About Chetna Farm
Chetna Farm has been operational since 1989. It sits in the Chalsa block of Jalpaiguri district, North Bengal — at the edge of the Himalayan foothills, close to the borders of Bhutan and Sikkim, and near Gorumara National Park.
The farm keeps two bee species. Apis cerana — the indigenous Indian honey bee, smaller and more adapted to local flora than the European honeybee. And Tetragonula iridipennis (the stingless bee), kept in log hives the way they have been kept in this region for generations. The farm currently runs 25 Apis cerana hives and a growing number of stingless bee colonies.
There is also a 6-acre tea garden. The yellow tea sold through this site comes from a small producer in the Dooars — a tea professional who has been making yellow tea by hand for forty years. Sourced directly, no intermediary.
The Neora River is a 30-minute walk. The Neora Valley National Park is close. On clear mornings, the eastern Himalayan range is visible from the farm.
The farming approach
Chetna Farm follows natural farming principles rooted in Vrikshayurveda — the traditional Indian science of plants and soil. No synthetic fertilisers. No pesticides. Jeevamrutha is the primary soil input: a fermented preparation of cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, gram flour, and native soil that restores microbial life to the land.
This is not a recent conversion. The farm has not used chemical inputs since it was established. The knowledge comes from Vrikshayurveda texts, local farmers who have been practicing this for decades, and close observation of the land over thirty-five years.
Meals served at the farm come from the kitchen garden or neighbouring farms — vegetarian, seasonal, sourced as locally as possible. Vegan and gluten-free options are available on request.
Siddhartha Mittra
Before farming full-time, I worked in cybersecurity — with the Kolkata Police STF — and later in PR analytics and data strategy. I came back to Chetna Farm not as a lifestyle choice but as a conviction: that the knowledge embedded in traditional agricultural science is more sophisticated than it is given credit for, and that it needs people who will work with it seriously.
I wrote Return to Roots: An Illustrated Introduction to Vrikshayurveda — published in Bengali and English — to make that knowledge accessible to farmers without access to the original Sanskrit texts.
I was named Progressive Farmer of North Bengal 2024 by SATSA. I advise the West Bengal Agriculture and Horticulture Department and lecture at KVK Pundibari. I also conduct ATMA farmer training sessions at the farm — the land itself serves as the classroom.
If you come to the farm, I lead the hive walks and the natural farming sessions myself. These are not delegated to staff.
9essences FPC
Chetna Farm is part of a larger initiative — 9essences Farmer Producer Company, a network of smallholder farmers across West Bengal growing heritage rice varieties (Kala Nunia, Tula Panji), millets, medicinal mushrooms, indigenous spices, honey, and yellow tea. The work at Chetna Farm feeds directly into that network.
9essences.com