The Corona pandemic has posed many challenges for farmers across the states of India.

During this challenging time, Mr. Ajay Rattan, a farmer of Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, has emerged as a role model for other regional farmers. Instead of giving up in adversity, he developed and improved a concept of community-based support agriculture and found success with it. To overcome the local market disruption by COVID-19, Ajay spoke with all his regular consumers over the phone/WhatsApp and asked about their specific requirements. 

Besides, Ajay now grows wheat, rice, corn, and pulses for his customers. Frequently, he is in contact with officials in his region and provides them with supplies. Such a shift has reduced Ajay's production and marketing risks, demonstrating that polyculture and agrobiodiversity can improve farmers' future performance.

"By design, this scheme lowers the farmers' input costs close to zero, thus allowing them to increase their effective income.", Ajay said.