Remarkable journey of a Gujarat diamond merchant turned farmer

A former diamond businessman from Gujarat's Botad district has emerged as an inspiration for farmers by transforming his life through natural farming. Pravinbhai Sarvaiya of Umarala village gave up the diamond trade and began experimenting with natural farming in 2016 after learning about Jeevamrut, Beejamrut and Ghan Jeevamrut. Starting with just one bigha of land, he adopted mixed cropping and traditional farming practices that lowered cultivation costs, improved soil fertility and reduced dependence on chemical fertilisers. His success earned support from the Gujarat government's natural farming initiatives, helping him develop his farm into a training centre for farmers from across the region. Officials say nearly 13,000 farmers in Botad district have adopted natural farming through cluster-based training programmes.