Meet this man who once reached the UPSC interview stage but quit further preparation to grow jackfruits; now clocks ₹95 lakh annually

In 1972, when there was severe food scarcity in India, Mr Harish Chandra Desai, the father of Mithilesh Desai, experienced the crisis firsthand in the village of Zapade in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.

“Jackfruit is not just a fruit; it represents food security. In times of famine and crisis, entire communities have survived solely on jackfruit, which shows its real value beyond being just a seasonal crop,”Mithilesh tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

According to Mithilesh, his father witnessed the increased consumption of jackfruit during this period, as in 1972, India imported red wheat (Milo wheat) from the USA. This grain was considered unsuitable for human consumption because it was primarily used for poultry and animal feed in the United States.

Between 1980 and 1992, he sold jackfruit along roadsides, on buses, and on trains for 50 paise each. 

From 1992 to 2010, he worked in the Ratnagiri district hospital. Eventually, in 2010, he purchased land and began cultivating cashews along with 36 other varieties of vegetables, such as Jalbhog Raja, Champadak, Singapoori, Vietnam Seedless, J-33, Milky White, Madagascar Gomleos, and Kaudisingana Kachahalli.

However, Harish Chandra was more inclined towards jackfruit farming because of its importance not only in terms of economic viability but also for its health and nutritional benefits.

How was the foundation of Jackfruitking Agro Producers Company Pvt. Limited laid?

The initial belief of Harish Chandra was that jackfruit could sustain life during times of crisis and also benefit several generations because of its longevity, with trees living for 200 to 300 years. 

Guided by this conviction, he purchased five acres of land in the Lanja taluka of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra to begin experimenting with and learning cultivation practices. 

Harish Chandra attended several workshops and seminars and visited vegetable markets to gain a deeper understanding of jackfruit farming. 

In 2016, he began cultivating jackfruit, which eventually laid the groundwork for the foundation of Jackfruitking Agro Producers Company Limited in 2020.

Later that year, Mithilesh quit UPSC preparation, despite having reached the interview round, to join his father in jackfruit cultivation. He felt that a smaller number of agricultural graduates were working in this sector and had a strong desire to change the scenario. 

“Out of 100 agriculture graduates, hardly three actually work in agriculture today, and this disconnect pushed me to choose farming over a conventional job,”he says.

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About Jackfruitking Agro Producers Company Pvt. Limited

Jackfruitking Agro Producers Company Private Limited was founded in 2020 by agripreneur Mithilesh Desai (son of Harish Chandra Desai) to formalise the jackfruit cultivation work that had been underway for years. 

Before this, the father-son duo were operating independently between 2016 and 2020, cultivating jackfruit along with cashews and several other crops.

The main farm of Jackfruitking Agro Producers Company Pvt. Limited is located in Jhapade village in the Lanja taluka of Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. All core operations of the company are consolidated at this location.

The Jhapade facility also houses the company’s food processing unit, research and development centre, and nursery.

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About Mithilesh Desai

Mithilesh Desai belongs to the Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra. He is the founder and CEO of Jackfruitking Agro Producers Company Limited. 

Because of his early exposure to farming, he developed a keen interest in it naturally. 

He completed his B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering from Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri. During his undergraduate studies, Mithilesh was inclined towards becoming a civil servant. 

After completing his education, he went to Delhi in 2014 and prepared for the UPSC examinations for nearly two years, until 2016.

Mithilesh’s UPSC Journey and the Turning Point of His Life

In 2016, Mithilesh reached the UPSC interview stage in his second attempt but was unable to clear it. However, he never considered it a failure because it taught him something valuable.

During this period, he saw many of his peers from MPKV Rahuri become IPS, IAS, and revenue officers. 

Mithilesh realised that his contribution would be more meaningful within the agriculture sector itself rather than in administrative roles. In 2016, during Diwali vacation, Mithilesh returned home and discussed this step with his family. 

He ultimately decided not to pursue any government or private job, to start something of his own, and to join hands with his father in agriculture. 

“As an agriculture graduate, I felt it was meaningless to search for government or corporate jobs while agriculture itself was being neglected and farmers continued to struggle,” Mithilesh tells Startup Pedia.

Initial Experimentation Before Jackfruit Cultivation

Before jackfruit farming became a primary focus, the Desai family was already engaged in cultivating several other plants and cashews between 2010 and 2016. 

On the land that Harish Chandra bought in 2010, they collected and planted 36 varieties of plant saplings with different origins, characteristics, and fruiting profiles. 

These included Jalbhog Raja, Champadak, Singapoori, Vietnam Seedless, J-33, Milky White, Madagascar Gomleos, and Kaudisingana Kachahalli, along with cashews. 

They planted around 3,000 saplings, but only a few of them yielded results. However, this did not demotivate the family; instead, it laid the foundation for further experimentation.

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Market Research and Initial Training to Cultivate Jackfruit

Once Mithilesh decided to commit to jackfruit farming, the initial challenge was understanding its commercial feasibility. 

Between 2016-2020, Harish Chandra and Mithilesh travelled across the country, especially through the belt where jackfruit naturally grows, and they found that trees existed everywhere, but there was no organised marketplace, pricing system, or processing ecosystem. 

This captured the attention of both father and son, and they decided to conduct extensive market and scientific research. They attended international seminars and workshops in Kerala and agricultural events across the country. 

Through this process, it was revealed that there are about 128 varieties of jackfruit that exist globally. Out of these 128 varieties, Mithilesh is cultivating about 75, and he is about to expand this to 92 varieties in the coming years. 

Their research also highlighted that around 85–90% of India already grows jackfruit naturally. This occurs in all regions except the snowfall regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Sikkim. 

As the jackfruit market is growing rapidly, it is anticipated that it will surpass USD 435.47 million by 2032. In 2023, the market for jackfruit was around USD 322.31 million. 

It is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 3.40% within the forecasted period (2024-2032).

Based on this study, Mithilesh began to identify varieties suitable for Maharashtra by visiting different parts of the state, such as the Konkan belt, Paschim Maharashtra belt, semi-dry belt, and dry belt. 

For each belt and climate zone, they identified 21 commercial varieties based on climate conditions, soil type, and rainfall patterns.

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Social and Financial Challenges for Mithilesh in Choosing Agriculture over UPSC

As expected, people gradually began questioning why a high-performing student with strong academic credentials and UPSC interview experience chose farming. 

Relatives and neighbours openly criticized Mithilesh’s decision not to take up any job and referred to him as “irresponsible” and even “mad.” 

“Out of 100 agriculture graduates, hardly three actually work in agriculture today, and this disconnect pushed me to choose farming over a conventional job,”he says.

Financially, banks rejected his Rs. 25 lakh loan application, claiming that jackfruit was not a viable product. For the initial two to three years, there were no visible outcomes. 

“Banks rejected my proposal, as jackfruit is not a viable crop for business," the Maharashtra farmer told Startup Pedia. “At the time, I realised that conviction and persistence matter more than external validation,” he added. 

Despite this, Harish Chandra and Mithilesh continued experimenting and slowly started cultivating jackfruit on their purchased land, alongside other plants. There are about 88 varieties with around 1,500 plants.

Investment, Growth Story, and Business Model 

After investing around Rs. 5 Lakh to purchase their first farm land in 2010 from their personal savings, Harish Chandra and Mithilesh invested around Rs. 30-35 Lakhs, phase-wise over a period of 7-8 years, between 2016-2023, into land clearing, soil development, plantation, basic infrastructure, and early research activities. The source of this fund was largely family-supported and savings.  

Mithilesh saw his first visible financial breakthrough in 2019 when his revenue of Rs. 2.5 lakh generated, which came from the sale of around 30-35 vans of jackfruits. 

Mithilesh recalls this moment as significant, as his father handed him the cheque and called it his ‘annual package’, marking the transition from experimentation to a revenue-generating enterprise. 

“People once called us mad for planting jackfruit when thousands of trees were already going to waste, but today, the very same crop is helping change farmers’ incomes and mindsets,”agrepreneur Mithilesh Desai shares.

Encouraged by this early traction, Mithilesh established a government-approved jackfruit nursery, one of its kind in Maharashtra.

Today, the major source of reinvestment is the capital that Mithilesh earned, and is utilised to improve infrastructure, expand the nursery, and set up processing facilities.

Core Revenue Streams

The core revenue streams include the nursery business, farmer-producer company operations, and food processing and value addition. 

The nursery, which is one of their biggest and strongest revenue pillars, supplies 30,000-35,000 grafted jackfruits annually. These plants are sold to farmers across Maharashtra, other Indian states, and have also been exported internationally.  

Through the Farmer-Producer Company, Jackfruitking is connected to 1,077 farmers across multiple districts of Maharashtra. The FPC procures jackfruit at Rs. 100–150 per fruit, compared to the earlier market rate of Rs. 5–10.

“Earlier, farmers sold an entire jackfruit for just Rs. 5–10, but today, the same fruit earns them Rs. 100–150 in their own villages, proving how value addition changes everything,”Mithilesh said.

• 2019: First recorded revenue of Rs. 2.5 lakh

• 2020–2023: Expansion into nursery scale-up, FPC formation, and food processing units

• 2024–25: Annual turnover reached Rs. 95 lakh

Food Processing and Value Addition

The company has moved beyond fresh fruit sales into processing-led monetisation, where a fruit earlier sold for Rs. 10 can generate up to Rs. 1,000 in value.

Initial products included tender jackfruit chips and fruit leather. Over time, this expanded into ready-to-eat tender jackfruit, vegan meat alternatives (burger patties, nuggets, biryani chunks), jackfruit powder for diabetes management, seed-based products, and cattle-feed byproducts from jackfruit peel.

Jackfruit as a Complete Crop - ‘Kalparuksha’

Jackfruit have a wide range of economic, health, and medicinal benefits. It can be utilised both as a fruit and as a vegetable, and it possesses 4.5 times more nutrition than almonds.

Its leaf extract can be used for cancer treatment, and they have exported jackfruit leaves to Germany for cancer research. Its skin and peel can be processed into powder to feed cattle, helping increase both the quality and quantity of milk by improving the fat percentage. Its pulp can be extracted and used as a meat alternative for vegetarians.

“Jackfruit grows with zero maintenance and lives for 100-300 years, and yet we are unable to understand its potential,” Mithilesh tells Startup Pedia.

The complete utilization, combined with almost zero input requirements and a lifespan of over 100 years, makes it a true Kalpavriksha.

Looking Ahead

Going forward, Mithilesh aspires to become one of the leading farmer-producer brands in the country. Although the origin of jackfruit lies in India the countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand have developed its commercial market. 

Mithilesh asserted that India needs to reclaim its position as a global leader in jackfruit cultivation and exports. The empowerment of youth by promoting agrepreneurship will be his next step in the coming years.

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