Technology, tenacity help PB Aneesh, a young farmer from Kannur, reap gold from the Soil

To the farmer who faced challenges head-on and turned adversity into abundance has come one of the State government’s highest honours. P B Aneesh of Paruvilangal in Tabore, Udayagiri, has been selected for the prestigious Keralaprabha award — a recognition of his remarkable achievements in modern agriculture.

Aneesh’s success story is rooted in sheer perseverance. From his five-acre property — once attached by a bank for loan default — and another 15 acres taken on lease, he has scripted an inspiring tale of revival. Never one to rest on past success, Aneesh has also begun experimenting with the Vietnam model of pepper cultivation and a range of hi-tech farming methods on yet another 15 acres of leased land.

His farms are also a showcase of technological excellence, equipped with two weather forecast stations, 72 surveillance cameras, kilometres-long irrigation pipelines, and state-of-the-art sensors that assess soil moisture and fertility and send updates directly to his mobile phone.

He has also installed automated systems to feed his fish stock and maintain water levels in tanks and ponds, along with motion sensors that detect the presence of wild animals. It is for this remarkable blend of innovation, precision, and commitment that Aneesh has earned applause from across the State.

From debt to dignity
Aneesh, who earlier bagged the Manorama Karshakashree 2024 award, is also a recipient of the Karshakothama award from the Department of Agriculture. His achievements are all the more inspiring when one recalls that 24 years ago, his five-acre property was attached by a bank following a loan default.

Today, the tables have turned. Several banks — including the very one that once seized his land — now approach him, eager to offer fresh loans. But Aneesh politely declines their offers. “The income I earn from my farm is enough for my family to live with dignity,” he says.

Readers of Karshakashree magazine are unlikely to have forgotten the young farmer from Tabore, Udayagiri, whose story was first featured in 2022. Back then, P. B. Aneesh had just reclaimed his land and restarted cultivation after years of hardship. His perseverance paid off, turning a once-lost property into a flourishing model farm.

The transformation soon brought him widespread recognition. After winning the Karshakashree award, Aneesh continued to innovate and expand, ultimately reaching the pinnacle of recognition with the Keralaprabha award.

A journey of resolve
A few years ago, on a day when the monsoon was at its peak, we first met P. B. Aneesh. The journey to reach him was as challenging as the story we were about to hear. Starting from Kannur, we drove past the steep climbs of Udayagiri, winding through narrow roads. The rain lashed down relentlessly, and our anxious taxi driver kept muttering that he would never have agreed to the trip had he known it led to the high ranges.

At last, in the front yard of a small church in Tabore, Aneesh was waiting, holding an umbrella for us. He led us up a sloping path to his farm, where he introduced each crop and the fruits of his toil to Karshakashree magazine. Even amid the rain and chill, what stood out on his face was sheer determination.

When we asked him about the source of his resolve, he said, “This land was once taken away by a bank after crop failure and price crashes. I fought hard to reclaim it. Today, it gives me a profit of ₹16 lakh a year. It’s this stubbornness to win that brought me this far.”

The survival period
Aneesh then went on to narrate his story of survival in detail. “Tabore,” he began, “was once a land where nearly 400 families migrated to build their dreams. The soil here was our gold. Arecanut, coconut, and pepper were our lifelines. But everything changed all of a sudden.”

He spoke of how disease, pest attacks, and a steep fall in market prices crushed the once-thriving farming community. “One by one, around 200 families packed up and left the hills of Tabore, searching for other means of livelihood,” he said.

For Aneesh’s family too, the fall in production of the very crops that had once sustained them proved devastating. “We had pinned all our hopes on our fields,” he recalled. “But when the crops failed and prices crashed, our family was pushed into deep financial distress. We had a liability of ₹1.5 lakh, which was a huge amount in those days.”

Aneesh was still a student then, helping his parents with farming while continuing his education. “Despite our best efforts, there was nothing left to save from cultivation,” he said. It was a time when despair had taken root deeper than any crop ever could.

“Thus, I began taking up electrical wiring work during my spare hours,” Aneesh continued. “In those days, to get even a small wiring job, I had to travel all the way down the hill past Udayagiri and even Alakkode to reach Thalipparamba. The travel fare itself was a burden.”

Determined to make the most of every opportunity, Aneesh came up with a plan. “To save on travel expenses, I enrolled for an undergraduate course in a private college in Thalipparamba. With the concession fare available for students, I could manage the daily trips. I worked till noon and attended classes in the afternoon,” he said.

That gruelling routine continued all the way through his postgraduate studies. But by then, the family’s financial struggles had deepened further. “Our property was finally attached by the bank,” he recalled. “We were given a temporary stay on the assurance that the loan could be repaid in 30 instalments. But even that plan fell apart midway.”

Aneesh took loans from the very households where he had done wiring work. “I borrowed as much as I could,” he said. “And before the 30th month, I cleared the bank loan and escaped the attachment.” To settle the debts owed to individuals, he had to take another loan from a different bank.

Afterwards, he took to farming full-time. “At one point, the profit-making ways of agriculture became clear to me,” Aneesh said. Now, three years later, Aneesh has journeyed far beyond where he once stood. His net income, which was around ₹16 lakh then, has now more than doubled.

The rise of a smart farm
At a time when crops like coconut, arecanut, and pepper were facing a steep price crash, Aneesh turned to rubber. His 500 rubber trees grew well and began yielding in the fifth year, but soon fungal diseases and a dip in production led to yet another setback. It was then that he decided to experiment with nutmeg, planting it on one acre of land. Gradually, nutmeg trees replaced all the rubber that had succumbed to disease, and before long, all five acres of his farm were filled with over 300 nutmeg trees.

Aneesh points out that it was not merely the decision to plant nutmeg, but the strategy to retain only the most productive trees that proved crucial in increasing his income. Among the growing nutmeg trees, those with poor yield were cut down and replaced with grafts of high-yielding varieties. His premium nutmeg plantation took shape through years of observation by visiting farms across regions, identifying the best-performing trees, and collecting buds from them for grafting.

The returns from nutmeg cultivation grew steadily in phases. Today, most of the nutmeg trees in his farm yield fruits of remarkable quality, with sixty fruits together weighing nearly one kilogram, while each mace (jaathipathri) weighs around 3.5 grams.

In his farm, Aneesh also cultivates around 50 jackfruit trees belonging to 35 different varieties. Each of these trees was developed through grafting, using buds from high-quality breeds he personally identified. Though not all of them have started bearing fruit, some trees yield as many as 10,000 jackfruits a year. Aneesh also earns a handsome income by selling his produce at the Jackfruit Festivals organised across Kannur district.

From the Vanarani variety of cardamom that he began cultivating about seven to eight years ago, Aneesh has so far raised nearly 5,000 saplings. Of these, about 1,000 now flourish along the borders of his five-acre property, while the rest grow on the 15 acres of leased land.

Water source and fish stock
On his steeply sloped farm, Aneesh has built six artificial ponds for irrigation, including one at the hilltop with a capacity to hold six lakh litres of water. The water, enriched with fish waste, serves as a natural fertiliser for his crops.

Aneesh also has another remarkable story to tell — of a 30-metre-long tunnel he dug at a depth of 12 metres, running parallel to a 14-metre-deep well on the hilltop. The tunnel, designed to channel water to the lower slopes of the hill using gravity, was single-handedly constructed by Aneesh in just 90 days — a feat that speaks volumes of his determination and ingenuity.

Work smart, not just hard
Aneesh firmly believes that farming becomes profitable only when hard work is combined with smart planning. “It’s not hard work, but smart work that matters,” he says with conviction. “When there’s a matchbox to light a fire, there’s no need to waste time striking stones together. It’s the same in farming. Today, there are technologies that can make cultivation effortless and safe — we just have to make use of them.”

According to him, machines and automation are not luxuries but necessities for modern farmers. They reduce physical strain, save valuable time, and open up opportunities to focus on more rewarding aspects of agriculture, such as learning about profitable crops, new marketing techniques, value addition, and expanding farms through leased land.

“If your goal in farming is profit, then technology must be your partner,” Aneesh insists. Drip irrigation, for instance, has been a game-changer. The system ensures that every drop of water reaches where it’s needed most, minimising waste. But Aneesh has taken it a step further — his farm uses smart sensors that automatically regulate the drip system by assessing soil moisture levels. When the tank runs low, the sensors trigger the pump to refill it and adjust the water flow to each crop as required.

Own weather forecast stations
Aneesh is among the rare farmers who run their own weather forecast stations. According to him, one of the biggest challenges in farming today is climate change. Crop losses, he believes, can often be prevented if farmers are able to anticipate weather changes and adjust their practices accordingly.

It was with this vision that Aneesh partnered with a startup to set up a weather monitoring station on his farm. The system provides real-time updates on moisture levels, temperature, and five-day weather forecasts directly to his smartphone. This allows him to plan farm activities — from irrigation to harvesting and fertiliser application — with precision.

The weather station, established at a cost of ₹2 lakh, has proven immensely beneficial not only to Aneesh but also to several farmers in the vicinity. The data collected is shared with other farmers for just ₹1 a day, and currently, more than 20 farmers in the region rely on his updates to plan their cultivation schedules.

Accuracy, for Aneesh, is the cornerstone of his success. He meticulously monitors every crop, maintains detailed records, and tracks every rupee spent on his computer. Each decision is made after a careful cost–benefit analysis. Behind his success stands a strong family support system — his parents, Baby and Mary; his wife, Treasa; and their children — all integral parts of his farming journey.