Illustration by Raj Verma
P Venkat Rao, 46, a resident of Dantelaboru village in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana, started cotton farming after Class XII. The work was fraught with challenges. The yield was poor. The crop would get infected every now and then. The income was just enough to pay for basic needs of his family. His life changed when he saw a neighbour, Ramana, turn his cotton farm into a eucalyptus plantation and supply to ITC. In 2005, he did likewise, with ITC supporting him with knowledge of eucalyptus farming, soil testing and fast-growing clonal saplings. When he harvested the crop four years later, he earned Rs 3 lakh. The second harvest, in 2013, got him Rs 18 lakh. There has been no looking back after that. "I own five tractors that I give on rent," he says. His income is now Rs 7,000 a day, from Rs 500 a day in 2005. He works with ITC as part of the company's forestry programme which helps marginal farmers grow eucalyptus that is used to make high-quality pulp for its paper business.