Felicitations at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai

Some of you may recall that earlier in the year Savera Farms was presented in a Dina-Malar new paper feature. Among others, this article also caught the attention of Dr Kamaraj, Head of Electrical Engineering Dept at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai. Soon after, the department extended me an invitation as Chief Guest during their Electrical Engineering Association Day celebrations with over 300 students.

It was an honor to share my experiences, about how we started Savera Farms, my adjustments from the western way of life and the journey since then. Students were sharp and presented well articulated questions around our venture, current operations, and challenges faced in the current market environment. In many ways, it was a welcome break to engage with inquisitive minds. More importantly, it was heartening to see that the young minds realized the pivotal role of agriculture in our economy.

At Thiagarajar College of Engineering, most students are from nearby locales and many have agricultural land holdings. There were several queries around the dire need for procedural transparency and a predictable revenue model in agri-operations towards which I was able to share some of our risk mitigation strategies and managing barriers to entry.

 During my interactions with industry professionals across IT, Banking, Retail or Sales, I consistently see a desire among people to step away from the 'pressure cooker' state of existence many see in their future.  The alternative of managing their ancestral lands or exploring agriculture is very tempting but few venture due to lack of attractive returns. The corporate environment can be a wonderful source of learning since similar principles should be applied in the agriculture line of work as well : Feasibility studies, Market research, Team management, Long term planning, Financial cadence, Risk / issue mitigation, etc. Like every new venture, in the beginning there is a learning curve, buckets of patience and access to experienced mentors can be invaluable. Hopefully, I have helped ignite a few minds to think out of the box, be bold and try to pursue their passions instead!