Rather than talk about the technology, they emphasized the importance of conserving water, touting the slogan "More crop per drop." This underscored the higher yields farmers could get with less water.
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"We've always been selling a concept, not just a product," says Anil Jain, 43. Model farms were established to show farmers how their fields could flourish by using this sophisticated irrigation method. Even so, it was a slog. "In those days only 10 out of 1,000 farmers whom we approached got sold on the idea," recalls brother Ajit, 42.
When the government introduced the micro-irrigation subsidy in 1990, it lit up business. With sales way up, the company expanded into fertilizers, plastic sheets, food processing and solar water heaters.
That wasn't the end of it. In 1994 the Jains raised $30 million on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, using it for a slew of new ventures, including merchant banking, granite quarrying, software and telecom.
Image: A farmer drinks water from a tubewell after working in the fields on the outskirts of Amritsar. | Photograph: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images
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