Looking for an alternative to grapes, which his father Pundalik cultivated on their 7.5-acre farm for a generation, Borade thought he would diversify into silver oak trees whose wood is used in the construction industry.

On a visit to Chickmaglur in Karnataka in August 1997 to study silver oak cultivation, Borade discovered that the tree was grown on coffee plantations, where they protected coffee shrubs from the elements. Impressed with this potential double bounty, he at once decided to replicate theexperience.

But his father wasn't convinced. But to indulge his son, the elder Borade finally agreed to devote 1.5 acres to Tukaram's experiment. So, on August 3, 1997, the younger Borade dug his roots into both silver oak and coffee cultivation.

Unfazed by the many Doubting Thomases in Nashik who said the climate here was vastly different from that in southern India, the country's coffee capital, Borade returned to Karnataka to dig deeper into the intracacies of coffee cultivation. Soon, he learnt how to mimic the conditions here in Nashik. Sprinklers, for instance, were used to maintain humidity at a particular level.

With the first harvest of his Kaveri (Arabica Cherry) variety this season, Borade says he had devoted another 1.5 acres to the crop last year. Now, he plans to up that to 11 acres.

Explaining why coffee is an ideal alternative to cash crops like grapes, he says production costs of the latter are around Rs 60,000 per annum. With a yield of about 10 tonnes per acre, the crop fetchesabout Rs 1.5 lakh. On the other hand, cultivating coffee, silver oak and black pepper (by intercropping) on the same area, yields between 1.5 to 2 tonnes of coffee beans per acre and fetches about Rs 100 per kg. Simultaneously, black pepper, at about one tonne per acre, fetches about Rs 200 per kg. After 15 years, the silver oak would fetch about Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh per acre. This would collectively amount to about Rs 5 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh per acre, per annum, Borade explains. With production costs accounting for Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per acre, that would also be a windfall. The coffee beans harvested from Borade's farm have been tested by Hindustan Lever Ltd, which has certified their quality.

Recalling the interest he had first aroused with his experiment, Borade says farmers from other parts of Nashik as well as Dhule, Jalgaon, Pune, Kolhapur, Raigad, Ahmednagar and Solapur districts have visited him. He feels coffee can be successfully grown in western and northern Maharashtra andMarathwada.

Borade's daring has also been inspirational to many. Today, about 60 acres are under cultivation in Nashik district alone, mainly on farms which have year-round irrigation. These include the farms of several local politicians. Besides, he says, agriculture officials and even Horticulture Minister Shobha Phadanvis have dropped in to study his `accidental experiment'.