A book by Shameek Chakravarty · Out June 2026
Return to Soil
You have been quietly planning a farm in your head for two years. Here is how to do it on the ground.
The desk is fine. The soil is calling.
Built on seven years of Farmizen — 7,200+ organic farmers, 46,000+ households, featured in BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg. India is now the world's 4th-largest organic farming country.
Most books on Indian farming are written for the activist or the working farmer. This one is for the reader still at the desk — built around the three literacies a transitioning farmer needs: the science of soil, the craft of growing, the business of selling.
For the salaried Indian who has been quietly Googling "how to start an organic farm in India" for two years now — EMIs, two kids, and a Slack notification going off in the background.
What the book covers
Sixteen chapters. Four arcs. One working farm at the end.
The Science
Soil, water, seed, agroecology, pest, disease. The living world under your boots and what it asks of you.
Representative chapter — The Science Behind Soil.
The Craft
Principles and practices, soil preparation, advanced techniques. Sowing, weeding, composting, harvesting. The calluses.
Representative chapter — Soil Preparation and Advanced Techniques.
The Business
Market research, branding, pricing, supply chain. The part most farming books skip and most farmers learn the hard way.
Representative chapter — Budgeting, Costing and Pricing Strategies.
The Plan
Your land. Your blueprint. Your three-year cropping plan. Your business plan. The book ends with a written plan you can act on.
Representative chapter — Robust and Actionable Business Plan.
The argument
Four ideas hold this book together.
Nature has been farming for a few billion years. Copy what works.
Science, nature, and tradition do not contradict.
A farmer needs three literacies. The science of the soil. The craft of the doing. The business of the selling.
There is no correct answer. The land in front of you decides.
Why this book, why now
I started Farmizen in 2017 because I wanted to farm and could not find a way in that did not involve a cooperative I distrusted or a textbook I could not finish.
Seven years later, the questions I get most often are not from journalists. They come from people in offices. Quiet emails. Coffee meetings that stretch. The same question, dressed differently each time.
How do I begin.
There are good books on Indian farming. Most are translated academia or NGO manuals. Few are written for a reader with EMIs, two kids, and a Slack notification going off in the background.
This one is.
It is built on my own farming, on seven years of Farmizen, and on 7,200 organic farmers across India who taught me what no manual ever could. It is the answer I wish I had been handed.
About Shameek and Farmizen
I am Shameek. I have been farming and running Farmizen since 2017. Before that, I was the person sending the quiet emails.
Farmizen began as a way to put a small piece of farmland in the hands of city families. It became a school. Since 2017, Farmizen has worked with 7,200+ organic farmers across India and delivered fresh produce, direct from those farms, into 46,000+ households in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Featured in BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, and 26 other media outlets.
Every chapter is a thing I have seen tested in a real field, on real margins, by real people with real fears.
The first chapter is yours when it is ready.
Want to start before the book lands
If the book is too far away, here are two ways to start now.
Talk to Farmizen about farm consulting →
Explore Farmizen's education programs →
Or — just join the waitlist and we will write to you when the first chapter is ready.