Computer Science Grad Goes Back To His Village To Grow Dragon Fruit; Now Clocks Rs 30 Lakh Annual Revenue

Farming is an unconventional choice for the modern Indian adult who is almost conditioned to build a corporate career right after college.

Anshul Mishra, however, decided to break free from that conditioning and chose the path of agriculture after he finished his computer science degree from the SRM University in Chennai.

“It was almost as if agriculture and farming drew me in. My grandfather was a small-time farmer who grew a few crops on a small piece of land. My father became a teacher, and I went on to study computer science. Ultimately, I decided to go back to my roots and start a dragon fruit farming venture,” Anshul Mishra tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Founded in 2018 and based in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Chilaua Dragon Fruit Farm & Nursery is a farming venture spread over 5 acres of land. On an annual basis, the farm produces anywhere between 2,500 kilograms to 3,000 kilograms of dragon fruit per acre.

In FY25, Anshul Mishra’s farming venture clocked a revenue of Rs 30 lakh. While Rs 20 lakh came from selling dragon fruit plants, the remaining Rs 10 lakh was generated through dragon fruit sales.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

In 2015, Anshul Mishra, who hails from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, went to study computer science engineering at SRM University.

During the third year of his BTech degree, in 2018, he started wondering what his future would look like.

“I spent hours thinking and analysing what I liked and what I didn’t. Very soon, I became sure that I didn’t want to go for a typical corporate career. I held long conversations with my father and told him that I wanted to return home and start a farming business. Initially, he was sceptical. But I knew he would be in support once I showed tangible results,” Anshul Mishra explains.

The next step for him was to conduct research online and look for plants, flowers, and fruits to grow. To grow something that involved a lower degree of daily involvement, Anshul decided to zero in on dragon fruit.

According to him, he also wanted to tap into the rarity of the fruit in the domestic Indian market.

“I think at least 95% of dragon fruit in India is imported. Only 5% of it is grown domestically. I wanted to contribute to the domestic supply of dragon fruit, which is a rich source of Vitamin C, folate, and even iron,” the farming entrepreneur says.

While looking online, he came across an individual in Maharashtra who was an expert in dragon fruit farming. He was working as a dragon fruit plant seller.

Under his guidance, Anshul absorbed the basics of dragon fruit farming, the mistakes to avoid, and the exact way to build a sustainable setup for the fruit. In 2018, he purchased 1,600 plants of dragon fruit from him.

“These plants came straight from Maharashtra at the cost of Rs 50 per plant. So I spent about Rs 80,000 on the plants alone. A large chunk of the money came from my savings, and the rest was arranged by my father,” Anshul tells Startup Pedia.

Then started the process of setting up the dragon fruit plantation.

Anshul hired a small team of labourers and started building cement poles that are needed to accommodate the budding, growing, and harvesting of dragon fruit.

Back in 2018, cement poles were slightly cheaper than they are today. For Anshul, one pole cost him Rs 200. 

Across one acre of land, he set up close to 420 cement poles.

“If I add up everything that went into starting the dragon fruit plantation, I spent roughly Rs 2.5 lakh. This involves the plants, poles, labour cost, as well as other miscellaneous expenses,” the farming entrepreneur shares.

From October 2018, it took the dragon fruit plants 1.5 years to bear fruit. 

“In dragon fruit farming, 90% of the efforts go into the initial phase. Then, it’s all about patiently waiting for the fruits to arrive. Personally, I was in contact with the Maharashtra plant seller and would ask him for solutions if there were minor problems,” Anshul Mishra says.

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A UNIQUE MARKETING TACTIC

When the fruits came in 2020, Anshul Mishra decided to adopt a special way to market them.

“I knew I could easily generate local demand. There’s always the option to send the fruits to the Azadpur mandi in Delhi—but I knew that locals around Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, and Bareilly would become my customers,” farming entrepreneur Anshul Mishra shares with Startup Pedia.

Anshul took his first harvest and met with politicians, doctors, and teachers around his area. 

“These are mostly well-educated people who are keen to try new fruits, especially if they’re rich in nutrition. I visited them and gifted them the dragon fruits for absolutely free. I just wanted them to try the fruit and place paid orders only if they liked it,” he adds.

In the process, Anshul’s dragon fruits gained popularity with people from all fields, including fruit stall and juice stall owners.

Eventually, he started receiving bulk orders from people in Hardoi, Bareilly, and Farrukhabad.

“To my surprise, we never had to seek out customers from beyond these cities. To date, demand from these cities perfectly aligns with our farming venture’s supply. We don’t have any middleman in the process, and our sales happen directly,” Anshul affirms.

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CHILAUA DRAGON FRUIT FARM & NURSERY

Starting with just one acre of land in 2018, Anshul Mishra’s dragon fruit farming venture has spread to 5 acres now.

Eventually, the farming entrepreneur decided to add a nursery wing to his farm and sell organic, high-quality dragon fruit plants to budding farmers and growers across the country.

Today, Anshul operates his venture under the name of Chilaua Dragon Fruit Farm & Nursery.

Currently, the farm witnesses an annual production of 2,500 kilograms to 3,000 kilograms of dragon fruit per acre. 

Anshul sells one kilogram of dragon fruit at a price range of Rs 200 to Rs 250. 

While in 2020, Anshul Mishra achieved dragon fruit sales worth Rs 1 lakh, his venture’s growth is characterised by steady momentum.

In FY25, Chilaua Dragon Fruit Farm & Nursery clocked a revenue of Rs 30 lakh. While Rs 20 lakh came from the sale of dragon fruit plants, the remaining Rs 10 lakh was generated through the sale of dragon fruits.

“From the sale of dragon fruit plants, our profit is Rs 15 lakh. And from the fruits, it's around 7 lakh. So, annually, right now, our take-home profit is Rs 22 lakh,” the now 28-year-old Anshul Mishra explains.

To date, the Shahjahanpur-based dragon fruit farming venture has sold close to 1,30,000 dragon fruit plants to individuals and farmers across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.

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RECOGNITION

Anshul Mishra’s decision to stay at home, remain connected with his roots, and contribute to the domestic supply of dragon fruit has earned him recognition from various Government officials and institutions.

In 2023, on Kisan Diwas, he was invited to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology and was awarded the Kisan Sammaan Patra. 

On 24 December 2024, Uttar Pradesh’s Governor, Anandiben Patel, met Anshul Mishra and acknowledged and appreciated his efforts in the local farming domain.

On 26 January 2025, he was invited to the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow and shared the stage with the Governor as well as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath.

“I am extremely grateful for that one decision that I took back in 2018—to come back to Shahjahanpur and start a farming business. If you put in a lot of thought and technique, farming can be a pretty lucrative field for young adults. The social impact that you leave behind is a cherry on the cake. Shortly, we are planning to expand our farm by 5 more acres. This will almost double our dragon fruit production,” Anshul Mishra concludes.

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