JOY is revitalizing our planet. We rejuvenate soil, recharge groundwater, and cultivate nourishing food for all. We use sustainable methods like Amrit Krishi, Amrit Mitti, Vermi technology and a variety of home made organic concoctions. Our shade net nurseries, Beej Azadi seed banks, and livelihood initiatives in horticulture, beekeeping, poultry and artisanal products empower communities to harmonize with nature. Rooted in science and tradition, we inspire farmers to become environmentally conscious, adopting practices of total transformation that heal the Earth.
Jaya Organic Yojana (JOY) empowers farmers with the knowledge and resources to practice Amrit Krishi by producing their own Amrit Jal, Amrit Mitti, Vermicompost, organic fertilizers, organic pesticides, and growth promoters, eliminating the need for costly chemical alternatives. This initiative allows farmers to save approximately 20,000 Rupees per acre annually. Through the use of vermicompost, farmers experience a significant increase in crop yields ranging from 40% to 60% from the very first harvest. We focus on regenerating degraded soils by enhancing microbial activity, boosting water retention, and promoting healthier plant growth, ensuring sustainable farming practices. We train farmers to produce up to 3 tons of vermicompost annually. This suffices their own needs as well as opporunities to sell surplus. Furthermore, JOY focuses on farmers with adjoining lands to create contiguous organic blocks. The consistent long term efforts for sustainable and regenerative practices help restore soil health, recharge groundwater, sequester carbon, increase biodiversity, and foster climate resilience, benefiting both ecosystems and communities.
JOY’s farmers produce a variety of organic fertilizers and pesticides tailored to their specific needs. These include 14 organic pesticides such as Bijamrit, Brahmastra, Agniyastra, Khatta Mattha Ghol, Nimbu and Anda Dawa, Bel-Patra ka Kadha etc. which help protect crops from seasonal pests and diseases. Farmers also create nutrient-rich 14 varieties of organic fertilizers like Ghanjivamrit, Jivamrit & Panchgavya, Sanjivini Khada, Magic Compost, Chuna se Upchar, and others, which enrich the soil and promote microbial life. The use of vermicompost, vermi tea, and vermi wash further enhances soil aeration and nutrient availability, while improving water retention. By shifting away from chemical inputs, JOY’s farmers adopt eco-friendly practices that improve soil health, boost crop resilience, and reduce environmental impact, benefiting both the farming community and the wider ecosystem. 58,540 liters of amrutajala are produced annually by our farmers in Uttara Kannada district.
Farmers are the first to witness improvements in soil health and water availability. These changes are recognized by JOY farmers as shared community resources - seen either as a benefit or a challenge - fostering a collective sense of responsibility and self-regulation. JOY promotes habitual practices such as the preparation and regular application of homemade and natural fertilizers and pesticides. Techniques like Amrit Krishi and Amrit Mitti and use of Vermicompost & Vermitea restore essential microbial life to the soil, revitalizing compacted and degraded land into fertile, well-aerated ecosystems. This transformation improves water retention and significantly reduces wastage. We have directly observed once-hard, lifeless soils become soft, living, and highly productive. Complementing this, our integrated farm planning and water-management interventions - including use of homemade A-frames; digging trenches & farm ponds; contour farming and crescent-shaped bunds strengthen groundwater recharge and ensure long-term water security for individual farms and the community watershed. Today with the advent of climate change these benefits are measured in terms of carbon sequestration.
Carbon sequestration. By creating habitual change amongst farmers, JOY helps increase organic matter in the soil, which captures atmospheric carbon and stores it in the ground. JOY’s farmers measure the impact of these practices by conducting easy to use inexpensive and accurate before-and-after soil carbon tests, providing scientific evidence of improved carbon levels. Through these efforts, farmers restore degraded lands, boost yields, and contribute to global climate change mitigation. Every year, 8 of our trainers conduct nearly 150 to 200 carbon tests for farmers' agricultural farms and explain their importance to others as well. All data is accurately maintained in the field and head office.
.jpg)
JOY supports women’s empowerment through its Entrepreneur Development Programs (EDP), which offer training in business development, financial management, and leadership. These programs provide women with the skills and confidence to start and run their own businesses, contributing to their family’s financial stability. By fostering entrepreneurship, JOY strengthens the overall resilience of rural communities. Women are empowered to fulfill their personal goals, become leaders in their communities, and drive local economic growth. If 50 families in 3 villages earn 3 lakhs per year then there is a local economy of 7.5 crores per year (almost one million USD per year) in a small radius of 30 kilometers.
Our partners in training workshops are ICAR, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sirsi (KVK); Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Yellapur; University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; RSETI; and Horticulture Department, Uttara Kannada District.
Skilling and capacity building enables farmers and their families to diversify their income sources and improve their quality of life. Through training in digital literacy, farmers gain the ability to use technology to access markets, improve farming practices, and manage finances. JOY also offers financial literacy courses to help farmers understand budgeting, earning, saving, and investing. Additionally, skill development programs in various livelihoods provide new opportunities for women and family members to generate income. These efforts enhance the resilience of rural communities, ensuring they can thrive despite changing and challenging economic conditions.
Our partners in training workshops are RSETI Kumta, and NABARD.
A range of livelihood programs provide families with multiple sources of income throughout the year. These programs include beekeeping, poultry, goat farming, small businesses, tailoring, horticulture, and agroforestry. By diversifying income streams, JOY reduces the dependency on seasonal crop harvests, ensuring farmers have a more stable financial future. These activities not only offer economic opportunities but also contribute to food security and enhance local economies. With training and support, farmers can expand these businesses and achieve greater financial independence, fostering long-term resilience and well-being. The goal is for every family to earn Rupees 3 to 5 lakhs per year. Currently most farmers earn Rs.40,000/- to 1 lakh per year, some even more, from agriculture. Before our intervention most farmers earned between Rs.11,000/- to Rs.40,000/- per year.
.jpg)
JOY promotes Beej Azadi through its network of 133 Community Organic Village Seed Banks, which serve as essential resources for preserving and distributing native, organic seeds. These seed banks enable farmers to access and share locally adapted seed varieties, ensuring that traditional biological wealth is preserved. Plus traditional agricultural practices are maintained and enhanced. By cultivating and sharing surplus seeds, farmers contribute to a culture of self-reliance and community support, reducing dependency on commercial seed suppliers. This initiative helps increase crop resilience and biodiversity, ensuring that farming communities are equipped with the tools they need to maintain food security while preserving their agricultural heritage. BEEJ AZADI means SEED FREEDOM.
It is important to have not only food security but to have nutritional food security. JOY is dedicated to improving quality of food by empowering farmers to grow a diverse variety of nutrient-rich crops within the small land holdings using organic farming methods. By fostering the production of chemical-free grains, pulses, fruits, and vegetables, JOY helps farmers offer healthier food to their own families and local communities as well. Crop diversification enhances dietary variety and resilience, ensuring access to consistent, nutritious food supply. JOY educates communities about the importance of organic farming for better health, reduced reliance on external inputs, and sustainable food production, contributing to long-term nutritional security for rural households.
Community shade net nurseries foster collaboration among farmers, creating a space for sharing knowledge and assets. 17 community nurseries were recently established serving around 70 villages with a population of 35,000 in Ranchi District in Jharkhand. But the success of JOY’s program is revealed by the fact that this initiative is now farmer driven and farmer controlled with very little contribution from JOY. Initially our efforts took 2 years to get established. Now this moves with great momentum. 4 years ago, we started the program for Apni Khushali Apni Zimmedari, now it has taken root. Farmers grow and share vegetable seedlings (cauliflowers fetch 30 rupees in the local market and in 1 shade net nursery farmers can grow thousands of seedlings to share) These nurseries provide a suitable environment for growing high-quality organic and native plants, offering farmers their own source of healthy saplings for crops, fruit trees, and reforestation efforts. By enabling farmers to grow their own plants from seed, JOY reduces dependency on external suppliers and encourages local seed production.
JOY is revitalizing the cultivation and use of medicinal plants through its 55 local village nurseries. Effort is required to find the correct resource persons with correct knowledge to promote native curative and preventive health benefits. These nurseries focus on preserving and perpetuating native medicinal plants from the local ecosystems and rich in therapeutic properties. JOY shares educational booklets about medicinal plants and their uses with farmers and rural communities to raise awareness and promote the safe use of these plants for holistic health. By preserving and encouraging the use of traditional herbal remedies, JOY strengthens community health, while fostering biodiversity and cultural heritage.
Welcome to JOY Village Green Cover Programs. Green cover comes in various forms – medicinal plants and shrubs, forest trees, food trees, fruit bearing trees, trees with a variety of properties. It’s a gamut of things green. By planting native trees in public spaces like schools, roadsides, and community areas, we enhance the green cover, foster biodiversity, which improves the environment. Some of these trees are grown from locally sourced seeds in JOY’s greenhouse shade-net nurseries ensuring their suitability to the region’s ecosystem. The planting of native trees reduces soil erosion, enhances air quality, and helps communities adapt to climate change. This initiative instills a sense of pride and responsibility in local residents, promoting environmental stewardship and creating healthier, more vibrant communities.
The Panchamara Program promotes planting five fruit trees on each family’s farm, ensuring year-round fruit production and improving nutritional security. These trees not only provide a steady income but also contribute to better diets and long-term sustainability for rural communities, helping farmers achieve economic independence while fostering environmental stewardship. Additionally, farmers learn to use their available space to plant not only crops but also fruit trees to provide income.
JOY is committed to improving digital and financial literacy among rural children and women. Computer skills help individuals access new career opportunities, improve productivity, and engage in online learning. Financial literacy programs focus on teaching budgeting, saving, and managing expenses, learning to understand money, and enabling participants to make informed decisions and better manage their finances. For example, 185 women recently planted 1200 mango trees. In 4 years, there will a harvest of 200 alphonso mangoes from each tree per year. We are training a small group to create common marketing and online marketing. If they can combine and sell there harvest then 2,40,000 fruits at Rupees 50 each bringing an income of Rs.1.2 crores every year. In the next 4 years we aim to train 10 key women (from different SHGs) with computer skills to fully manage online sales with no middlemen
JOY promotes Apni Khushali Apni Zimmedari, encouraging farmers, especially women, to take responsibility for their well-being and work together for a better future. The program empowers women to lead village cleaning drives, actively participate in Gram Sabha meetings. Gram Sabha attendance is a crucial move in planning and ensuring that government funds reach the village and spent democratically without misappropriation. This initiative fosters self-reliance, community involvement, and a sense of responsibility, ensuring sustainable growth and improved quality of life for farmers and their families. In these trouble times all can hold banners and make demands – but who will provide? It is up to us to change our climate, improve our soil, our water, our seeds, our food, protect our own forest from fires, and nurture our own biodiversity. Apni Khushali Apni Zimmedari.
.jpg)
.jpg)
