Our Story > How We started

How it 
Began...

This land has been with our family since 1970. When it was first bought, it was dry, uneven, and covered with thorny shrubs and stones, with no cultivation or infrastructure. For many years, it remained untouched.

In the late 1980s, we began farming using chemical methods, growing crops and vegetables like broccoli, brinjal, cauliflower, sunflower and tomatoes for the purpose of seed production. 

Mr. Padmanabha Reddy, father of Mr. M.C. Prasad, was the pioneering farmer who first introduced tomato cultivation to our region of Madanapalle. His initiative transformed local agriculture and today our town is celebrated as Asia’s largest tomato market.

SHIFT to aromatic OILS

In 2003, we shifted to cultivating aromatic plants such as davana, citronella, lemongrass, patchouli, and palmarosa. We set up a distillation unit on the farm to extract essential oils, which were sold to exporters for use in perfumery and pharmaceuticals.

This work with essential oils was recognized nationally, and we received the Rural Entrepreneur Award from the then President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in 2005

BIRTH OF PRAKRUTHIVANAM

Even during these years, there was a growing discomfort with chemical farming. We started questioning the long-term impact it was having on the soil, water, and surrounding life. The chemicals that were meant to protect the crop seemed to do so by harming everything else around it. In 2009, after much thought and learning — including from the writings of Masanobu Fukuoka and meetings with Mr. Subash Palekar — we made a complete shift to organic and natural farming. This change eventually gave our farm its name — Prakruthivanam, meaning Nature Forest, in Telugu.

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