Inspired By Israel, Bhopal Boy Aims to Revolutionize Avocado Farming in India

Harshit Godha's day included eating avocado while studying for a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at England's Bath University. As a fitness fanatic, Harshit made it a point to incorporate the superfood- Avocado into his diet regularly. "Whenever I'd come back to India for summer holidays, I'd observe that you don't find decent quality avocados here," he told a news agency.

Avocado Journey of Harshit

Back in the UK, he came into the avocado packing, which revealed that they were imported from Israel. "It occurred to me that if Israel can produce avocados in such hot weather, we can do it in India as well." Harshit had made up his mind in 2017, during the final semester of his BBA.

As a consequence, he now has a beautiful 5-acre farm where he produces over 1,800 avocado plants, as well as a nursery where he grows an additional 4,000 seedlings.

He plans to start an orchard with these plants and sell the fruits three years from now. Meanwhile, the seedlings at his nursery will be exported throughout India by next year, he says.

Harshit entered the agricultural industry with the goal of learning everything he could about avocado production in Israel.

He began by sending cold emails to the Israeli avocado sector, requesting permission to visit and learn from them. Soon after, a farmer from Kibbutz Maagan, Benny Weiss, welcomed him to his land. Benny is still Harshit's mentor today.

Harshit spent a month in Israel on a tourist visa during one of his summer vacations. Although he couldn't work, he went to the farm every morning between 5 and 10 a.m. and meticulously recorded what they were doing. 

Now that he was back in India, equipped with the requisite expertise, five acres of family land near Bhopal, and the full backing of his family, he was ready to cultivate avocados. 

He traveled to India with his instructor and a supplier to prepare the land. They both looked at numerous spots on his property before settling on one farmland. He observed that increasing techniques in India cannot be replicated exactly as in Western countries.

"They have more machine-focused and equipment-heavy procedures since labor is costly and using machinery is more viable."  Instead, he believes India should emulate Kenya, Uganda, or Tanzania. "Like India, they have cheap labor." So, while he borrows certain methods from Israel, he largely follows the Kenyan model.

The online documentation of the entire voyage has resulted in countless inquiries concerning the plant and its cultivation. On June 19, he bought another shipment of 4,000 plants of the same five types that he is currently producing himself.