Welcome to Ishka Farms
Buy Our ProductsBusiness at Ishka Farms is all about development and sustainability. This ideology forms the basis of the socio-economic change that we have brought to the village of Niravi Pudhupatti. Entrepreneurs without an agrarian background, embarking on what seemed like a fanciful dream of establishing and nurturing a novel crop were met with skepticism and incredulity. Our insistence on adhering to organic practices, on such a large tract of land, further swelled the ranks of the nay-sayers. Getting our retail brand out this year has laid to bed some of the skepticism. It has also strengthned our belief that if we continue to nurture the land and take care of the people who work on it, we will accomplish our goal of delivering world class products from a simple village in South India. Do try our Moringa leaf powder and Caper products and let us know what you think at feedback@ishkafarms.com.
Our Team
The faces behind our company
Mr. K. N. Suryanarayan
Founder & Chairman
The founder and chairman has had a remarkable life: Born into an agrarian family, he has traversed through different roles— watch repairer, government employee, photographer, trader, retailer, distributor, hotelier and now, is making his mark in the agro-food processing industry. He has led the Tradelinks group on its successful journey these past fifty-two years. It is his guidance and encouragement that has allowed this group to transform from a shopkeeper-trader to a full-fledged manufacturing company. His vision is inspirational and shall continue to drive the team and promoters to expand and take on new challenges.
Mr. Srikant Suryanarayan
Managing Director
On completing his Bachelor in Commerce from St. Alberts College Kochi, Kerala in 1993, Srikant proceeded to the University of Canberra for his Masters in Business Administration, specializing in International Business. In 2004, he joined the prestigious Wharton Fellows Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 2016 the Aspen Institute, Italy. As Managing Director of the Tradelinks Group and a second-generation entrepreneur, his primary responsibility is to drive growth and explore new business opportunities. He has chalked out the group’s expansion strategy and vision: "film to farm to food to fork" this past decade. His entrepreneurship experiences, youth social engineering with Young Indian (Yi), and deep faith in the Indian growth story are passionate and unique strengths he brings to the company.Contact him at ss@ishkafarms.com
Read MoreMs. Fiona Arakal
Director
The second of two daughters born to Xavier Arakal (Barrister & Member of Parliament) and Lereice, Fiona is an Economics major who completed her Masters in Arts in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from the Rajagiri School of Social Sciences. After a brief stint at The Leela Group of Hotels in the HR & Training Department, she embarked on an entrepreneurial journey with the Tradelinks Group and established her mark as a capable and cogent administrator. She is actively involved in social work and volunteers with various NGOs and foundations that focus on critical issues such as women’s sexual abuse and value based treatment for underprivileged children. It is her mix of professional and entrepreneurial experiences, social responsibility, and love for the environment that drives the company’s long-term environmental enrichment and women’s empowerment initiatives.Contact her at fiona@ishkafarms.com
Read MoreAshok Vashist
Director
Ashok Vashist is the Founder & CEO of Aaveg, a Delhi based Employee Transport Management Company with PAN India Presence.Ashok has been associated with renowned brands like Herrtz & Europcar business for International Travel House an ITC Group company. Being a forward thinker, Ashok has played a pivotal role in disrupting the mobility and ground transportation industry by introducing radio taxies and driver-cum-owner business model. Furthermore, he was also responsible for managing transportation activities during the commonwealth games held in India, and is recognized by AsiaOne (PWC) as the leader in Transport category.Ashok eventually joined the entrepreneurs’ bandwagon and founded Wise Travel India Pvt. Ltd. in 2009. Aaveg being his second venture, he hopes to service corporates, bring safety & security to commuters, promote efficiency in driving, and enable decongestion of roads.Mathematics graduate from Mahatma Gandhi University, he also holds a Post Graduate degree in Management from International Management Institute, Delhi. An adventure sports enthusiast and a certified Scuba Diver, he also loves to explore India by road.It is this independent streak but disruptive thoughts with rooted focus on process and scale that we at Ishka look at utilizing as an Independent Director.
Read MoreMr. Sethu Sethuraman
Project Manager
Sethu is comprised of thirty-five years’ experience and skills as a business management professional in several countries. He has worked in a graphic art studio, a condiment factory and presently oversees organic farming at Ishka, bringing maverick insights and a calm, levelheaded energy to day-to-day marketing, operations, manufacturing, import/export licensing, cost and management accounting and more. The people person he is has been a key person in the team to establish and build long term relationships with the villages during the toughest part of building the company from scratch. A multi-faceted personality with the ability to remain simple behind the scenes and yet enable action.
Read MoreMr. Vinu Arul Danie
Chief Operating Officer
Born in an IPS family, Vinu with an agriculture degree, a law graduate and a Mphil degree in Administration, brings to the company over a decade of Plantation experience. He has managed very large estates of the Tata’s, Harrisons and Parry Agro in his career so far. His knowledge of plantations, social welfare management, people skills and organic certification programs is a strong asset for the management team at Ishka. A keen planter and a strong administrator, has undergone training programmes on strategic thinking, occupationalhealth and safety operational control (OCP), Business excellence module, hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA), ecosystem conservation, Emergency preparedness plan (EPP), Man - animal conflict etc apart from many other life experiences he has had in his career.
Read MoreBringing back the trees, flowers, birds, bees and butterflies
The environmental impact of every thing we do at the farm has guided our plans, process and practices. It has been a learning curve for us from lesson learnt on the ground as well as from interactions with those who have paved the path of bio dynamic, organic and sustainable farming practices.
Social Change
While the barren piece of land at Niravi Pudhupatti is slowly undergoing a transformation under our watchful eye, there is also an impact on the local socio-economic climate. We provide year round employment to people in the local village. The local economy is otherwise subsistence farming, dependent on the vagaries of the monsoon. Over the past three years, we have not only demonstrated our short term commitment to the local economy by providing avenues for daily labour irrespective of the climate, but have also taken a giant leap of faith by investing in infrastructure.
Our People
