is available, refrigerate the sieved items and consume them at the earliest.

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  • As soon as you receive Jaggery from us, take it out of the packing and transfer it to an airtight container or Steel/ Brass container. (Do not use plastic containers).

  • If you see the white layer as soon as we deliver, drop us a WhatsApp message on 9920999100 within 10 days from delivery.

  • If you see the white layer as the jaggery was left in original packing or it was unused, put this jaggery in the soil of home plants or society plants and watch your plants have the best of health.

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  • As soon as you receive Fruits/ vegetables from us, take them out of the packing.

  • If the fruits are raw, store them at room temperature.

  • If fruits are ripe, consume them at the earliest. Also, refrigerate the fruits to avoid spoilage.

  • If you see worms/ insects as soon as we deliver, drop us a WhatsApp message on 9920999100 within 1 day from delivery.

  • If you see worms/ insects as the fruits/ vegetables due to inappropriate storage, put them near the roots of your society plants and watch your plants get the essential nutrients and the best of health.

• • Encourage Natural farmers through a platform for Natural produce that buys at a fair price.

  • Help consumers lead a healthy life with affordable pricing

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  • We connect with natural farmers in Workshops, references, or sometimes, the farmers themselves contact us. We:

  • Evaluate the farmer first through telephonic conversation. Here we understand, what techniques a specific farmer uses in farming, what all he produces, what mixed crops are done round the year, where he sells etc.

  • Meet the Farmer and understand deeply his farming practices.

  • Visit his farm to verify his claim of being a Natural farmer

  • Do a Sample tasting of his produce (With experience, our mind is now conditioned to differentiate natural produce from chemical produce just by the taste of the items).

  • Take a decision on the Farmer: either empanel him or reject.

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  • Sarkhot Natural Farms’ mission is to encourage farmers to take up Natural farming & help consumers lead a healthy life with pure natural produce.

  • We provide chemicals & pesticides-free naturally grown produce and products.

  • We only deal with Natural Farmers i.e., even with those farmers who cannot afford a Certification but practice Natural farming

  • We understand that certification is a costly affair, and only by trusting certificates, we would deny fair play to genuine farmers

  • Under no circumstance, we sell anything which is not natural and don’t compromise on quality. This is because SNF was born with a firm belief in giving back to society.

  • We are transparent in sharing the Farmer/ Farm information with our consumers as this connects one with the roots of the farm.

  • We offer After Sales services such as transparency in answering your queries, replacement, knowledge sharing, etc.

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  • Yes, we own a farm at Village Kambe, Shahapur, Maharashtra, where we practice Natural farming.

  • This keeps us rooted and helps us understand about the typical issues other natural farmers experience.

  • This knowledge /experience also helps us to Identify other Natural farmers.

• Sarkhot Farm at Kambe, Shahpur Maharashtra acts as a model of Natural farming. Here, Farmers, as well as consumers, visit to understand the farming techniques.

• Sarkhot Natural Farms releases short write-ups of how to use products and their benefits.

• When a consumer still has doubts, his doubts are resolved through WhatsApp chats and telephonic conversations.

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  • We do offer samples for tasting at our store and farm.

  • Free samples are feasible in some products such as Jaggery, Fruits, however, in some products such as Grocery items and vegetable samples are not practical.

  • However, we want your complete satisfaction and hence we encourage our consumers to buy small quantities in grocery items to gain complete confidence/satisfaction before placing a bulk order

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  • Shri. Pranav Sarkhot, BSC Maths, is the Chief Executive Officer and deals with Farmers and consumers.

  • CA. Reshma Talgaonkar is Solutioning chief, Content and Marketing head.

  • Shri Prashant Sarkhot, Social Activist is the mentor. He also manages Sarkhot Farm, Kambe.

  • Smt. Janabai Khade looks after Quality control and Packing. 

  • Shri. Devilal Yadav looks after Packing & delivery 

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  • Yes, you may visit our farm and witness the pleasure of the natural farming process. You may also taste our farm produce and understand the divinity of fresh produce.

  • Also, we do organize Meet and Greet with Farmers. You may take part in that too.

  • Below is the address of our farm with a google map link:

Sarkhot Farm, Kambe, Maharashtra 421601,

https://maps.app.goo.gl/rguuf