Now known as Pearl King, Narendra Kumar Garwa was once struggling to make his stationery business work. Despite every possible attempt, nothing improved, and he closed that business. Not just this, he also suffered a loss of around Rs 4 to 5 lakh from that. However, with a twist in the tale, he shifted his focus to pearl farming in 2016. Now, his setup generates Rs 14 lakh annual profit.
Early Life & Background
Narendra Garwa from Renwal near Kishangarh, Rajasthan, grew up in a middle-class family, with his schoolteacher father and home-maker mother. However, he decided to do something of his own instead of doing a job.
He rented a shop and started a stationery business with his father for 10 years. After suffering a loss of Rs 4-5 lakh he was out of funds. Not being able to pay the shop rent, his landlord took away the shop and he was left with no business to earn his livelihood.
He decided to go with the flow and started looking for business ideas on the Internet.
Since he was not from a farming background, no type of farming was ever in the picture. But without any intension of pursuing agriculture, Narendra started growing rooftop vegetables. But that was not enough to run the house.
And just like that, he tried several other ways and ideas. Then, he came across pearl farming on the internet.
He was intrigued by the concept and started researching more about it and how it is done in India. Through this, he found that ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Odisha is providing pearl farming training.
His interest peaked and he went and started his training. Returning from there, he started his pearl farming business in 2015.
The Not-So-Easy Path
Obviously, things were not as simply achieved as we think. To start his business, he travelled 1,700 miles involving a 36-hour train journey to purchase 500 pearl shells from Kerala and brought them back to Rajasthan to culture them. He used his savings and borrowed some money to collect Rs 16k for buying those pearl shells.
Then, in his back garden, he invested Rs 40k, and dug a pond of 10 by 10 feet to put the shells.
Yes, you got it right! His family was underestimating his attempt to even try to attempt pearl farming in the intense weather in Rajasthan.
Their speculations were not wrong because out of 500 shells only 35 survived giving only 70 pearls. Alas!
No, he wasn’t ready to give up yet. After this failure, he took a 5-day course in 2017 on pearl farming and followed the process.
But Narendra Garwa was thinking optimistically. He was happy that at least he was able to successfully culture those 35 pearl shells.
Not Losing Hope: Becoming Narendra Garwa Pearl Farmer
Which is why, he decided to try again. This time, out of 500 pearl shells 300 survived. Through this period, he learned to manage the pH balance and to maintain the water level to keep the shells. He now has a pond of 40 by 50 feet where he uses multivitamins and alum to maintain pH balance.
Now what? Within 2 years, he started earning profits by selling those pearls. From his 1000 pearl shell, he earned a profit of around Rs 2 lakh.
Eventually, every year, Garwa goes to Kerala purchasing pearl shells, which cost him Rs 50-60 per shell. However, on average, 4k pearl shells produce only 2k pearls by the harvesting season.
Learning the Marketing Tactics
Narendra Garwa was unfamiliar with modern marketing practices and didn’t knew how to market the finished products; the pearls. Then, he came across online marketing and sales platforms like India Mart and Amazon.in.
Sharing and Spreading the Knowledge through NGO
Narendra Garwa started Alkha Foundation NGO and provides pearl farming training to aspiring farmers. Another program that they run provides training, equipment, and further assistance (if required). For this program, they charge Rs 4000. To date, he has trained about 250 people in pearl farming.
Moreover, the NGO runs health awareness programs for female farmers (Rajasthani women work on only 1 meal leading to anemia) and organizes camps to provide clothes to the needy.
People from Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and other states are pursuing pearl farming after attending Garwa’s training program.
Finally, a Stable Setup
Now, after years of hard work, Narendra Garwa is successfully producing 4000 pearls from one batch. These pearls are sold at between Rs 200 and Rs 1000 per piece in the market, based on their quality. Through this, he is able to generate Rs 8 to 16 lakh.
About Pearl Farming
We all know that pearls are natural gems obtained from oysters. In nature, pearls are produced by grain deposited inside the shell. However, in pearl farming, grains or similar things are put in the oysters. Eventually, due to their natural pattern, oysters start layering those grains with layers of aragonite and conchiolin (materials that also make up their shell).
The process is slow and thus, it takes years for pearls to form and take a certain shape. However, their shape depends on the type of impurity in the shell and the way of deposition done by the oyster. In pearl farming, a trained and experienced farmer can try different methods to achieve different pearl shapes.
It requires patience and training to reach that level. But it takes 2+ years to earn a stable profit from this business.
