Janak Sahu is from Harekrushnapur village, situated around 7 kms away from the VAL project site in Lanjigarh Block. The only bread earner of his family, consisting of his wife, a son aged 14 and himself, he makes a living from agriculture. He owns around 3.5 acres of land and used to practice single cropping i.e. paddy, during kharif season. The land lay fallow the rest of the year. His annual household income was less than Rs. 25,000/-.

After a thorough survey, groups of farmers from different villages were identified by Vedanta’s CSR department. A series of Training Sessions & Workshops were conducted. Janak Sahu was one of the farmers who showed keen interest in the sessions. He used modern and best agricultural techniques with quality seeds, organic fertilizers and other support provided by VAL.

This support motivated him and reaffirmed his faith on agriculture as he could see the quantum improvement in land productivity and fertility. He has become an example for other farmers to emulate and is instrumental in motivating them to practice best techniques of agriculture for better yield and increased income. His household income has increased substantially from INR 25,000 to nearly 80,000/ annually.

Today a visibly proud Janak says, "I wanted to shift from agriculture to daily wage earning to meet the growing needs of my family. Vedanta came as a saviour five years back. After their intervention. I benefitted a great deal. I have now been able to make a move from subsistence farming to commercial vegetable cultivation."