Archive · 15 Sep 2026
Farmer Reimagines Family Land Through Permaculture and Local Enterprise
Apuroop Arja grew up on his family’s farm, but he first wanted a career in polymers.
A friend introduced him to permaculture, a way of farming that works with nature.
Apuroop tried these ideas on four acres near Kurnool with his mother.
At first, very few people came to buy their organic vegetables.
They donated leftover produce to ashrams and temples.
Later, more people discovered the farm shop and began buying everything early in the morning.
The small experiment eventually became difficult because construction changed the area’s water systems and economics.
Apuroop then used what he learned to develop Ervana Wildfarms with rainwater tanks, local workers and regional food.
Apuroop Arja shifted from a polymers career to rethink his family’s farming practices.
He tested organic farming on four acres near Kurnool, selling produce directly through a Sunday shop.
The shop initially struggled but later attracted customers, including government officials, who bought out the produce early.
Real-estate development and changing water systems eventually made the four-acre experiment difficult to sustain.
Apuroop later applied the lessons to Ervana Wildfarms, using rainwater harvesting, local employment and regional cuisine.
- Who
- Apuroop Arja, his family, local workers and surrounding communities.
- What
- A family farmer shifted toward permaculture, organic production, rainwater harvesting and a local hospitality model.
- When
- The article does not provide specific dates; the transformation took place over several years.
- Where
- On family farmland outside Kurnool, with Apuroop’s earlier polymers company in Bengaluru and the later Ervana Wildfarms project.
- Why
- Apuroop wanted to test a more regenerative approach to farming and apply what he learned to his family’s larger landholding.
Conventional Farming
Permaculture and Regenerative Farming
Farming methods
Conventional Farming
Apuroop’s family had used conventional methods for generations and initially believed organic farming would not work.
Permaculture and Regenerative Farming
Apuroop argued for organic and regenerative methods designed around the needs of the land.
Risk and change
Conventional Farming
His father and other family members were initially skeptical of changing a familiar farming system.
Permaculture and Regenerative Farming
Apuroop’s mother supported testing the approach, and the family eventually agreed to let him try it properly.
Purpose of the farm
Conventional Farming
The earlier model focused on conventional crop production and making a living from the land.
Permaculture and Regenerative Farming
Ervana connected farming with water management, local employment, hospitality, regional food and community knowledge.
- Person
- Apuroop Arja
- Initial experiment
- Four acres outside Kurnool
- Sales model
- A Sunday farm shop selling produce directly
- Water management
- Eight percolation tanks were created for rainwater harvesting
- Later project
- Ervana Wildfarms
- Restaurant
- Sila serves regional cuisine connected to the farm
- Workforce
- Local employees were trained through an apprenticeship-style process