From Software Engineer to Soil Engineer, An Organic Journey in his midlife with Rahul Sharma:TMS10

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   On the show we have with us Rahul Sharma – A Techie who moved onto Organic Farming to solve real world problems.
 
 

Listen on: Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | SpotifyCastbox

During my discussion with Rahul, I found him to be a person who surely has a strong adaptability quotient. Though he had completed his graduation in Economics & Statistics, but he primarily worked as an IT professional for major  part of his life. In his flourishing IT career, he had opportunity to work in different countries & travel across various continents.
 
But inspite of all the glitters and stability, Rahul had a feeling of saturation and a strong urge to do something meaningful in his life.
 
All of this prompted Rahul to leave behind his 18+ year old cushy job and pursue his passion of delivering high quality chemical free food to people of India
 
During last 4 years, Rahul has successfully transformed himself and has built an authority and deep expertise in areas of Organic farming such as Green manuring, Crop rotation, nitrogen fixation & Bio diversity to name a few
 
Further , he also delivers lectures in schools and  colleges to promote urban farming and create awareness among students. He also provides advisory services to agriculture startups and also works with NGOs and Organic farmers market
 
Key Points we discussed:
  • Early part of his life and why he chose IT career
  • Quitting high paying cushy job and moving onto organic farming in his 40’s
  • Details and Deep Insights around Organic farming and differences when compared to traditional farming
  • Advice for people looking out to pivot onto totally different field or unrelated industry

Time Stamps:

  • 04:51 – What kind of childhood and environment did Rahul grew up with ?
  • 07:10 – Any exposure to farming during his childhood days ?
  • 08:30 – Why did Rahul chose IT career inspite of being an Economics graduate ?
  • 14:14  – Why did he think about doing organic farming and rather not continue with stable IT career
  • 19:46  – How did family react to decision on pursuing a career in organic farming and leaving IT job
  • 23:05  – Difference between organic farming and traditional farming ?
  • 29:00 – Ways in which soil can be kept active in natural farming?
  • 35:36 – Why is soil not kept active in traditional agriculture?
  • 44:00 – Challenge and struggles Rahul faced when he switched from IT to organic farming
  • 49:14 – Initiatives taken around educating students on organic farming & community supported agriculture
  • 53:17 – Advice for people who want to pivot to something totally different than what they are doing currently
  • 56:34 – Quick fire segment

 

Key Takeaways

  • If you plan to pivot to something different than your current line of work, then it is imperative that you come out of the bubble and take action towards your goal. Have a bit of craziness and insanity so that you can quickly switch yourself out from planning into actual execution mode
 
  • Organic or natural farming is needed to keep our food system healthy . Instead of relying on pesticides and chemical fertilizers that may damage the plants and food , organic farming focuses and relies on keeping the soil active and giving the nutrients back to soil through methods like crop rotation and Green maneuvering
 
  •  It is equally important for each one of us to identify and solve at least 1 real problem that world is facing today to whatever capacity we can as this will help in making the country a better place to live in not only for us but also for our future generations

 

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Resources Mentioned in this Episode

 

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