Jhok Sarkari village near Faridkot in Punjab is a village like many others all over India which suffered badly from unseasonal rains in April 2015. The maturing wheat crop in the village had seemed to be doing well and farmers were looking forward to the harvest festivities of Baisakhi with eager anticipation, when disaster struck. Repeated spells of rain accompanied by wind destroyed the wheat crop.

Farmers in the village of Gihri Butter near Bathinda had traditionally grown green chillies for supplying to the nearby city. This crop was grown over 250 acres in this village but over the years, farmers faced the onslaught of deadly soil borne fungi which decimated their yields. They tried all possible fungicides available in the markets but the disease would recur in a more serious form after every application of chemical fungicides, this rendered the cultivation of this hitherto profitable crop, unviable. This saw the decline in acreages of chillies in this village to just 20 acres.