Irrfan Khan is now a farmer!

For an actor whose intensity sizzles on screen, Irrfan Khan is no less passionate about what he does off screen too — even when it means spending whatever extra time and money he can on growing organic fruits and vegetables. A few years ago, he had even protested against the erosion of a mangrove forest near his Malad home. 

Talking about his organic farming, Irrfan says, “Whatever I am eating is going into my body and affecting me. We still have time and everybody has the right to produce their own food.

The whole idea behind organic farming is to bring back the taste of the vegetables and fruits we used to eat as children. These days with so much chemicals in them they just don’t taste the same. I feel a sense of pride when I stand in front of my field in Nashik and see our organic fruits growing.

A farmer near our farmhouse put the seeds of lauki and grew it in eight days as he put so much fertiliser in it. We grew lauki too, but as we grew it naturally, it took time. Whatever chemicals are used while farming get consumed by us. We are playing with nature. I wanted to control all this for my sake. This year I have distributed 2,000 kgs of organically-grown kesar mangoes. I have been doing it for more than five years now. I bought a completely barren land and made it harvestable.”

Irrfan says, “It’s a myth that organically-harvested products are grown lesser in quantity!” He adds that another myth is that organic foods are expensive.

The actor says his intention is to become self-sufficient in life foodwise. He says, “I mostly grow fruits in my Nashik farmhouse as it’s not practical to transport so much produce since it’s perishable. I have grown everything organically from wheat, ground-nuts, lauki, bhindi to karela and palak. I have always loved anything to do with plants and agriculture right from my childhood days. When I was five years old, I would grow plants in our small flower garden in Jaipur and watch them in the morning to see them grow.

Now my whole purpose is to introduce and inspire people to grow their foods organically. I grow my own vegetables on a small plot of land I have in Mumbai. My plan is to grow whatever food I am consuming. I want to be self-sufficient. Did you know we can grow our foods organically on our terraces? You can grow your own vegetable in your own terrace. ”