Agriculture · Rural Telangana
The season begins before the harvest does.
For a small farmer, the hardest decision of the year is not what to grow. It is how to pay for the seed.
Help a farmer begin the season without beginning in debt.
The problem
The debt arrives before the crop does.
Sowing has to be paid for months before anything can be sold. So the season opens with a loan — often an expensive one, taken locally, on terms nobody wrote down. If the rain is late or the crop is weak, the loan does not become smaller. It becomes the reason the next season starts even further behind.
- 01Inputs must be bought before there is any income.
- 02Borrowing is quick, local and expensive.
- 03One difficult season carries into the next.
- 04Household decisions get made under pressure.
Why it matters
A farming household is not only a farm. It is school fees, medicines, a daughter's education and the ability to say no to a bad price. When the season starts in debt, every one of those decisions is made from a weaker position. Helping a farmer begin the year without borrowing is one of the few interventions that changes the arithmetic of an entire household rather than a single crop.
Who this is for
- Small and marginal farmers cultivating their own or leased land
- Households where farming is the only income
- Families already carrying informal, high-interest debt
- Women who manage the household budget through a weak season
What Ujjwala does
How the work actually runs.
We start with the individual farmer
Before anything is given, we sit with the farmer and understand the plot, the water, the last two seasons and what is already owed. Support is shaped around that, not around a standard package.
Seeds and soil inputs, at the right time
Where appropriate, we provide climate-resilient seed and natural or organic soil inputs so the season can begin without borrowing for it.
Practical guidance, not a lecture
Guidance on sowing, spacing, soil health and low-cost natural inputs, given in the field, in the farmer's own language, at the point the decision is being made.
Presence through the season
We stay in contact through the season rather than disappearing after the handover, so problems are caught while they can still be corrected.
A voluntary pay-it-forward cycle
The long-term intention is that a farmer who stabilises chooses, entirely voluntarily, to help the next farmer begin. It is a cycle of goodwill between neighbours — not a loan, not a repayment, not a condition of receiving support.
What makes this different
- No repayment, no interest, no recovery — the pay-it-forward step is voluntary and carries no obligation.
- Support is decided per farmer after seeing the land, not distributed as an identical kit.
- Natural and climate-resilient inputs are preferred so the soil is stronger the following year too.
- The aim is a household that does not need us next season.
Why now
The work is ready. Funding decides how far it goes.
What is ready
The farmer conversations, the village contacts and the input sourcing are already in place.
What funding unlocks
Funding decides how many households can be supported before this sowing window closes.
What delay costs
A farmer who cannot wait borrows instead — and the debt, once taken, sits on the household for years. Support given after sowing cannot undo that decision.
What your support does
What your support can help make possible.
Contributions to this campaign are pooled and applied to the work below. We use “can contribute toward” deliberately: we do not publish a per-person cost we have not verified.
- ₹500
- Can contribute toward seed and soil inputs for a farmer's plot.
- ₹1,000
- Can contribute toward inputs and field guidance during sowing.
- ₹2,500
- Can contribute toward a farmer's start to the season without borrowing.
- ₹5,000
- Can contribute toward a household's inputs plus season-long follow-up.
- ₹10,000
- Can contribute toward a small group of farmers sowing in the same village.
Funding covers
- Climate-resilient seed
- Natural and organic soil inputs
- Field-level agronomic guidance
- Season-long follow-up
- Transport and delivery to the village
Funding progress
- Funding goal
- ₹15,00,000
- Raised
- ₹0
- Still needed
- ₹15,00,000
- Funded
- 0%
Goal set by the trustees for the current sowing round. Raised is updated automatically from confirmed payments only.
Help close the gapBefore you fund us
Check us before you fund us.
Income-tax registered u/s 332(8) · Donation approval u/s 354(4) · CSR-1 CSR00116765 · NITI Aayog Darpan
Program brief
Get the Seed & Soil program brief
How farmers are identified, what support is provided, and how the voluntary pay-it-forward cycle is intended to work.
Request the briefQuestions donors ask
Before you give, ask us anything.
Does the farmer have to repay anything?
No. Nothing is repaid to Ujjwala Foundation — not the value of the inputs, not interest, not a share of the harvest. The pay-it-forward idea is a voluntary choice a farmer may make later to help a neighbour begin. It is never a condition of receiving support.
Is this a loan or a microfinance scheme?
No. Ujjwala Foundation does not lend money, does not charge interest and does not recover anything. This is a grant of inputs and guidance.
What is actually provided to a farmer?
Depending on the plot and the season: climate-resilient seed, natural or organic soil inputs, agronomic guidance in the field, and follow-up through the season. What is provided is decided after seeing the land.
How much does supporting one farmer cost?
It varies with plot size, crop and input prices, so we do not publish a single per-farmer figure we cannot stand behind. Contributions are pooled across the round and the actual expenditure is recorded in our register.
Do you guarantee a better harvest?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Rain, pest and market price are outside anyone's control. What we can change is that the season does not begin with an expensive loan.
How are beneficiaries selected?
Selection is done on the ground, household by household, by the trustees and field volunteers who already work in these villages. Need, willingness to participate and the ability to sustain the next step after our support ends are all considered. There is no fee, no broker and no political or community reference required.
How are the funds used?
Contributions to a campaign are pooled and applied to that campaign's work — materials, training, field delivery and the coordination it takes to reach a village. Every rupee is recorded in our expenditure register, and our registration certificates and financial records are shared on request.
What happens if the funding target is not met?
We deliver at the scale the funding allows. A partially funded campaign is not abandoned — it runs with fewer households in this round and continues into the next. We do not hold money idle, and we do not move it to a different cause without telling you.
Can I choose which campaign my donation supports?
Yes. Giving from this page attributes your donation to this campaign in our ledger. If you would rather we apply it where the need is greatest, use the General Fund on the donate page.
Can I give monthly instead?
Yes. Predictable monthly support is the most useful kind of funding we receive because it lets us commit to a household before the money has fully arrived. You can set that up on the Give Monthly page.
Will I receive updates on this work?
Yes. Donors receive program updates as the work moves — what was delivered, where, and what we learned. We do not pass your details to anyone else and you can stop the updates at any time.
How can I verify Ujjwala Foundation?
We would prefer that you did. Ujjwala Foundation is a registered society in Telangana with tax registrations under the applicable provisions of the Income-tax Act and a CSR-1 filing. Certificates, PAN, registration numbers and governance details are published on our Trust page.
Will I get a donation acknowledgement?
Yes. Once the payment gateway confirms your payment, an acknowledgement with your reference number is generated and emailed to you automatically.
Still unsure? Write to hello@ujjwalafoundation.org or call +91 73968 35639.
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