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Naresh Kumar

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A Progressive Farmer from Haryana, manufactures 32 different types of organic products

The sugar which we consume in our homes is destroying our body from within. Most of the illnesses of our sedentary lifestyle such as hormonal imbalance, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity is one way or other related to sugar. While the solution to this problem is to consume a healthy substitute and i.e. Jaggery.

Naresh Kumar is a progressive farmer who lives in Kharak Ramji, district Jind, Haryana and owns a business of Organic Jaggery, Shakkar, Khand and 32 different products made by these three sole ingredients.

He started his career by studying Ayurvedic therapy, later through his knowledge of Ayurvedic herbs he made medicine for de-addiction of drugs back in 2006. He named this medicine ‘Wapsi’ which literally means to come back from the addiction. He shared this with the Apni kheti team that there was numerous allopathic medication for de-addiction but an ayurvedic medicine with the proven result was more significant. As Ayurveda is the oldest medicine and can cure mere impossible illnesses from ancient times.

In 2018 he moved his focus from medicines to food processing and introduced 32 varieties of different yet organic products. There are different types of Jaggery – jaggery for tea, for digestion, jaggery which includes Ajwain, Elaichi, Soonf, chocolate as per the consumer’s demand. Other products include Jagerry chutney of Carrot and Beetroot, apple, Pineapple, Amla and Jams.

‘’The artificial sugar which we add in our food is poisonous for human health, the earlier we realize this and switch to Jaggery the better it will be for our body.’’- Naresh Kumar

The processing unit is on 4 acres of land. All these products are made by traditional methods making them 100% organic. When the Jaggery is made, the processed fruit and vegetables are added to it and are then stored in an earthen pot. There is no usage of water or sugar while making these products.

Another product which he makes for cattle is Dudhwardhak Shira which increases their capacity of producing milk. This shira is a unique product for repeater cattle. He had the formulation of this product earlier itself therefore he thought of implementing what he had in his mind before but he also had second thoughts about getting it made by a third party but was afraid as there were chances that the chemical formulation could differ. As it is not easy to trust anyone what if the other person would make the product organically or adulterate it. The uniqueness of this shira is that it is made from the Rav of desi khaand.

KVK Pandu Pindara located in Jind and Harayana agricultural university helped him in his initial days of business. These two provided him with the technical knowledge that he lacked. He was guided by Dr Vikram who is the manager of marketing at the Agri-Business Incubation Centre (ABIC) at Haryana Agricultural University. This centre recently underwent a training and after which they could manage to grab 20 lakhs for expanding his product “Dudhwardhak Shira” under the RAFTAR scheme.

From 2015 Wapsi medicine has been there in the market and along with this he was also practiced agriculture. He has been selling this medicine directly to customers since 2015. He also has 20 distributors from majorly Haryana and some parts of Punjab. He faced difficulties in the beginning because every other product in the market was fake while his product being organic had higher prices and he had to face challenges when he started but then later customers got aware of the differences between organic and fake products and now his products are appreciated by the customers. He said it was not easy to explain to people that all other products had adulteration and weren’t good for the body. During the season he gets a profit of 3 Lakh rupees monthly.

In the season when there is more work, he hires 15 labourers which are generally 5 in number in the off-season. Although he cultivates sugarcane due to huge demand the quality falls short so he has to buy sugarcane from the farmers who practice organic farming and are a member of Pillukhera jeevak Utpadak Samho (FPO) where he serves as a Director.

Achievements

•Awarded with the title of progressive farmer by Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in 2019.

Future Plans

Naresh kumar wants to take his business to new heights and increase the production of Jaggery and its products at larger scale.

Message to farmers

He wants to encourage other farmers to start processing of the crop they produce as there is more margin in making a whole product rather than selling a raw material. A farmer who sows wheat should start a processing unit of wheat flour, the one who sows sunflower should take oil out of the seeds and such processing is possible for all other crops.

Manpreet Kaur

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In this era of western culture…a daughter of Punjab is contributing to preserve our heritage

With passing time, we are forgetting the rich heritage of Punjab by adopting Western civilization. Our culture, heritage and background have become part of an exhibition. In ancient times, stitching mats, shawls and phulkaris used to be the hobbies of Punjabi women. But nowadays instead of stitching Phulkaris, women doesn’t even like to wear them. Our new generation may not even know what Phulkari is?

In this era of western civilization, there is one girl of Punjab who is trying to maintain our heritage. Graduate in economics, Manpreet Kaur from Tarn Taran district, manufactures Phulkaris. After completing her studies, Manpreet wanted to help her family due to financial constraints at home. Manpreet’s grandmother and mother used to make Phulkaris. One day suddenly Manpreet caught sight of a Phulkari in her grandmother’s trunk. So she thought of starting a business of Phulkari manufacturing. To make her thinking a reality, Manpreet shared her thoughts with her friends. But her friends refused this idea by saying that there is no profit in this business and nowadays people do not like such stuff. Everybody said that there was no point in doing this.

“My friends said this is a backward thing, nobody likes it. This forced me to think about why people consider it backward. To find the answer of this why was very important.” – Manpreet Kaur

After this, Manpreet started making efforts to revive her heritage. In 2015, with the help of a group of 5 women, she made five Phulkaris. After making the Phulkaris she thought where to sell them now? For this purpose, she started searching the internet, from which she found that there is a government organization that buys Phulkaris. Manpreet showed those 5 Phulkaris to the organization and they took those for sale. The organization used to pay the money after the Phulkaris were sold. Because of this, Manpreet received the money after two or three months, making it difficult to keep up with the house. The same continued for a year.

“My parents put their every penny into this, because they believed in me that I could do it.” – Manpreet Kaur

After working in this manner for a year, she thought that this could not work, as she had to pay the rest of the group members. So she took the help of Internet. She created a page on social media. But here too people didn’t show much interest in buying Phulkari. Due to this, Manpreet thought that what people consider backward, why not give it a modern look?

To give our culture a bit of modern look, we started making Phulkari designs on light duppatas, so that girls could carry them with jeans. – Manpreet Kaur

This method of Manpreet proved to be quite effective. This increased the sales of their Phulkari. In this group, 20-30 women from the city were working, but Manpreet wanted to integrate with the village women too, as they are more aware of their heritage and culture and have considerable experience in this work. But it is very difficult for women in the villages to come out and work. Therefore, Manpreet herself comes to the women in the villages and gives them the material of Phulkari manufacturing, so that they do not face any problem. Manpreet’s initiative brought employment to women who could not work outside the home.

Through the internet, Manpreet’s group got their first order from abroad. They received an order of 40 Phulkaris to give as gift at the wedding. The Phulkaris sent under this order were greatly favoured, which increased the demand for their Phulkaris abroad. Foreign media also helped Manpreet’s group. They promoted Manpreet’s interview through video call, which resulted in receiving many more orders from overseas, such as Canada, United States, etc. Senior journalist Baltej Singh Pannu shared Manpreet’s post on social media, which helped her a lot.

People from abroad likes Phulkaris more than Punjab. Most of our clients are from overseas. – Manpreet Kaur

Along with this, a number of students from various colleges comes to Manpreet for training and internship.

Achievements

Manpreet has received many awards due to her efforts in preserving our heritage, some of which are mentioned below:

Honoured at Hamdard Virasati Mela
Sirjanhari award by PTC Punjabi channel

Due to these efforts, Manpreet has also been made Brand Ambassador of Tarn Taran District.

Future Plans

In the upcoming time, Manpreet wants to make this business of Phulkari popular in India as well, so that the future generations will understand their rich heritage.

Message
“The younger generation should make efforts to preserve their legacy. This work may also create job opportunities. Women who can’t go out and work can do it staying at home and it can be a source of income for them.”

Mukesh Devi

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Abuzz of sweet success: Meet leading lady in beekeeping world with an annual income of 70 lakhs from honey business

“It is believed that future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Milakpur is a small village in the interior of Jhajjar district of Haryana, which is not even properly linked to the main road and has no direct bus service. It almost seems impossible for a person to think of starting any allied farming activity or business while living in such a place. But the successful endeavour of Mukesh Devi in beekeeping field has proved that anything is possible if you have the passion to do it. Even after suffering from painful toxic stings of bees, Mukesh Devi and her husband had never thought of stopping and they continued their passion of producing the best honey in Northern India.

In the year of 1999, Mukesh Devi’s husband – Jagpal Phogat started beekeeping after getting inspired by one of her relatives who was also doing beekeeping. With the help of training provided by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mukesh Devi also joined his husband’s venture in 2001. The work which they began so early with few beehives, started growing gradually with the time and now it has been expanded in other areas of states as well- Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

Seeing the health benefits and rising market demand for honey, now Mukesh Devi has started selling the honey under her own brand – Nature Fresh. Currently, she has 2000 honey bee boxes for honey collection.

Mukesh Devi has not only made her family status financially stable but she has also provided employment to more than 30 people. By sending honey bee boxes to 5 different states with the help of their employed workforce, Mukesh Devi and her husband collects around 600 to 700 quintals of honey annually, and by honey, it doesn’t just means the ordinary honey with same flavour and taste, they have honey in more than 7 different flavours which are collected from the plants of Tulsi, Ajwain, Coriander, Shisham, Eucalyptus, Lychee, Neem, Mustard, and Pigeon Pea. Tulsi honey is one of the best honey they have with great market value.

When it comes to honey collection then the couple pay special attention to the time and weather of different states and according to that they set up their beehives at different locations. For organic honey, boxes are sent to the jungles in different states, below are given some time spans of honey collection from different places:

• For Tulsi Honey – Boxes are sent to the jungles of Madhya Pradesh (October to November)
• For Ajwain Honey – Boxes are sent to the jungles of Rajasthan (December to January)
• For Ajwain – Boxes are sent to Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab (May to July in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab)
• And from Feb to April, boxes are set up at different locations in Haryana

Moreover, the income of this couple is not only limited to honey production and its selling, they also sell Comb Honey, Honey Amla Murraba, Honey Carrot Murraba, Bee Pollen, Bee Wax, Propolis, and Bee Venom, which have a good market price. Presently, Mukesh Devi and her husband are earning around 70 lakhs annually just from beekeeping.

Mukesh Devi and Jagpal Phogat efforts have been appreciated by many organizations and officials, some of them are given below:

• Received National Award from IARI, New Delhi, in Rashtriya Krishi Unnati Mela for beekeeping and producing different varieties of honey in 2016.
• Mukesh Devi & Jagpa Phogat honoured by Agri Leadership Award at Surajkund, Faridabad
• Awarded by Union Minister of Steel – Birender Singh for good honey production
• Awarded by Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• Their achievements have been published in IARI progressive farmer magazine namely Adhyeta and Innovative Farmer Magazine with other 39 progressive farmers.

Mukesh Devi is a progressive beekeeper and her initiative has set an example for other women entrepreneurs that if the efforts are in the right direction than even beekeeping business can make you a millionaire.

Future Plan:

Mukesh Devi and her husband have bought a piece of land in their village where they are planning to set up the processing unit of their products according to the market demand.

Message

“Looking at the present status, farmers must pursue allied farming activities with conventional farming for better financial stability.”

Jaswant Singh Sidhu

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Jaswant Singh Sidhu Sizing up Organic Farming with Floriculture

It was Jaswant Singh’s grandfather who passed on the interest of floriculture to him and today Jaswant Singh is a progressive farmer who is practicing flower farming along with organic methods. The journey of Jaswant in the field of farming started at a very young age when his grandfather used to ask for his help while gardening. Slowly the interest of Mr. Jaswant Singh also turned towards flower farming. But for commercial purpose, his father was cultivating Paddy and Wheat like his ancestors, and due to less land and weak economic condition of the family, his father was least interested in taking any risk and adopting any new thing.

Besides knowing the family conditions, Jaswant Singh enrolled himself in the horticulture training organized by PAU, just after completing his 12th studies. Although he took the training of horticulture, his father never allowed him to practice floriculture on their land due to the fear of crop failure and loss. For some time, Jaswant Singh also continued with wheat and paddy cultivation, but soon he convinced his father for flower farming (Marigold, Chrysanthemum, Gladiolus, Rose, & Local Rose) and in 1998 he started it on a small patch of land (2 Marla ≃ 25.2929 square metres).

“When my father agreed, at that time I was totally steadfast about floriculture and decided to expand it with the time and reap good profit from it. Although there was no good market nearby to sell the flowers still I was determined and didn’t want to step back.”

When the time of harvesting came, at that time Jaswant Singh visited the houses in his nearby villages in which marriage ceremonies or any celebrations were going to be held, and took the contract of decorating their houses and car with the flowers. In this way, he earned a profit of Rs. 8000 to 9,000 over his income. Seeing the progress of Jaswant, his father and other family members were very happy and this boosted up the courage of Jaswant Singh. Gradually he expanded flower farming in 2 ½ Kanal and presently it’s in 3 acres. Time-to-time, Jaswant bring some new flowers and plants from the nursery, to add variety to his farm. Now, he has also started preparing nursery of flowers, from which he is earning a good income and even today also he manages the marketing part on my own.

Well Jaswant Singh’s hard work did not go in vain, for the tremendous efforts he has been awarded Surjit Singh Dhillon State Award (2014)

Future Plan:
In future, Jaswant Singh is planning to expand floriculture and also venture in the field of poly-house farming by taking land on lease.

Message

“Instead of depending on the government plans and subsidies, farmers should start putting their own effort in agriculture.”

Navdeep Balli and Gursharan Singh

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Malwa Region Based Duo of Young Farmers Are Churning Profit by Pairing Agriculture with Food Processing

Food is the basic necessity of life, but what if your food is adulterated or contaminated at the very basic level during production!

Today, food adulteration is a major issue in India, producers/manufacturers have gone blind when it comes to quality and they only focus on quantity, which not only affects the flavour and nutrition of the food but also affects the consumer’s health. But one such a duo of young farmers from the Malwa region of Punjab has aimed to provide only pure food to the community.

This is the story of Navdeep Balli and Gursharan Singh who entered the market with their unique product – raw turmeric pickle and became popular within a short span of time.

Coming from a well-educated background, these two young men decided to provide what is good for the society. All this started when they discovered multiple benefits and home remedies of raw turmeric that helps in controlling bad cholesterol, curing skin diseases, allergies, and wounds, also helps in preventing cancer like deathly disease and many other disease preventing properties.

From the beginning both the friends had decided to do something different, so they started turmeric cultivation and reaped good yield of 80-90 quintal per acre. After that, they decided to process their harvest themselves and sell it in the market in the form of raw turmeric pickle. The place from where their product get noted among the people was Bathinda’s Sunday Market and now they have started selling it in many places in the town.

Before entering the food processing business, Navdeep and Gursharan consulted the district senior agricultural expert – Dr. Parmeshwar Singh and took his advice over farming. Today, even the doctor himself feels very much proud that by following his advice both these young fellas are doing good in the food processing market and are coming up with more basic pure processed food products to be used in the kitchen directly or indirectly.

After the raw turmeric pickle success, Navdeep and Gursharan got their processing plant established in Rampura and currently their product list has more than 10 items, which includes Raw Turmeric, Raw Turmeric Pickle, Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder, Sabzi Masala, Coriander Powder, Butter Milk (lassi), Curd, Chat Masala, Garlic Pickle, Cumin Seeds, Gram Flour (besan), Tea Masala etc.

This duo is not only making food processing a profitable venture but are also encouraging other farmers to adopt food processing with farming to gain better revenue.

Future Plans: Planning to adopt crop diversification in the future to make their harvest nutrient rich and farming more economical. Also planning to sell their processed products to farther areas, and make people aware of food adulteration and importance of health.

Message
Farmer should start food processing with farming if they are seeking better returns from agriculture.

Santvir Singh Bajwa

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Advocate Turned Farmer Making Agriculture a Success Venture with Poly-house Farming of Flowers

Today just inheriting land is not the only solution to get rid of the loaded debt and the vicious circle of chemical farming which are making farmers handicapped day by day. Farmer is supposed to be a person who has to do the hard work by keeping in mind all the future outcomes and should also be prepared with the alternatives if anyone of the future outcomes fails. And only those farmer who understand this right way of farming by not letting get them shattered from the increasing pressure, with the help of modern technologies, ideal marketing strategies and of course hard work, let their next generation adopt the same profession happily.

This is the story of a Hoshiarpur based advocate Santvir Singh Bajwa who turned into a successful young farmer after seeing the success of his father Jatinder Singh Lally Bajwa in the field of horticulture. Alike his father he chose to do floriculture in poly-house and also made that venture a success.

Santvir Singh Bajwa while sharing his views – “Well, if we observe the trend in present youth, then you can track a clear record of youngsters either going abroad or opting an alternative career option other than farming. And the main reasons behind this is, there is no fixed income in farming and there is a fear of loss. Moreover, weather and government scheme also not accompanies the farmer in a better way which can give assurance of better backup plan.”

Gifted with the same skills as his father who successfully implemented diversification three decades back and established beautiful fruit orchard in the village of Mehlanwali, Santvir too established his own flower poly-house, where he started Gerbera cultivation. Being aware of the market demand for ornamental flowers, Santvir also started farming roses and carnations, which generated good profit to him.

“From my experience of poly-house farming, I want to share an important information with other farmers that farming in poly-house needs the extreme care of the crops and proper farming practices then only you can achieve a good yield. I personally consult the floriculture experts and progressive farmers and also take help from internet to give my best. – Santvir Singh Bajwa”

Even now Santvir Singh is also helping his father with new marketing strategies and is making good profit from fruit farming too.

Message

Farming in poly-house is a very profitable venture if the farmers are properly aware of the agriculture practices. Young farmers must try farming in poly-house as their future career it has great scopes and they can make big out of it.

Shamsher Singh Sandhu

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This Is What Happens When the Nursery Preparation Venture Turns Out Well In the Field Of Agriculture

When it comes to agriculture, then farmer should stop following the sheep herd and do what truly motivates them to wake up daily from their bed and stand up in the fields, whether its vegetable farming, poultry, piggery, floriculture, food processing, or door to door delivery of the produce. Because this is how a farmer can make out the best from agriculture.

One such a progressive farmer from the land of Jaats- Haryana – Shamsher Singh Sandhu, has excelled his way up in the field of agriculture by following his ideas and dreams. Unlike other farmers, Mr. Sandhu is mainly into seeds preparation which is giving him good returns as compared to conventional farming practices.

Inspired by his father’s achievements in the field of agriculture, Shamsher Singh also decided to adopt farming after completing his studies (Bachelor of Arts) in 1979 and in the next year he got married too. But following the same footsteps as his father of cultivating wheat, paddy, and other conventional crops was not that fortunate, and he was still confused about his profession.

However, the agriculture sector is such a wide sector with so many fields and opportunities, so, in 1985 he came to know about Young Farmer Training Programme of Punjab Agriculture University, it was a 3 months training programme under which there were 12 subjects like dairy, horticulture, poultry and many other subjects. He got himself enrolled in it. After finishing the training he started preparing seeds and without visiting the vegetable market or having any shop, he earned well from the seed preparation business just by sitting at home.

Apart from agricultural activities, Shamsher Singh Sandhu is also involved in a social initiative through which he helps the needy by donating clothes to them. He has made a group of farmers specially, to collect unwanted clothes and use it for a better purpose.

For seed preparation, first Shamsher Singh Sandhu himself buys seed from the university (PAU or HAU), cultivate them, harvest it when it has reached its full maturity stage and after that treat it with semi-organic methods before selling it the other farmers. In this way, he is making a good profit out of nursery preparation business. His venture is so successful, that he has been awarded two times for his outstanding efforts from IARI with Innovative Farmer Award and Fellow Farmer Award in 2015 and 2018.

Presently Shamsher Singh Sandhu is farming Guar, Wheat, Barley, Cotton and seasonal vegetables along with seeds preparation and is reaping good profit out of it. In future, he is planning to expand his Sandhu Seed Farm work, so that he can supply the seeds not only in Punjab but in other neighbouring states as well.

Message
Farmers should try seeds of other seed suppliers as well because in this way they can know the difference between the good supplier and the bad one and take the better yield of the crops by choosing the best.

Prateek Bajaj

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Passionate Young Man from Bareilly Chose Vermicomposting over CA Studies Just to Make Country’s Soil More Fertile & Help Farmers Double Their Income

Prateek Bajaj is a bright example for the agriculture society by contributing his efforts in nurturing the Mother Nature and making the country’s soil more fertile. With his beautiful field of vision and inventiveness, today he is solving the country’s waste management problems with great efforts and is helping farmer too to adopt the vermicomposting technology and make their farming an economical venture rather than a loss deal.

Hailing from one of the famous cities of India – Bareilly and coming from a business class family background, Prateek Bajaj always thought of becoming a CA so that later he can join his father’s real estate business. But at the tender age of 19, this boy changed his mind overnight and decided to start the vermicomposting business.

The idea of vermicomposting came in the mind of Prateek Bajaj in 2015, when one day he attended dairy farming training at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, IVRI, Izatnagar, with his elder brother who had recently started dairy farming. At that time, Prateek Bajaj had already cleared his CPT exam and was studying for CA and with his ambitious spirit he could have cleared CA also, but once he attended the training, he came to know about the basics of vermicomposting and bio-waste. He found the idea of vermicomposting so interesting that he decided to drop his career goals and adopt bio-waste management as his future plan.

“I wondered that why we gave away all the cow dung and urine obtained from his brother’s dairy farm if we can use it in such a better way. – Said Prateek Bajaj”

He finished his training with IVRI and learned the advance method of composting with the researchers and scientists present there and fetched all the necessary knowledge required for successful vermicomposting.

Almost, after six months, Prateek shared his plans with his family, it was understandable at that time that his father would disapprove over his decision of quitting CA. But when for the first time Prateek prepared Vermicompost and sold it in the market, his father accepted his son’s decision open heartedly and applauded his work.

“For me becoming a CA was not a big deal, I could have studied for hours and cleared all the exams, but doing what I love whether it takes 24 hours at the composting plant makes me feel happy. Moreover, I don’t need any break, as I know my passion is my career and it makes my work more fun. – Said Prateek Bajaj”

When Prateek’s family agreed with his future plan, then Prateek invested in seven bighas agricultural land in Pardholi village nearby and started vermicomposting in the same year – 2015, and then there was no turning back.

While opening the new unit of vermicomposting Prateek had decided that through this he going to deal with the waste management problems and will also help the farmer to manage their agriculture activities in an Eco-friendly and economical way.

To make his compost richer he experimented with various techniques of using the society waste in a different way. He used flowers from the temple, vegetable waste, residual waste of sugar and he also added neem leaves to the Vermicompost, which ultimately boosted up the antibiotic qualities.

Well, making this venture turn into a complete profitable project, Prateek also started organic farming after buying some more land in the village. And from his vermicomposting and organic farming practices, he concluded that soil requires less compost if a definite amount of cow urine and neem leaves are used, on the other hand, it also doesn’t affect the crop yield. By adding neem leaves in the compost, less pest and insects affected the crop making the crop yield better and soil more fertile.

In his vermicomposting plant, Prateek uses two types of worms – Jai Gopal and Eisenia Foetida, out of which Jai Gopal is provided by the IVRI and is very good in making the composting method efficient than before.

Prateek with his constructive spirit believes in disseminating the knowledge and that is why he gives free vermicomposting training to the farmer in which he uses a small earthen pot to make compost from a small level. In the beginning, six farmers approached him and adopted his technique but today there are around 42 farmers who are profited from it. And all the farmers have adopted the technique of Prateek on their own by seeing the progress.

Prateek affirms the farmers that by investing in vermicomposting and organic farming a farmer can more economically make his land fertile and can also take better yield as compared to the poisonous way of farming. And when it comes to the marketing then organic produce always hold better price in the market.

He himself shared his experience of selling organic wheat in the market at the double price as compared to the chemically grown wheat. So ultimately adopting organic farming and vermicomposting is a profitable deal for the farmers.

Prateek also shared a chunk of knowledge with us while sharing his experience- There are two main things before using the cow dung in vermicomposting – Cow dung should be 20-15 days old and completely dry.

Presently, Prateek Bajaj, 22, is successfully running his Sehyogi Biotech Plant and is selling compost under the brand name YELO Khaad to different nurseries in Noida, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, and many more other cities of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Also follows other modes of marketing to sell his compost.

With the determination to clean the soil and make it more fertile, Prateek always continues with experimenting with various bacteria and input components in the compost. Prateek feel privileged and blissful of being the part of this nourishing job through which he is not only helping the farmers but is also making the earth a better place.

Prateek is doing his bit, are you? To read more inspiring stories of progressive farmers like Prateek Bajaj, download Apni Kheti app from Google Play Store.

Gurpreet Singh Atwal

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Achieving Success by Practicing Organic Farming in Its Simplest Form

Gurpreet Singh Atwal, 35, is a progressive organic farmer who comes from a small humble and hardworking family of district Jalandhar (Punjab). But before reaching to this level of success and serving inspiration to other farmers in his community, Mr. Atwal was also a practitioner of chemical farming like his father and other farmers nearby.

After 12th, Mr. Gurpreet Singh Atwal decided to pursue college studies, he got himself enrolled in the course of B.A. in Khalsa College of Jalandhar, but soon, due to some thought processing and change in mind, he dropped college in the first year and joined his uncle and father in farming. Along with farming, he also stood in the election for the Pradhan of Youth Akali Dal in 2006 and also won it. As the time accelerated, Mr. Atwal got promoted in his political career from Pradhan to Senior Pradhan in 2015 of the same organization at the district level.

But maybe in farming, luck was not on his side as he was facing continuous loss and difficulties. Wheat and Sugarcane cultivation was reaping no benefit to him, so in 2014, he decided to cultivate Turmeric, but that too proved a lost deal from him, as he was not able to properly sell his harvest in the market. In the end, he processed all the turmeric into turmeric powder and distributed in Gurudwaras and Temples for free. After facing this kind of situation, Gurpreet Singh Atwal decided that he is going to market all the harvest himself and will not depend on the middleman.

In the same year, Gurpreet Singh Atwal came to knew about Bhangu farm in his neighbouring village. The visit to the Bhangu Farm was so inspiring for Mr. Atwal that he decided to switch to organic farming. Although Bhangu Farm was all about the cultivation and processing of Sugarcane, he gained enough knowledge about organic farming practices from there and on the basis of that, he started organic farming of vegetables on 2.5 acres land for his family.

Now, Gurpreet Singh Atwal has started organic farming on almost all of his farm and the yield is also better than earlier. He is growing crops like Maize, Wheat, Paddy, Sugarcane and seasonal veggies and in future, he is planning to process wheat flour and maize flour. In the meanwhile, Mr. Atwal has started home delivery of fresh farm produce vegetables in nearby 2 km of the area which includes the Bhogpur town.

Other than organic farming, Gurpreet Singh Atwal is also actively involved in dairy farming. He rears indigenous breeds of cows and buffaloes for home purpose and sells the extra milk in the village. Whatever Gurpreet Singh Atwal has achieved today in his life, he gives a huge credit to Krishi Vigyaan Kendra. KVK’s organized training camps, assistance and support has helped Gurpreet Singh Atwal learn a lot about organic farming.

Future Plan:
Gurpreet Singh Atwal is planning to open an organic store on Punjab level and then on India level.

Message
Every farmer must do organic farming, if not possible to a larger extent then at least try it in a smaller area for home purpose. In this way, they can create a difference in their own lives and make it better.

Gurpreet Singh Atwal is a progressive farmer who is not only practicing organic farming at his farm but is also inspiring other farmers of his village to adopt it. He prepares natural pesticides and fertilizer with the help of decomposer and also distributes it among the farmers who need it. With his actions, Gurpreet Singh Atwal has proved that he is a visionary and has the courage to go against the current and achieve success in it.

Kishan Suman

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Rajasthan Based Farmer Developed a New Mango Variety through Grafting Which Is Available In All the Seasons

When it comes to fruits then there would be hardly any person who doesn’t like mangoes. So this is the story of a Rajasthan based farmer – Kishan Suman, 52, who discovered a new variety of mango – Sadabahar, which is available in all the seasons. Well, this is a good news for all those fruit lovers who crave for the mangoes even in the off-season.

After completing his education, in 1995, Kishan Suman followed the footsteps of his father and started farming at his ancestral farm. In the beginning, he ventured in the agriculture field with cereals and grains, but for him, it was loss-making crops due to price exploitation from the merchants and impulsive weather. Therefore, Kishan Suman shifted to Jasmine cultivation. Besides this, having a crave to learn something different, made Kishan Suman learn about the grafting method in the rose plant from which he cultivated different coloured roses from the same plant. Well experimenting with the rose plant just boosted up the confidence of Kishan Suman and the next plant was mango on which grafting was performed.

The reason behind Kishan Suman choosing mango for grafting procedure was that usually mango fruit is only available in 2-3 months and he wanted it to be available in all the season so that the mango lovers can relish it when they want.

In 2000, Kishan Suman observed a mango tree with good growth trend and dark green coloured leaves in his orchard, so with consistent efforts of 15 years in Mango grafting, Kishan Suman finally created a new variety of dwarf mango and named it Sadabahar, which starts yielding fruit in just two years. Because of dwarf characteristics, Sadabahar mango variety is ideal for high-density farming and ultra-high density farming technique.

“I have put my full determination and efforts to develop this mango variety – Sadabahar. Although the plant starts giving fruit in the second year, it is recommended to let the plant grow till four years properly to enable it to gain proper strength. Moreover, Sadabahar is a disease resistant variety and is also unaffected by the climatic changes. After four years fruit can be harvested but till then let the plant grow well.” – Said, Kishan Suman

Some of the Salient features of Sadabahar Mango Variety are:

• Higher Yield (5-6 t/ha)

• Fruiting throughout the year

• Mango peel is deep orange with a sweeter taste

• Pulp has very less fibre

Presently, Kishan Suman has 22 mother plants and 300 grafted mango plants in his orchards. With the assistance of National Innovation Foundation, Mr. Kishan is selling the grafts and plants of Sadabahar Variety. Many farmers have visited his farm from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana region to buy his developed variety and have also appreciated him after seeing the results. Even the saplings of Sadabahar are also planted in the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

For all his efforts and innovation in developing a mango variety that can yield fruit throughout the year, he has been awarded in 9th National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge award function.

Although Sadabahar is resistant to all the major diseases still Kishan Suman believes that prevention is better than cure and that’s why he prepares natural pesticides from neem fruit, crown flower, and cow urine, it provides excellent protection to the plant from any kind of diseases and pest.

In future Kishan Suman is planning to experiment on Jack-fruit, as it takes longer to yield fruit so Kishan Suman is planning to reduce that time.

Message
“Horticulture is a very interesting field and farmers have various opportunities to experiment with their creativity on different plants and earn good profit.”

Inder Singh Sidhu

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Success Story of a Punjab-Based-Farm Which Is Left Unaffected With the Impact of Green Revolution

A farmer whose whole life cycle depends on the crop yield, for them facing crop failure even once can be a devastating situation. Coping up with this situation every farmer takes preventive measures that he is capable of, to avoid the losses… and this is how our agriculture sector in the race of producing high yield, had moved towards modernization by adopting Green Revolution. But there is one farm based in Punjab which is completely left untouched from the impact of Green Revolution.

This is the story of a man – Inder Singh Sidhu, 89, and his family run farm – Bangla Natural Food Farm. A part of the story began when Green Revolution came to India. It’s a matter of time when in the name of pesticides and fertilizers harmful chemicals were put in the hands of farmers. Inder Singh Sidhu was also one of those farmers who encountered some striking incidences which made him hate the use of pesticides.

“A spray was used to kill the pest in the sugarcane field and at that time farmers were warned not to collect fodder for their livestock. Similar type of process was also practiced in the Sorghum field and the spray was so toxic that it even killed the rats and other small insects.”

After observing both of these incidences, Inder Singh Sidhu thought that if these sprays can be harmful to the livestock and pests, then it will harm us as well. Mr. Sidhu decided at that very moment, whatever happens, he will not let such poisonous things enter his farm boundaries. And this is how traditional farming practices of using farm-made manure and eco-friendly methods saved the Bangla Natural Food Farm from death-dealing sprays.

Well, Inder Singh Sidhu is not alone, his son and daughter-in-law- Madhumeet Kaur, both support him. From kitchen to kitchen garden to farm, Madhumeet Kaur takes interest in all the activities and walks beside her husband and father-in-law.

Earlier, when Britishers used to rule India, at that time people called Fazilka, Bungalow (Bangla in Punjabi), so that is why my father-in-law named the farm Bangla Natural Foods. – Said Madhumeet Kaur with a little chuckle

Inder Singh Sidhu believes in traditional farming practices but he never hesitates from adopting modernized eco-friendly farming techniques. He uses all the modern machinery at his farm by taking it on rent, and for the preparation of manure, he also uses “Waste Decomposer” on his daughter-in-law’s recommendation. In place of pesticides, he uses Sour Buttermilk spray, Neem spray, and other alternatives to keep the harmful pest away from the crops.

The main crop for which Bangla Natural Food farm is recognized is the cultivation of the oldest variety of wheat- Bansi. Bansi wheat is a 2500-year-old indigenous variety of India which is rich in vitamins and has great food value.

“When we knead the dough of naturally grown and processed Bansi Wheat flour then it always looks white and fresh even the next day, but kneaded dough of wheat flour which we buy from the market turns black after few hours. – Said Madhumeet Kaur”

Other than wheat Mr. Sidhu cultivates Sugarcane, Garlic, Onion, Turmeric, pulses, seasonal vegetables and they have also maintained mixed fruit orchard in 7 acres. In the age of 89, Mr. Sidhu is perfectly fit and fine, he never takes any day off from the farm and supervises all the farm work with the help of few workers. Many people of the village criticize the efforts of Inder Singh Sidhu and say “What is this old man doing…”, but now many criticizers have turned into customers and like to buy the vegetables and processed products from Bangla Natural Food Farm.

Besides farming Inder Singh Sidhu’s daughter in law also processes some products from the farm produce like – Vermicelli, Bulgur, Rice Vermicelli, Rice Namkeen, Guava Juice and Garlic Powder. Most of the processed products and crops are for home purpose or distributed among friends and relatives.

Property of 50 acres land divided into 3 plots, is under the possession of Inder Singh Sidhu, out of which 1 plot is cultivated naturally from the last 30 years and 36 acres land is given on lease to other farmers. For his natural farming approach, Kheti Virasat Mission has also given him certification.

The family believes in preserving the heritage and traditional way of living, they use clay utensils (kuja’s, hara etc.) for cooking. Organic durries, sandhook and manjhi’s are used in day to day living.

A lot of people visit their farm every year, which includes agriculture students, foreign researchers and some who want a touch of heritage and farm culture for a few days.

Future Plan: Planning to open a small at the farm to sell the harvest and processed products from their farm along with other local natural and organic farmers and convert their farm into a tourist place.

Message

“As we know, if the chemicals are brutal for the pests then it will be harmful to nature as well, so keeping this in mind we should avoid using such things which can ultimately hit us back in the future. Moreover, most of the insects found, are friendly and killing them with the use of pesticides is bad for the crop as well as the environment. The farmer should be aware of the friendly pests and enemy pests. And one of the most important things that matter is that if you are satisfied with your work then you can do anything.”

Well, good health and liveliness show that hard work and devotion towards natural farming has paid well to Inder Singh Sidhu in return, and his personality and farming practices have already made him popular in the nearby places.

Farmers not getting influenced by others criticism and doing what is good for nature and humans is what we need today. Salute to Inder Singh Sidhu and other progressive farmers like him.

Gurmail Singh

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How This Farmer Made Farming a Real Profitable Venture with Sustainable Agriculture Practices

Well, farming is a profession by thinking of which everyone imagines a tough life where the farmer has to work for hours under the scorching sun or pouring rain. But you will be quite surprised to know that Gurmail Singh finds his peace and satisfaction of life in Organic Farming.

Gurmail Singh, 68, started farming in 2000 and has been going steady ever since. But before organic farming, he opted his hand on multiple professions of Motor Mechanic, Electrician, and he also learned the work of fabrication and welding, but none of the jobs suited him well and provided him a sense of fulfilment and happiness.

In 2000, when his ancestral land was getting distributed among him and his other two brothers, at that time, he also received one-third part of the property i.e. 6 acres land. Thinking of getting settled with the farming he left his job again as an electrician and began with conventional farming practices of wheat and paddy. Gurmail Singh did everything in his field of whatever he was capable of, with full dedication, but the yield was never satisfying. Fulfilling the input cost of conventional farming (chemical) practices till 2007, he was so badly submerged in the loan debts that it was almost impossible for him to come out of it. At last, he was disappointed with the farming.

But after going under the spiritual enlightenment – a Sikh ritual process of Amrit Sanchar (Amrit Chhakna) in 2007, his perception of the farming was totally changed. He decided to start organic farming on 1 acres of land and slowly its expansion in throughout the acreage. Finding of Gurmail Singh’s intention of organic farming his whole family boycotted him and he started living alone.

Adopting the path of organic farming on a land where chemical farming has been practiced ever since is a very difficult task. As a result, the yield reduced, but Gurmail Singh’s intentions for organic farming were as strong as a mighty mountain.

Watching Subhash Palekar’s video helped him a lot in the beginning, and after that in 2009, he joined multiple organizations like Kheti Virasat Mission, Nabha Foundation, and NITTTR, which educated him with the best suitable results and marketing approach to go organic. Gurmail Singh attended many events and programmes on the national level which made him aware that organic farming practices globally. Gradually with the time yield also got better and he also got the opportunity of selling his produce at a good platform. With the help of NITTTR, in 2014, Gurmail Singh got his own stall in the Chandigarh vegetable market where he can sell his produce on every Saturday. In 2015, with the co-operation of Markfed, he got another opportunity to sell his produce.

“With the time, I won my family support back and they were happy with my way of farming. In 2010, my son also joined me in my farming venture and from that day onward he is with me at every step of my farming life.”

He sells more than 20 harvested crops of his farm which includes Peas, Sugarcane, Bajra, Sorghum, Mustard, Potatoes, Green Grams, Pigeon Pea, Maize, Garlic, Onion, Coriander and much more. Other than cultivation, Gurmail Singh also started processing food processing after taking Bakery Training for 1 month from Punjab Agriculture University.

Gurmail Singh not only processes his own produce but also help other group members of Nabha Foundation by processing their produce. Flour, Multigrain Flour, Pinniyaan (Indian sweet dish), Sarson Saag and Makki Roti are some of his processed food items which he sells along with the vegetables.

When it comes to marketing, it had always been a smooth thing for Gurmail Singh, because of his determination, hard work, and well-known personality among the officials and organization members. Currently, he is living with his family in a village of Nabha, where with the help of 4-5 workers he manages all the labour work at the farm, and for processing, he employees 1-2 workers according to the need.

Future Plan:
In future, Gurmail Singh is planning to form a new group where all the members will do organic farming, processing, and marketing.

Message

“Farmers has to understand that quality matters, not quantity, the day when they will understand this thing, at that day all the problems of yield, marketing, and other issues will get resolved. And today farmer should focus on demand and supply rather than growing conventional crops aimlessly.”

In the beginning, there were many problems that Gurmail Singh faced, moreover, his family also abandoned him, people used to call him mad for adopting organic, but the desire to do something different has made him achieve the present success in his life. He is one of the modest people for whom award or appreciation never mattered, for him his yield is the only award for his work.

Gurmail Singh is happy that he is playing his part very dedicatedly and he wants others to do it as well.

Amarjeet Singh Dhami

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Entrepreneur Bringing Revolution in the Diabetes World with His Low Glycemic Index Products

Today, India has over 65.1 million Diabetics and with this fact, it is very clear that Diabetes is spreading like a plague which is an alarming situation for us. The main thing responsible for the increase in the number of diabetic patients is not only unhealthy lifestyle and unhealthy food, but the main reason is that the consumer is unaware about the basic product he is consuming at his home. Understanding this perplexing situation and with the motive to bring a healthy change in the society, Amarjeet Singh Dhami came up with the initiative to beat this widespread disease with his low GI Herbal Products.

Glycemic Index or GI
GI measures that how carbohydrate-containing food increases your blood glucose level. Food with high GI increases blood glucose more than the food with the medium or low GI.

After Graduating in B. Tech Agriculture in 2007 and then pursuing career as an Irrigation Designer for 3 years in a US-based company, Amarjeet Singh Dhami decided to start up his own business through which he can address the major health issues of the society. According to his research, he found Diabetes the prime prevailing health issue and that’s when he decided to launch his own line of herbal products for Diabetic Patients.

Agrineer Food was the brand name with which he came up in 2011 and later on changed it into Overra Herbals. Getting trained under food processing training from Department of Food Processing, Punjab Agriculture University, he launched his first product with the name Diaflour which is Diabetic Friendly Flour for Diabetic Patients and other people can also use it for a healthy lifestyle.

Amarjeet Singh Dhami was well aware of the fact that establishment of a new brand product demands a lot of input and efforts. He systematically approached the market by the establishment of processing plant in Ludhiana, then the establishment of market retail chain and its expansion. He builds up a proficient team by including Ayurveda Doctors, Marketing Specialist and PhD. experts in his venture. Moreover, to ensure the purity of the material, he formed a group of farmers practicing organic farming and started selling their organic pulses under his brand.

Well, the main thing with which a diabetic patient has to fight is the sweetness and keeping this thing in mind, Amarjeet Singh Dhami started his research work almost 4-5 years back before launching his main product for the diabetic patients. After the research work, Mr. Dhami came up with Diabeat Sugar.

Normally sugar has 70 Glycemic Index but Diabeat Sugar has 43 Glycemic Index. This is the first time in the world that sugar is produced on the basis of Glycemic Index.

The main active ingredients of Diabeat Sugar which make it special than the common sugar available in the market are: Jamun, Fenugreek, Ginger, Garlic, Black Pepper, Bitter Gourd and Neem; and this is a patent technology of Overra Foods.

“Haldiram, Lovely Sweets, Gopal Sweets are some of the brands with which presently Overra Food is dealing and supplying their Diabeat Sugar and Diaflour for the making Diabetic Friendly sweets.”

The only problem that Amarjeet Singh Dhami faced, in the beginning, was marketing and shelf life of products, but soon it was recovered too by producing according to the marketing demands. Presently main production units of Overra Food is located in Mysore and Ludhiana and its product range covers a large area with juices, chocolates, squashes, cookies made from Diabeat Sugar with low GI and these products are easily available across India.

Along with addressing the health issue, Mr. Dhami has also played a positive role towards corporate social responsibility by collaborating with Dr. Ramandeep; he has started an activity through which he helps the entrepreneurs with potential by chiselling their career under his training and guidance.

Future Plan:
Amarjeet Singh Dhami is planning to export his products to USA, Canada, Philippines and other Gulf Countries.

Message:
“This is the time when educated youth has a lot of opportunities to start up their own business rather than looking for a job which not even satisfies their basic demands, but patience is necessary to succeed.”

If you eat food like medicine then you will live a healthy life…
Amarjeet Singh Dhami

Nanil Chaudhary

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Meet Next Generation’s Flourishing Farmer Who Is Fostering Local Employment in Uttar Pradesh

View of Nanil Chaudhary’s farm will blow away anyone in the dreamy aromatic world… Well, you must be wondering what other than crop, cows, buffalo, dirt, and dung will be seen there? Then you guys are mistaken, because Nanil Chaudhary is a booming floriculturist from Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, and in his farm, you are only going to find colourful flowers of Gerbera, Rajnigandha, Gladiolus, and many more.

Coming from a conventional farming background, the farming journey of Nanil Chaudhary started like other farmers with the cultivation of Wheat, Bajra, Potato, Barley, and Mustard till 2014-15. Although he started like a conventional farmer, he never let his mind confined in those stereotypical thinking, and in the year 2015-2016, he entered the field of floriculture.

Nanil Chaudhary came to know about the Gerbera plantation in poly-house near Iglas tehsil in Aligarh district. After making some inquiries he came to know that large land holding is required to establish it. Since, his mother, Smt. Krishna Kumari holds large land holding, so in her name, the project was sanctioned; and this is how the Krishna Biotech was established.

“For the establishment of climatically controlled poly-houses, I invested around 1.10 crores out of which 75 lakhs were financed by RBL Bank Ltd and this was a great help for me.”

Aiming towards generating employment to improve the rural economy, he moved towards floriculture and today he has his own climatically controlled two poly-houses where he has planted around 40,000 plants of Gerbera in 2 acres; outside the poly-houses he has planted Gladiolus in 6 acres, Rajnigandha in 6 acres, Brassica in 1 acres and Chrysanthemum in 3 acres.

And how these flowers are turning the business of Nanil Chaudhary into riches:

One Gerbera plant gives 25 flowers a year which ultimately turns the production number around 1000000 flowers, and when these number of flowers are sold at the rate of Rs. 2.50 the income is Rs. 20 lakhs a year. After deducting all the expenditures there is a net profit of 6-7 lakhs per year to Nanil Chaudhary. This profit is only from the Gerbera flower, other than this Rajnigandha gives profit around Rs. 2 lakhs per acre, Gladiolus around Rs. 1.50 lakhs per acre and Chrysanthemum gives profit around Rs. 3.00 lakhs per acre.

“Excluding expenditure of labour charges, bank instalments and other input costs, this floriculture business is giving me profit around 14 lakhs per year.”

Marketing was a bit difficult in the beginning for Nanil Chaudhary, as it was difficult to deliver flowers to Delhi, but later, in 2017-18, Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Buses were the best means through which flower marketing was done mostly.

Few people who were always there standing like supporting pillars for Nanil Chaudhary throughout his floriculture journey are his mother, Dr. Mam Chand Singh (Scientist and Head of Protected Cultivation Division at IARI, PUSA, New Delhi), and Shri Kaushal Kumar (District Horticulture Officer, Aligarh).

Knowledge diffusion is the most important thing in which Nanil Chaudhary always believes and has expanded floriculture to various farmers in Etah, Hathras, Meerut and Ghaziabad districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Currently, Nanil Chaudhary’s farm is equipped with a force of 20-22 skilled workers, who make the working of the farm totally mechanized with the help of modern equipment like specially designed planter, drip irrigation system, solar power irrigation pump and much more.

In future Nanil Chaudhary has few sets of plans:

• Planning to explore the possibility of extracting essential oil from Rajnigandha,

• Expand floriculture in Uttaranchal on a larger scale

• Venture into large-scale production of Gladiolus bulbs, Rajnigandha bulbs and Chrysanthemum nursery for commercial cultivation

By venturing in floriculture, Nanil Chaudhary has observed a big change in his area, people get regular income due to the cultivation, harvesting, packing, and transportation of flowers, income of those people shows the real happiness on their faces…Concludes Nanil Chaudhary

For putting tremendous efforts in floriculture field, Nanil Chaudhary has been honoured with –

• Received Progressive Farmer Award by the Divisional Commissioner, Aligarh in 2016-17

• A documentary was also prepared on Krishna Biotech Farm, by the Doordarshan, Delhi and telecasted in Krishi Darshan Programme on 22 November 2016

• Later in the year 2017-18, another documentary was prepared by the Doordarshan and telecasted on DD Krishi Darshan on 27 December 2017

Floriculture expanded through Krishna Biotech farm with the determination and hard work of Nanil Chaudhary has attracted remunerative prices leading to set a quality standard for his family and the people living around.

Sapinder Singh

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Sapinder Singh Taking Allied Agricultural Activities to the Next Level in Punjab by Integrating Fishery with Piggery

In most part of India, farmers are adopting integrated agricultural allied activities to support their domestic economy. And why not they would be doing that, Integrated Farming System not only provides reasonable livelihood to the rural community but also provides a backup support in case if one of the business faces loss due to any reason. Following the same example, progressive farmer Sapinder Singh from Sangrur adopted fisheries along with pig farming and is setting an impressive example for the other farmers in Punjab.

This is the story of a retired personnel – Sapinder Singh, who after dedicating 18 years of his life to the Military Engineering Service decided to come back to its roots in Punjab and devote the rest of his life to farming. Coming from an agriculture background, it was not difficult for Sapinder Singh to continue farming again. But the major crops, Wheat, and Paddy was not a profitable venture from him, which was one of the reasons he was influenced towards allied agriculture activities.

In-between this period, once Sapinder Singh visited Sangrur city for some personal affair and there he came to know about the process of fish seed production at a Fish Seed Farm. After approaching the workers at the fish farm he came to know that 5-days-training-program is organized once in a month to train the ambitious farmers who want to adopt fish farming as their career for life.

“And this was when I decided to follow fish farming. My mother and I took five days training program in October 2013. From there I came to know that fish seed is supplied only from March to August.”

Not missing even a single moment after the training, Sapinder Singh decided to prepare his own pre-culture tank (nursery tank) and stock it with fish seeds. For the tank preparation, he dug a pond on his land after getting his land checked under soil and water testing. Fishery department also helped him in loan application and loan instalment process was also very smooth for Sapinder Singh.

“For fish farming, I applied for a loan of Rs. 4.50 lakhs and after sometime Rs 1.50 Lakh was the first loan instalment that I received. The remaining loan payment was also on time, due to which I never faced any type of financial problem during the establishment of my fish farm. ”

Fishery officers played the important role in enlightening Sapinder Singh with the information at the right time. They suggested Mr. Singh about integrated farming and then he decided to start pig farming as well. After undergoing the training process, Sapinder Singh applied for the loan of Rs 4.90 lakh to establish the piggery shed.

Currently, Sapinder Singh is following fish farming in 3.25 acres with 200 piglets. There was a profit of net worth Rs. 8 Lakh from the integrated farming system of fish with pig farming. Fishery and Animal husbandry, both the departments disbursed Sapinder Singh subsidy of Rs. 1.95 Lakh and Rs. 1.50 Lakh. Both Departments and District Administration fully co-operated and provided him full opportunity to flourish his business.

Currently, Sapinder Singh is running his farm successfully and whenever he gets the chance he tries to motivate the farmer to join KVK training camps, District Training Programmes by GADVASU for proper farming knowledge.

With his accelerating curiosity, he wants to stay one step ahead always. Sapinder Singh also knows what should be his next step to progress, and that is why he is planning to invest in processing plant of pig-fish unit.

Sapinder Singh is a modern progressive farmer who changed his farming method according to the latest trends and took advantage of every opportunity. Other farmers also have to understand Sapinder Singh’s approach if they want to progress in the agriculture field.

Message

If farmers want to earn well and improve their domestic status economically then they have to adopt Agri-allied professions along with crop cultivation.

Kulwinder Singh Nagra

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Hope for the Better Present and Future, Turned Kulwinder Singh Nagra towards Sustainable Farming Practices

Hope is the only positive feeling which gives a person the strength to think about the future even not being sure about it. And when we know that we are thinking about the better future then our actions are accelerated automatically despite knowing some negative consequences. Same was the case with Kulwinder Singh Nagra, a progressive farmer from Nagra village of district Sangrur, for whom hope acted as the driving force to turn towards natural farming.

“Before venturing into natural farming I knew that I will face loss for consecutively two years, even after sensing this situation I decided to adopt natural practices. Because for me my family and surrounding are more important than earning money. Moreover, I am earning for my family and myself, what if, even after earning so much money I am not able to keep my family healthy… then everything is in vain.”

Coming from a farming background, Kulwinder Singh Nagra also decided to follow the same footsteps like his father. In 1997, after completing his matriculation, he started following the family old traditions of paddy and wheat cultivation. Till 2000, he continued wheat and paddy in 10 acres of his land and some vegetables like Peas, Onion, Garlic, and Bottle gourd in one acre. But somewhere in his heart, he was not satisfied with the mass production of wheat and paddy. So, gradually he started increasing the vegetable cultivation area from one acre to 7 acres and Kinnow and Guava in 1 ½ acres.

“Kinnow was less successful but Guava gave good returns and I continued it in the future also.”

Experiencing the success in horticulture, raised Kulwinder Singh Nagra’s confidence, and steadily he expanded his agriculture activities to generate more profit. From vegetable cultivation to nursery preparation he started doing everything. In 2008-2009 he started selling prepared nursery of Chilli, Onion, Pumpkin, Bitter Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Tomato, and Bel, outside Punjab in Shahabad Markanda, Sirsa, and in different Kisan Melas also.

In 2009, he thought of changing his farming practices into natural, so he took training of Kudrati Kheti from Pingalwara, where the basics of Zero Budget Natural Farming are taught to the farmers who want to make earth a better place. Keeping in mind a safe and stable start Kulwinder Singh Nagra started natural farming from 5 acres.

He was well-aware from the fact that converting pesticide and chemical treated land to organic will take a long time and he will earn no profit in the beginning. But he never stepped back from what he started. In between, he decided to upgrade his farming skill and he took training in different fields for food processing, hybrid seed production of chili and cucumber, net house cultivation of vegetables, and greenhouse management. Almost after two years, he started earning the minimal profit.

“Marketing was the main hurdle which I faced the most to sell my organic produce. As I was a newbie so it took me some time to understand the marketing strategies. In 2012, I adopted right marketing strategies and then it became easy for me to sell the vegetables.”

Another step that Kulwinder Singh Nagra took to avoid any harm to nature was that he stopped burning stubble. Today stubble burning is one of the major problems, which Punjab is encountering and on Global level also it is a big issue. Just to save the time, labour and money farmers in Punjab and Haryana are burning stubble, but Kulwinder Singh Nagra instead of burning the stubble, used it for the mulching method and the rest of the stubble for composting.

Kulwinder Singh Nagra always prefers modern environment-friendly technologies like happy seeder, cultivator, bed planter, plough, ripper, and rotavator, to move ahead in the field of agriculture flourishingly.

Currently, he is cultivating wheat on 3 acres, fodder crop on 2 acres, vegetables (Chilli, Capsicum, Cucumber, Ash Gourd, Watermelon, Bottle Gourd, Brinjal, Onion, and Garlic) on 6 acres and fruits like Peach, Amla (Gooseberry), and Kinnow in 1 acre. He uses drip irrigation to properly utilize the water at his farm.

To support his agricultural activities he is also doing dairy farming. He has 12 animals in his barn which include Murrah buffalo, Neeli Ravi, and Sahiwal. 90 to 100 kg is milk production per day, out of which he sold 70-75 kg milk in the market and uses the rest for home consumption. Now, marketing is not a big deal, he sells all the organic vegetables in the market of Sangrur, Sunam, and Samana. Merchants come to his farm themselves to buy the fruits. And in this way, he is earning the right price of his crop produce.

For all his accomplishments he gives credit to Punjab Agriculture University and his family. Today, he has become a person who inspires others with his natural vegetable farming skills; and he is proud of it. For his work in the field of natural farming of vegetables, he has received many awards and appreciation and some of them are…

• Received “Krishi Karman Award of Progressive Farmer” given by Hon. Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi at Sooratgarh (Rajasthan) – 19th February 2015.

• Received Block Level Award under ATMA, given by Shri Kumar Rahul IAS Deputy Commissioner Sangrur.

• Received award from Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana.

• Received award from Director of Agriculture, Punjab

• Achieved 1st and 2nd position many times in cultivating best vegetable variety

Well, these awards are just a few to mention, he is mainly recognized for his work for the farmer society. Farmer interactions, PAU and KVK Scientists visit at his farmhouse is organized often to provide a broad insight to the farmers to work successfully in the field of agriculture. He has also established Vermi compost plant, follows inter-cropping pattern, low tunnel technique, practice beekeeping, bed planting in wheat (in some areas) zero tillage of wheat by using No-till drill Happy Seeder, Laser Levelling before transplanting of paddy, mechanical transplanting, Integrated Pest Management and Integrated Nematode Management.

Impact of Adaptation of Agriculture Technologies:

After the adaptation of different agriculture technologies, his wheat production increased creating the record of highest wheat production across the country which was 6456 kg per hectare in 2014 by following natural farming practices. And for this achievement he was awarded Krishi Karman award as mentioned above. Farmers living nearby him idolize him and consult him to adopt more environment-friendly technologies.

Future Plan:
In future Kulwinder Singh Nagra is planning to export vegetables to abroad.

Message
“Farmers who chose the path of suicide to get relieved from the burden of loans and responsibilities, should stop doing this. God has given us numerous opportunities and abilities to achieve our life goals and we should never let these chance skip.”

Balwinder Singh Sandhu

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STORY OF A FARMER BREAKING THE OLD CONSERVATIVE CUSTOMS OF FARMING TO ADOPT NATURAL PRACTICES

Today, farmers are the only person who can inspire other farmers towards organic practices of agriculture; and Balwinder Singh is one of those farmers who has adopted organic farming in the recent years to bring a positive change in the environment, by getting inspired by a fellow progressive farmer.

Well, turning towards organic is not that easy for those farmers who are used to conventional farming practices and high yield. But Balwinder Singh Sandhu overcame this hurdle with his strong determination and persistence hard work.

Earlier, in 1982 to 1983, he used to cultivate Cotton, Mustard and Guar crop, but from 1997 he started encountering pest attack of boll-worm on cotton crop, due to which he faced a major loss repeatedly. So, after that, he decided to start with paddy but still did not achieved the level of satisfaction with which he was farming earlier. His journey towards organic farming started in 2011 when he visited the organic vegetable farm of Manmohan Singh.

Visit to the organic farm, opened multiple insights of Balwinder Singh and then he decided to start vegetable farming; he initiated with chilli. To improve his earlier farming mistakes he even visited Gujarat to buy the good variety of cotton seeds and there he discovered information about the farming of seedless cucumber, strawberry, and melon. For continuously 3 years he keeps on reducing the use of pesticides on his land.

That year, Chilli crop yield was very good and it made him a profit of Rs 500000 just from 2 acres. Balwinder Singh also took advantage of his farm location. His farm location was on the road, so he put up a small shop at the roadside where he started selling vegetables. He also started processing chilli into chilli powder.

“When I started processing chilli powder then many people used to complain about it that your chilli powder is not red in color. Then I explained to them that chilli powder is never blood red in color. The powder which people generally purchase from the market has impurities and color adulteration.”

In 2013, Balwinder Singh started cultivating more veggies like Cucumber, Tomato, Pumpkin, and Capsicum.

“More crops needed more area, so to increase the farming area I took 40 acres land on lease from cousins and brothers. In the beginning, marketing was an issue for vegetables, but by the time this problem was also resolved.”

Currently, Balwinder Singh is cultivating vegetables on 8-9 acres, strawberry on 1 acre and paddy and wheat on the rest of the land. Moreover, to increase the productivity he has adopted all the modern farming implements, technology and environment-friendly practices like tractor, bed planter, rotavator, cultivator, leveller, seeder, drip irrigation, mulching, home-prepared organic compost and buttermilk spray in place of insecticides.

From the last four years, he is practicing complete organic methods on 2 acres of land and has reduced the use of pesticides and insecticides on rest of the land mass. Balwinder Singh’s hard work has impressed many people, even the DC of his area visited his farm; many articles have been published about his work in different print media and with the speed with which he is progressing, he will be recognized in the future also…

Message:

“Now farmers have to hold the weighing machine in their own hands to sell their produce to earn the profit. Because if they will continue their dependence on the middlemen or dealers for selling their harvest then they will not progress and will be cheated by the thugs again and again. Mediators take away all the profit that is farmer’s right.”

Karamjit Singh Bhangu

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Meet the Modern Farmer, Who Is Growing According To the Need of the Hour

For Karamjit Singh, becoming a farmer was a distant dream, but the circumstantial conditions changed everything. In the last seven years, Karamjit Singh’s perception changed completely towards farming and now he has turned towards organic farming completely.

Like other young boys, Karamjit Singh was also a free soul who loved to play cricket all day long, he used to participate in the local cricket tournaments. His life was confined between school and playground. He never thought at that time that his life would take a whole new turn about which he had never thought about. During his academic years (school) in 2003, his father passed away and soon after some time, in 2005, his mother also passed away. After that only his grandparents were left in his family. At that time, situations were not under his control, so he decided to drop his studies after 12th and support his family.

At a very young age he got married and he also had the opportunity to go abroad and start his life from a new beginning again, but he chose to stay back with his grandparents. 2011 was the year when he decided to step in the field of farming. He started cultivating cereals, pulses, grains, and everything organically for home purpose in a small acreage. He got inspired by other farmers in his area and slowly expanded his farming expanse. Time and experience built confidence and then Karamjit Singh took his land back from lease.

He added more vegetable varieties like Squash Melon, Cauliflower, Okra, Peas, Chilli, Sweet Corn, Bottle Gourd, and Brinjal in his farmland and also started preparing nursery of chili, tomato, capsicum, and other vegetables.

The exposure that Karamjit got from farming, boosted up his confidence and in 2016 he decided to take 14 acres land on lease; and this is how Karamjit started making a happy life out of his living.

Today, in the life of Karamjit, he is still a newbie in the field of farming who has the curiosity to explore more and do more. With the same spirit, he entered in the field of floriculture, in 2017 and started cultivating Marigold by inter-cropping it with Gladiolus.

There also came a man- Ashok Kumar in the life of Karamjit Singh, who enlightened him with the knowledge of friendly pest and enemy pest, and this is how Karamjit Singh boycotted the use of insecticides in his field completely. Karamjit Singh took every chance as an opportunity to learn something new about farming and this is how he stepped towards his successes.

Currently, the whole farm of Karamjit Singh is equipped with drip irrigation system and pack-house for vegetables. He gives every nutrient to the vegetables in the most natural way possible. For marketing, he is following farm to the home concept in which he is doing home delivery of fresh insecticides free vegetables and he has also established an on-farm-market through which he is earning well.

For his initiative of cultivating fresh insecticides free vegetables he has been awarded by PAU, Kisan Club on 1st February, and he was also awarded second prize for best quality peas by Patiala Horticulture Department in 2014.

Karamjit Singh’s wife – Premdeep Kaur is his supporting pillar, she helps him in labour and harvesting process, and he manages the marketing part. In the beginning, there were some problems in marketing, but slowly he overcame all the hurdles with his hard work and enthusiasm. In place of chemicals and fertilizer, they prepare organic compost and spray at home. Recently, Karamjit Singh has planted 200 fruit trees of Kinnow, Pomegranate, Guava, Apple, Loquat, Lemon, Java Plum, Pear and Mango in his farm and in future he wants to focus on guava orchards.

Message:

“Committing suicide is not the solution. Farmers have to come out of the conventional cycle of farming, only then they can achieve success in long run. Moreover, farmers have to understand the importance of our Mother Nature and they should work towards saving water and soil.”

Currently, at the age of 28, Karamjit Singh has established his own organic business in his village Kansuha Kalan in Nabha Tehsil of Patiala District, and the spirit with which he is succeeding towards organic farming indicates a better future for his family and his surroundings. Karamjit Singh is a progressive farmer who has the capability to set an example for those aimless youth who are confused with their career choices… we need more farmers like him.

Mohan Singh

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Story of a Man, Who United With His True Childhood Passion of Farming after Retirement

Passion is an amazing emotion or we can say an oomph factor which can lead a person in any direction he wants. And by coming in account with this 64 year-old-man, Mohan Singh, every positive though about passion seems true. From the last 2 years this retired man, Mohan Singh, is spending his every single moment to fulfil his childhood passion of farming.

After serving BCAM for more than three decades, Mohan Singh finally got retired in 2015 as a GM (General Manager) from the organization, and then he decided to step in the soil to accomplish those dreams that was left undone and buried somewhere in the back of his heart.

Coming from an educated background where his father was in military, Mohan Singh was never confined to career choices, he had the freedom to follow his dreams. In his childhood years, Mohan Singh got so much influenced towards farming that he himself was not aware of.

While growing up, Mohan Singh, often use to visit his small 5 acres family farm where his family use to grow wheat, paddy and some seasonal veggies for home consumption. But as he grew up, his life got more complex, confined between limited space of education system, job responsibility and later on family responsibilities.

After getting retired, in 2015, Mohan Singh joined a part time job as a consultant in Prakash Iron Foundry, Agra; he use to visit there once or twice a month. In the same year, 2015, he took his first step towards his childhood desire and he started preparing nursery of black onion and chilli.

He began with 100 soil beds, and slowly expanded the area up to 200 soil beds and then he expanded it in 1 acre with 1000 soil beds. He started marketing his products through on-road stalls. He got good response in return which inspired him to start preparing vegetable nursery also. To take his venture up to the next level he started contract farming with a person in which he started growing late variety of chilli through which he earned more profit.

Black onion is the main crop which fetched him great profit than the older variety of onions because it decays at slower rate due to which its storage life is increased. With the help of few worker he manages his whole farm and also work as a consultant with Prakash Iron Foundry. He has all the modern implements like tractor, harrow, tiller, and leveller at his farm.

Though, Mohan Singh’s journey in farming started a while ago, but his selection for quality seeds and standardise schedule for compost lead him to great success and satisfaction.

Currently Mohan Singh is living a happy farmer life in his village Devinagar Abrawan of Mohali and expanding his reach in the agriculture sector to purse sustainable agriculture in the future.

For Mohan Singh, living with his wife, two well settled sons (one is veterinary doctor and another is working successfully in the electronics field), their wives and children, farming was never a burden, he enjoys farming. He also rears 3 Murrah Buffaloes for house hold purpose and his son who is a veterinary doctor helps him taking care of them.

Message:

“Farmers should adapt new environment friendly technologies and join groups which can help them succeed in agriculture sector, rather than depending upon the subsidy. Farmer should also adopt modern farming allied activities along with crop cultivation if they want to earn double benefit and manage their finances at the time of crop loss.”

This aged retired man is an icon for millions of youth, who are running behind the glittering life of city.

Vipin Yadav

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Story of Vipin Yadav a farmer and a computer engineer who chose hydroponics over traditional farming method to bring revolution

Today is an era where if farmers don’t have fertile land or even land, then also they can exist; and for this, Indian farmers have to realign their priorities and agriculture practices to overcome the stereotypical conventional methods.

Technology has taken the agricultural practices up to an advanced level so that no constraints like pests or disease can affect the crop yield, and this is a positive growth in the agriculture sector. The only thing that keeps the farmer away from their own progress is their fear – “The fear of losing the investment in technology and maybe the thinking that what if, it does not work out well and lead to a huge loss.”

But this 20-year-old farmer understood the prerequisite demands to progress in agriculture field and is now doing something beyond traditional farming.

Hydroponics is a good way of farming because no disease can affect the plants as the farming is done soil less. Moreover, we prepare the plants in poly-house, so no environmental disease can affect the plants at all. I am happy with this method of farming and I want other farmers also to adopt hydroponics –Vipin Yadav.

Unsatisfied from the job salary package after completing his engineering degree in Computer Science, Vipin decided to start farming, but definitely not like his father, who was practicing conventional farming methods.

Like a responsible and aware youth, he chose to go for an online training through Agriculture Skill Council of India, Gurugram. After passing the initial online eligibility test he went to the main training centre in Gurugram. Out of 20 candidates, only 16 were passed for face to face training of hydroponics, and Vipin Yadav was one of them. He also took protective cultivation training from KVK Shikohpur to improve his skills.

“In 2015, I introduced the new technique of soil-less farming to my father for whom soil was the only base to grow the plant. –Vipin Yadav”

To implement what he learned during training, he started with just mere 50 trays containing small plants of two main varieties, with the investment of Rs. 5000 to 7000.

“I allocated 800 sq ft area for the hardening unit and 1000 sq ft for preparing plants by taking space on rent in Gurugram and also built poly-house in it. –Vipin Yadav”

His experimentation with 50 trays in hydroponics leads him to great success which motivated him to start it on a huge scale. The next big investment with which he started hydroponics was Rs. 250000 with the help of friends and relatives.

“Currently, I can prepare 250000 plants or more on order.”

Hydroponics is not practiced from April to mid-July due to warm climatic conditions, but still, profit is good enough to recover this gap. Vipin Yadav is growing almost all types of crops – grains, oil-seeds, vegetables, and flowers in his hydroponic farm. Machinery like sprinkler and fogger are some of the implement which he is using to make his farming easier. His flower produce is very healthy and has good yield, due to which it was even sent to President’s Secretariat.

For soil-less farming, he uses three components: Coco peat, Perlite, and Vermiculite in the ratio of 3:1:1. In 35-40 days the plants are ready and then they are kept in hardening unit for 1 week. Nutrition like NPK, zinc, magnesium, and calcium are given to the plants through the water. In Hydroponics there is no use of pesticides as no soil is used for farming, moreover, Vermicompost is used which can be easily prepared at home.

Future Plan: My future plan is to cultivate other species of cactus plants, medicinal plants and ornamental plants in my hydroponic farm for better income.

Vipin Yadav is an example of how the youth of India is saving the future of agriculture by using the proven advanced technology.

Message

“Before starting anything new in the field of agriculture, farmers must take training from KVK to enhance their skills and make themselves trained.”

The nation needs more young and creative mind to venture in the agriculture field for better economic development and if we continue to meet such young people like Vipin Yadav, then this is a positive indication towards the future.

Deepakbhai Bhavanbhai Patel

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Gujarat based farmer fetching good fortune by cultivating diversified mango varieties

Today, if we take a dive in the fact pool of progressive farming and farmers, then there is a clear indication towards technology. Technology has its own supreme role in sculpting the farmer’s success and his farm too. This is the story of a Gujarat based farmer- Deepakbhai Bhavanbhai Patel, he chose to pair modern farming techniques with his optimistic behaviour to obtain better farming productivity. And with his efforts, he overcame all the hurdles that his father and forefathers used to face while practicing agriculture.

Mango is the fruit which made Deepakbhai king of orchards in his village Kachiyawadi of Navsari district in Gujarat. With 20 acres land that Deepakbhai inherited in 1991, from his father, he started mango revolution by planting different varieties of mango like Jumbo Kesar, Langra, Rajapuri, Alphonso, Dasheri, and Totapuri. Slowly with the time, he expanded the farming area and today his mango orchard sit on 125 acres with 3000 to 3200 mango trees, out of which 65 acres land is his own and 70 acres is on the lease.

Earlier farming practices and implementation:

Well, the beginning path was a bit stony for Deepakbhai. He started his farming venture by inter-cropping vegetables and mangoes; but due to labour shortage and decreasing revenue, he decided to give his full attention to mango farming only.

“Deepakbhai Says – I improved my farming practices, wherever I felt that I was wrong. Due to lack of knowledge and experience, I used to over water the mango trees, give fertilizer and pesticide in large amount, and didn’t used insecticides in the orchards. But once I came in contact with the research and agricultural centre, I was enlightened with the knowledge and right farming practices. ”

After receiving the results of following the right farming practices, Deepakbhai honed himself to become the mango farming expert, and that was the time when he decided to make mango farming his main source of income. He started reading books, following instructions and advice that were given by agricultural institutions.

“I took part in various events to increase my knowledge base, some of them were organized by Sugarcane Research Centre of Aurangabad, Delhi Agriculture Research Centre, Jaipur Agriculture University…etc., from these events I captured huge knowledge about the farming practices of different fruits, vegetables and other crops like Banana, Pomegranate, Mango, Chikoo, Guava, Amla, Cereals, Wheat and vegetables.”

Deepak did not only became more organized and informed about his agriculture practices but also with his money management, which is the most important part every farmer has to track. He started keeping the record of his income and expenses and became more economical. Whatever Deepakbhai used to save as an income, was later used for buying new land.

Marketing:

Marketing was a bit difficult in the beginning because Deepakbhai had no market for mango business. Middleman and traders use to give very less price for the mango production which was not acceptable to him. But after some time, Deepak came in contact with Sahakari Mandali and then he decided to tie up with the co-operative federation for packing mango juices. They offered right value of the produce to Deepakbhai which gave a great boost to his income.

Along with mango, Deepakbhai also planted banana, 250 kalipatti chikoo, and coconut trees along the border of the farm, and this gave a good rise in his income.

“Mango tree need great care which includes the right amount of water, fertilizer, and insecticides. Moreover, this time I have planted good quality mango trees, recommended by the university to achieve good production. In order to control the diseases, I follow all the medications instructed by the universities. Timely I also prune the fruit branches to give proper structure to the trees. I also get the water tested and all the defects are reformed.”

After seeing the success of Deepakbhai Patel, many farmers visit his farm to know which modern technology and methods he implements in his farm. Many farmers take guidance from Deepakbhai.

Deepakbhai gives a major credit to Navsari Agriculture Department and Atma Project for their support and guidance. With their help, Deepakbhai has implemented modern and scientific methods of farming on his farm. He has left not even a single source of information to gather farming knowledge.

“Drip irrigation in one of the water-saving farming method that I have established in my farm and it helps in saving water to a greater extent. Now unnecessary expenses are reduced and land has become more fertile and moist.”

During all this time, there also came a down moment in the life of Deepakbhai Patel. In 2013, Deepakbhai came to know that he was suffering from tongue cancer. He underwent an operation to recover from it and during the surgery, his main vocal part, his tongue was removed…he lost his ability to speak.

“But he never let his disability turn into his life’s inability.”

In 2017, he went under second operation in which the cancer was completely removed from his body and today he is a fine healthy man with strong determinations to achieve his dreams.

Award & Achievements:
In the year 20014- 15, Deepakbhai was awarded as “ATMA Best Farmer of Gujarat”.
Well, this is just one award to mention, his success in the field of horticulture has made him win around 19 awards, certificates, cash prize, and trophies on the state level.

Message

“Horticulture is a good source of income if done by following the right method as suggested by the universities. Farmers must invest in horticulture if they want to have a good future ahead.”

Manjinder Singh, Swarna Singh

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Successful Poultry Farming Venture, Established By Father And Flourished By Son

Everyone knows the history of the year 1984 in India, it was a gloomy era over Punjab when Sikhs were the major target of the massacre. This is a story, of an ordinary man- Swarna Singh, struggling and recovering from the same circumstances (1984) with just 2.5 acres of land in the name of assets for future survival. Swarna Singh also had some dreams that he wanted to fulfill, and for that, he was determined to pursue higher studies (Masters) after 12th and BA (Bachelor of arts). But maybe something else was decided in his destiny. In the year of 1983, when the youngsters of Punjab were at the peak of revolution mood against the democracy, at that time, things were not that simple for ordinary people, and Swarna Singh decided to left his masters in the middle and start something at home.

When the uproar was calming down, at that time, Swarna Singh ran behind every job opportunity to give a stable professional career to his life but nothing came in his hand. Finally, he decided to start poultry farming by getting inspired by other poultry farmers in his neighbourhood and in 1990, almost 2 decades ago, Sahota Poultry Breeding Farm was established. He initiated his venture with 1000 birds and a four storied shed with length 50 foot and width 35 foot. He invested 70,000 rupees on 1000 birds at that time by taking a loan, on which he got 25% subsidy form the government. Ever since then he never took any loan or subsidy from the government.

In 1991, he got married, and his poultry venture started well. He also invested in the hatchery. Slowly with the time when his son- Manjinder Singh grew up, he also decided to be a helping hand in his father’s business. He dropped his studies (12th standard) in the mid and took over his father business. The entrance of Manjinder in the poultry business doesn’t mean that Swarna Singh took retirement. Swarna Singh always stood beside his son to guide him in every step of poultry farming.

Swarna Singh – “Without the support of family, I would never have reached this stage in my life. Poultry is a good experience and I am earning a good profit of fifty to sixty thousand from poultry monthly. A farmer can easily opt poultry farming and earn good profit from it.”

Presently, Manjinder Singh (27-year-old) is managing the whole farm with his father and 2 workers. They grew vegetables, wheat, maize, paddy and fodder himself at their land. From the fodder crop, they prepare feed for the chicks and sometimes also buy “SAMPURNA” brand chick feed from the market. They also have 2 buffaloes for household purpose.

Manjinder- “To avoid loss and natural calamities, we take care of the chick and the shed properly. We get our new birds vaccinated time to time to avoid any kind of disease in the shed. We also take care of bio-security, because that is the main principle on which poultry farming is based.”

Implements:

Currently, Sahota Poultry Farm has 3 chicks incubator, a customized feed machinery that Swarna Singh got self-designed from Shahkot. They prepare 2.5 quintals of feed daily for the chicks. They also have 2 generators, feeders, and drinkers.

Marketing & Business:

Marketing is not that difficult for them, they sell 4000 birds every after four days. One bird gives 200 eggs annually and they replace every egg-laying bird after one year. The selling price is Rs. 25/chick, which give enough profit to them.

Future Plan:
He is planning to start dairy farming in the future.

Message:

“Whatever you do in the field of agriculture, do it with dedication because hard work always pays off.”

Mani Kaler

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How the Scattering Fragrance of Flowers Has Established a New Potential Floriculture Hub in Punjab

Investment in floriculture is one of the flourishing career choices in which farmers are taking great interest. There are many successful established floriculturist, who are scattering the sweet fragrance of gladiolus, roses, marigold and many other flowers and are creating a new potential floriculture hub in Punjab. One of the floriculturists, who is reaping great profit out of flower and vegetable business is Mani Kaler.

Like other landlords, Kaler family also use to give their land to other framers on lease, and on a small landholding, they use to grow wheat and paddy for home purpose. But when Mani Kaler completed his education (Bachelor of Arts) he decided of stepping in the business of horticulture. Mani took back half of the land (20 acres) that was given on rent and started farming on it.

After some time, with the help of one of his relative, Mani came to know about the RTS Flower business, which is successfully run by Gurwinder Singh Sohi. So, after getting inspired by the owner of RTS Flower, Mani finally started his flower venture and started growing five to six types of flowers like petunia, barbina, and mistasium etc.

In the beginning, he also gave a try to contract farming but after facing a bitter experience with the contracted company, he decided to apart his way with them.

In the second year of flower farming, he bought seeds worth rupees 1 lakh from Gurwinder Singh Sohi. He started gladiolus farming from 2 canals and today it’s been 2 years and he has expanded the farm in 5 acres.

Currently, he is farming on 20 acres of land, out which they are using 4 acres for low tunnel farming of vegetables, where they grow bitter gourd, pumpkin, eggplant, cucumber, muskmelon, garlic (1/2 acre), and onion (1/2 acre). For the home purpose, they grow paddy and wheat. From some time they have also started preparing onion seeds.

His hard work and diversified farming technique has resulted in increased income. Till now he has taken no subsidy from the government. He manages the whole marketing on his own and sells the flowers in the market of Delhi and Kurukshetra. Although, he makes good profit from vegetable and flower farming business, still he faces some problems in flower cultivation, but he never loses his hope and always continues his work with strong determination.

Mani’s family always supports him and never stops him from whatever he wants to do in the agriculture field. Presently, he is living with his father – Madan Singh and elder brother – Raju Kaler in his village Rai Dhariana of Sangrur district. For milk purpose, he rears 7 cattle out of which 2 are Murrah buffaloes. He never compromises with the care and feed of the cattle. He himself prepares the fodder with organically grown paddy, wheat, and fodder crops. In the free time, he also processes sugarcane juice into jaggery and sells it to the villagers.

Future plans:

In the future, he is planning to expand his flower farming business.

Message
“
Nowadays, farmers are stuck in the conventional cycle of paddy and wheat. They should start thinking and doing out if this cycle if they want to earn well.
“

Lovepreet Singh

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How Booming Interest of This B.Tech Graduate, Made Him Choose Agriculture as His Full-Time Career

Meet Lovepreet Singh, a young lad with B.Tech. Degree in his hand, who instead of having a choice of doing a desk job and living a comfortable city life, choose to stay in his village to reap prosperity out of agriculture.

About 20 km towards east from district headquarters Sangrur, Kapial village is situated in Bhawani Garh tehsil, where Lovepreet Singh is living with his father, grandfather, mother and sister.

In 2008-2009, Lovepreet started organic farming of wheat on just 1 acre of land because of his growing interest in the agriculture field. Rest of the land was given on lease to other farmers, as farming was never a primary source of income for Lovpreet’s family. Moreover, Lovpreet’s father- Mr. Sant Pal Singh was settled in Dubai and had a stable income to support the family needs.

As the time passed, Lovepreet’s interest grew more and his motherland called him back. Soon after completing his degree, he thought of taking his big step towards farming. He got his land soil sample tested by Punjab Agro and took rest of his land back from the farmers.

The next crop that Lovepreet organically cultivated on his land was turmeric and along with that he also started processing it by himself. Turmeric on 1 acre and wheat-paddy on 4 acres. But adopting organic farming completely was not acceptable by Lovepreet’s family. In 2010, when his father returned from Dubai, he was against Organic Farming, because in his views organic yields less productivity. But no criticism and no bad words had the power to stir the strong determination of Lovepreet.

To increase his income, Lovepreet decided of cultivating turmeric on large basis instead of wheat. In the beginning, he faced many problems in turmeric processing, as he had no knowledge of it, but with his efforts and expert advice, he was able to achieve all the difficulties. He started using cow and buffalo dung as manure in his field to increase the productivity and quality of the crop.

After seeing the results, his father also started helping him in farming. He even contacted Punjab Agro to get his turmeric powder get organic certification and by the end of this year, he will get that. Currently, he is actively involved in turmeric farming and processing. Whenever he gets time, he visits Punjab Agriculture University and read books suggested by the experts of the university to bring positive outcome in his farming. Punjab Agro also helps him with necessary information and make him interact with other progressive farmers who are actively involved in organic farming. Other than turmeric he is also cultivating Wheat, Paddy, Maize, Bajra, but on small scale.

Future Plan:
His future plan is to expand turmeric farming and processing work, and form a group of farmers doing organic farming. Purchase common machines for the use of the group and support farmers doing organic farming.

Message:

“
The one message that I want to convey to the farmers is that organic farming is very important to conserve the environment. Everyone should do organic and eat organic, in this way pollution can also be reduced.
”

Sher Baz Singh Sandhu

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SHER BAZ SINGH SANDHU, BRINGING WHITE REVOLUTION IN PUNJAB WITH THE BEST BREED OF BUFFALO- MURRAH

This is the story of a man who continued his interest in dairy farming and turned it into a successful dairy business- Lakshmi Dairy Farm.

Unlike many other farmers, Sher Baz Singh Sandhu had shifted away his mind in teenage from seeking employment in private and public sectors. His interest was developed in dairy farming and the reason behind Mr. Sandhu’s affinity toward dairy farming was his mother- Harpal Kaur Sandhu.

This love towards dairy farming was a thing which was carried from the maternal side of Sher Baz Singh Sandhu by her mother. In earlier times maternal grandfather of Mr. Sandhu, had a fascination of rearing best breeds of cattle. And this fascination was later on followed by her daughter after marriage, and by seeing his mother’s interest in cattle rearing, Mr. Sandhu was also influenced by it.

In 2002, Mrs. Harpal Kaur passed away. Yes, it was a sad moment for Mr. Sandhu, but after her mother’s death he got an inspiration to pursue his interest of cattle rearing in a better way and that was when he decided of entering the dairy farming venture. Mr. Sandhu sold the old cattle and bought a new buffalo of breed Murrah from a region in Haryana in Rs. 52,000. At that time, that Buffalo used to give 15-16 kg of milk per day.

In 2003, he bought again a new buffalo of the same breed in Rs. 80,000 and this buffalo was giving 25 kg milk at that time.

Then in 2004, he bought a male calf of buffalo in Rs. 75,000, by doing a complete family background check (her mother used to give 20 kg milk and also won an award for it).

And this is how he improved the breed of his farm buffaloes and increased the number of quality buffaloes in his farm.

Once, Lakshmi his buffalo won best breed championship in the Muktsar Mela and just after that, he named his farm – “LAKSHMI DAIRY FARM”.

Not only Lakshmi but many other buffaloes and bull are there like- Dhanno, Rani, Sikander…, who made Mr. Sher Baz Singh Sandhu proud and broke records again and again by winning prizes in Kissan Melas and for milk production and breed championship.

Some of his awards and achievements are mentioned below:

• Lakshmi Dairy Farm holds national record for buffalo milk.
• Sherbaj Singh has been awarded by “State Award for excellent services in Dairy Farming” by CM S. Parkash Singh Badal
• His buffalo came first in 8th National Livestock Championship
• Awarded by Sardar Gulzar Singh in Maghi Mela
• His buffalo won 1st award in milk production competition in Muktsar (2008)
• PDFA Mela in 2008, his buffalo got 1st award
• Buffalo (Dhanno) gave 25 kg milk and broke all records (2015)
• In January his Murrah buffalo won all the prizes in Muktsar Mela (2016)
• His bull (Sikander) won 2nd prize in the Muktsar Mela.
• Lakshmi Buffalo won best breed championship
• Rani Buffalo gave 26 kg and 357 gram of milk and created a new record and won first prize.
• Dhanno Buffalo gave 26 kg milk and came second in the same competition.
• Many articles have been published in the newspaper in advisory magazine

Today, he has total 50 Buffaloes in his farms spread over 1 acres and he sells all the milk in the city to multiple stores. Mr. Sandhu prefers to grow fodder by himself, he has total 40 acres of land in which he grows wheat, paddy, and fodder.

Mr. Sandhu’s son- Barinder Singh Sandhu who is an advocate by profession and his wife- Kulwinder Kaur Sandhu, is also very supportive in managing Lakshmi Dairy Farm. His son has created an FB page by the farm name which has around 3.5 lakhs of followers and he wants to increase the number of followers to 10 lakhs till 2022-23. Because of the farm’s popularity, many people even from foreign, buy buffaloes from them.

Mr. Sandhu always tries to help the farmers with dairy farming and motivate them to progress in it. He also provides good quality semen and milk to farmers.

FUTURE PLAN: His future plan is to increase the farm area and keep only quality buffaloes and provide good quality semen and milk to farmers.

Message:
“
Nowadays farmers are more interested towards rearing foreign breeds rather than local. They think foreign breeds can make them more profit. But this is not true. Because foreign breeds need a different climate and conditions, which is not possible in India. Moreover, rearing foreign breed need more expenses than local breed, which ordinary farmers are not able to manage. Due to which, after some time farmers shift to rearing local breeds or they stop rearing cattle completely.

Farmers should understand that now good breeds are also available in India which can produce 20-25 kg of milk per day. Farmers should opt dairy farming business along with farming because it helps in increasing the income. In this way, farmers can deal with the problem of unemployment and India can progress in dairy farming.
”

Karamjeet Kaur Danewalia

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HOW A WOMAN PURSUED HER PASSION OF FARMING AFTER HER MARRIAGE AND IS LIVING THROUGH IT SUCCESSFULLY

Generally, in India, when daughters are married away and sent to their husband’s home then they get so busy in their life after marriage that they forget to think about their interest and hobbies, they just get bounded to the household chores. But one such woman who pursued her passion even after marriage and outliving it is Mrs Karamjeet Kaur Danewalia. Instead of just becoming house woman she chose to step outside the house and pursue her hobby of orchard farming.

Mrs Karamjeet Kaur Danewalia is a woman who was born raised in a typical Punjabi farmer’s family of a small village. As coming from a farming background, Mrs Karamjeet was always fascinated towards farming and had an interest in helping his father in the fields. But she never get a chance to be a helping hand to her father before marriage.

Soon she was married to Mr Jasbeer Singh, to a business class family. She never thought that after marriage she would get an opportunity to fulfil her dreams and pursue it as her profession. Just after few years of marriage, in 1975, with the support of her husband, she decided to start with the fruits orchards and give a chance to her interest. With the help of leveller machine and workers, she levelled 45 acres of land and prepared it for orchard farming. She planted kinnows in 20 acres, Plums, pear, peach, java plum, banana, naak pears on 10 acres and in the rest of the 5 acres she planted wheat in winter and cotton in summer.

Her hobby changed into passion and she decided to continue it. In 1990 she build up a pond and stored rain water in it so that, she can irrigate her orchards with it. But later on, she started fish farming in it and used it for both purpose fish farming as well as irrigation. To expand the business to one level ahead she also started preparing seedling herself.

In 2001 she created a record of Kinnow production in India. And to make the kinnow orchards business more successful, she especially went to California in 2003 to take kinnow packaging and processing training. After coming back she implanted that training and gained a huge profit from it. Since she has started kinnow farming from that year her kinnow quality is always no. 1 in district level and state level, every year. And because of her growing popularity in kinnow production, Prakash Singh Badal (Former CM of Punjab) entitled her as the Kinnow Queen in 2004

For the farming purpose, she has every type of modern technological farming equipment and machinery at her farm. Her popularity in the horticulture field has made her member of many prestigious communities and recipient of many awards. Some of them are listed below:

• Awarded First Prize in State Level Citrus Show by Agriculture Minister S. Gulzar Ranika (2001-02)
• Awarded Desh Seva Rattan Award by Ravi Chopra by Shahee Memorial International Seva Society, Ludhiana. (2004)
• Entitled by Punjab’s Former CM- Prakash Singh Badal as Kinnow Queen in 2004
• Best Kinnow Grower Award by Agriculture Minister by S. Jagjit Singh Randhwa in 2005
• Awarded 2nd prize in state level citrus show kinnow crop (2012)
• 1st prize at district level citrus show kinnow crop (2012)
• 2nd prize district level citrus show kinnow crop (2010-11)
• 2nd Prize in state level citrus show kinnow crop (2010-11)
• Best women kinnow grower awarded by agriculture minister- S. Such Singh Langhah (2010)
• State awarded as innovative women farmer at kissan mela by PWD Minister S. Shranjit Singh Dhillon & V.C PAU, Ludhiana (2012)
• Champion Female Farmer Award for excellence in agriculture at 7th National conference on KVK at PAU, Ldh. Presented by Mr. Sharad Pawar Minister of Agriculture, Govt. Of India. (2012)
• Award of Honor in progressive women farmer on 64th Republic Day at Amritsar presented by Chief Minister, Punjab, S. Parkash Singh Badal. (2013)
• Award of appreciation in innovative contribution to Indian agriculture at global agri connect (NSFI) IARI, New Delhi presented by Dr. R.R Hanchinal, Chairperson PPUFRA, Govt. Of India, Ministry of Agriculture. (2013)
• National Awarded as Best Kinnow grower of Punjab at NRCC (National Research Centre of Citrus Nagpur) (2012)
• Bharat Jyoti Award for Meritorious Service, Outstanding Performance & Remarkable role in Agriculture presented by Dr. Bhisham Narain Singh(former governor of Tamilnadu & Assam) (2013)
• Bharat Gaurav Award as in Recognition of contribution and dedication to worthy cause and your achievement in keeping the flag of India high presented by Justice OP Verma former governor of Punjab at New Delhi. (2015)
• Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal Agri Award as best farmer horticulture of her outstanding contribution as a horticulturist in adoption & promotion of kinnow farming presented by Agriculture minister S. Tota Singh and Cabinet Minister S. Gulzar Singh Ranika and Mr. Dinesh Sharma editor, Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal.
• Member of PAU Kisan Club,
• Member of Punjab AGRO,
• Member of Punjab Horticulture Department,
• Member of Mandi Board,
• Member of Changi Kheti,
• Member of Kinnow Utpadak Sanstha,
• Member of Co-operative Society,
• Member of Kisan Salahkar Committee.
• Member of PAU, Ludhiana Board of Management

Despite being a recipient of so many awards and appreciation, she is always curious to learn something new and that’s why she never misses any district level agricultural events or meetings. She also regularly visits farms of the farmers who are associated with PAU and Hisar Agriculture University to learn something new from there and gain knowledge.

Today she is harvesting 130 ton of kinnows per hectare and generating revenue of 1 lakh and 65 thousand from it. From the rest of the fruit orchards and wheat and cotton crops, she is making revenue of 1 lakh each in every season.

Behind all her success, she gives credit to his husband who supported her dreams also helped her in farming all these years. Other than farming she is also contributing to a very good cause for the society; she helps in poor girls get marriage by providing financial help and other marriage material also. Her future plan is to make agriculture a more profitable commercial business.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS-

“
Farmers have to start maintaining their expenses properly and stop showing off what they don’t have. Today, agriculture field needs more attention, so young kids even daughters should also be involved and taught about this field. And everyone should remember one thing that every human being in the field of agriculture is a farmer first and then a businessman.
”

Rajpal Singh Gandhi

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RAJPAL SINGH GANDHI, REVEALING THE SWEET SECRET OF NATURE THROUGH STEVIA FARMING

Have you tasted the success sweeter than sugar? You may have not, but this income tax consultant from Banga has tasted the success 400 times sweeter than the most common sweetener, sugar, with zero calories. Yes, I’m talking about stevia farming!

Rajpal Singh Gandhi has led a movement in India and in the coming time, it is surely going to change the world’s taste.

After advising people on choosing their investment wisely for a tenure of 10 years, finally, Rajpal Gandhi thought of entering the agriculture field. Unlike the other average farmers of Punjab, Rajpal Gandhi not only had the money to start a new venture and grow natural sweetener in the sub-mountainous area in Shivalik foothills but also open a processing plant with hard research.

Well, the beginning of entering agriculture field was not that smooth for Gandhi. He started with Kinnow orchards in 2003 over 35 acres, but due to lack of marketing facilities, he was forced to reduce the crop production to half till 2008.

“I also tried planting Gladiolus, Potato, and other vegetables, but as there was no improvement in the marketing facilities, so I switched to stevia farming and that was the wisest decision that I took.”

He started stevia farming on 6 acres of land, but as there was no processing unit, so his 10 years of hard work was of no use. At last, he contacted Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, to assemble a prototype for them. And after lakhs of investments, multiple shortcomings, research and meeting of many scientists, engineers, and innovators, they came up with a sweet result.

Today, Gandhi has the only stevia research laboratory in India and it is certified by the Indian Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). By taking a soft loan from the department of biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and technology this processing plant and research centre has been established. It almost took three years to completely set up the processing unit. Dreaming and then making that dream come true was easy for Gandhi because ministry liked his innovative idea.

Today his 12-crore stevia processing plant process around 5 tonnes of stevia leaves in a shift of 8 hours, which is equivalent to the crop of 5 acres.

Starting stevia processing plant was a challenge and Gandhi turned it into an opportunity, not only for him but for many other people who are now employed just because of Gandhi’s initiative. After establishing the tissue culture laboratory and the processing unit, today Gandhi’s company is developing the more improved varieties of stevia and after its cultivation and processing, they are selling it in a powdered form in small sachets and container. Today, stevia green tea manufactured by him is booming in the market, but this is not the end.

“The expense of cultivating stevia on 1 acre is almost equal to cultivating any other normal crop on 1 acre. If anybody is interested in stevia farming then we also provide plants, and if anyone wants to do it in a large area then we also provide the technology to multiply the plants according to the area.”

Gandhi’s work has lured Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh State Government towards him. He was invited by the chief secretary of Gujarat and after that, he signed a deal to grow stevia over 2500 acres in the Aravali and Kaparganj districts with 100% buy-back clause. He also signed an agreement with Uttar Pradesh medicinal plant board Lucknow to grow this sweet plant over 4,000 acres. The increasing prosperity of Gandhi was not a small spark that would vanish in no time, but it was an explosion which attracted Punjab Ex. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal towards his work. Currently, Gandhi is in stevia promotion bureau in the state with Suresh Kumar as additional chief secretary. Not missing the chance he has already started helping the farmers in Punjab also (he is helping farmers in stevia cultivation over 25 acres in Gurdaspur, Ludhiana and Ferozepur district and slowly he will make sure that stevia cultivation area expands in Punjab by this season).

Well, these were some in-nation effects of Gandhi’s work. Even before establishing the processing plant, Gandhi visited China and South American countries like Columbia and Paraguay to know more about this plant. His visit made him sign the contract with Canadian Company Pixels Health for as much as Stevia powder Gandhi could process. Even Germans also visited his farm- Green Valley Stevia, after knowing about it.

Gandhi is also the only member from Punjab of Indian Council of Food and Agriculture, of which MS Swaminathan – “The father of Indian Green Revolution” is also a part of. In last September Gandhi was awarded by him and he declared that stevia growing was the sweet revolution for health.

In the coming time, Stevia is going to be the future crop. Japan’s 70% population has already switched to stevia and Gandhi is looking forward to investing there. Even his stevia product has also been approved by the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India in November 2015. Even Multi-National Companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola has also launched their new products called – Zero-Calorie Pepsi and Coke-life in which they are using stevia as sweetener and Gandhi is looking forward to investing in it.

Stevia is the future crop, as the plant life is up to 5 years once they are planted; and they can be harvested every after 4 months. For farmers as well as the citizens, stevia is a profitable venture as its market value is also good and it is healthy to consume.

From a fact- India had an estimated 31,705,000 diabetics in the millennium year which is estimated to grow by over 100% to 79,441,000 by 2030.

Gandhi says –

“In India, there is at least one sugar patient in every family and this is an alarming situation. But if we start using stevia in place of sugar then we can reduce the increasing number of the diabetic patient.”

Gandhi is doing his part in flourishing the agriculture field with new opportunities. You can also be the part of this venture by investing in stevia farming.

Message:
“
Our main mission is wealthy farmer and healthy society. Today, the falling economic condition is the main reason that is forcing the poor farmers to commit suicide, and for these types of shameful circumstances only we are responsible. To cover the losses, crop diversification is important, farmers should grow crops like Stevia and other medicinal plants, and state government and central government should act accordingly to make their plans more effective.
”

Nirmal Singh

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HOW PIG FARMING HAS CHANGED THE LIFE OF NIRMAL SINGH AND IS LEADING HIM IN THE DIRECTION OF PROSPERITY

In India, pigs might not be rampant pets in the households, but they are sure moneymaker when it comes to pig farming. And one of the best thing with this occupation is that you can start with little capital.

In Punjab, pig farming is booming as a popular occupation among the farmers and many people are showing interest in it. Although many people still view piggery as a low profile occupation, but now it doesn’t matter at all. Because piggery has totally changed the perspective and life of farmers in Punjab. One such a farmer who is successfully practicing piggery and generating good revenue from it is Nirmal Singh.

From the times of grandfather and great-grandfather, Nirmal Singh’s family was involved in agriculture, for them, there was no alternative occupation to earn money. But when Nirmal Singh grew up and took everything in his hand after completing his studies (12th standard), then he started dairy farming along with wheat and paddy farming. For about one and half year he did dairy farming for commercial purpose, but in December 2015, when he visited one of his friend’s marriage in Bathinda, then he came to know about pig farming. He was excited to know about it, so after the marriage, next day he visited the farm named as BT Piggery situated in Sanghera. After his visit to the pig farm, he was interested to adopt this occupation.

Before starting the piggery venture he thought of taking an expert advice and training from the experienced person, so he especially attended 5 days training given by GADVASU (Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University), Ludhiana. After taking training he started pig farming with 10 female pigs and 1 male pig. He established the piggery farm on 2 kanals area.

With increasing value of pig farming, his venture went well and today he has around 90 pigs at his farm, out of which 10 female pigs and 1 male pig that he bought in the beginning for reproduction are the same. In a month he sells around 10-12 pigs at the cost of 150 Rs/Kg for female pigs and 85 Rs/Kg for male pigs. His brother and son help him in his venture and he has kept no other worker for help. To maintain the healthy pigs, he prefers to make pig’s feed on his own; he buys the raw material from the market and processes it himself.

Today, Nirmal Singh is counted as one of the members of Progressive Pig Farmers Association, GADVASU. He also received first award, certificate and cash prize at district level in Pashudhan Championship which was held at Shri Muktsar Sahib.

Currently, he is living with his wife, a son and a daughter in his village Lubanian Wali village in Muktsar. His future plan is to expand his pig farm and start pig products processing. He also helps other farmers and recommends them this profession for better income.

Message:
“Before starting anything, training is very much important. Every farmer must take training to improve their skills, otherwise, there is a huge risk even in a simple task.”

If you are also thinking about starting pig farming business in Punjab, then this is the right time for you. Contact Apni Kheti for information regarding pig training, pig breeding or pig farming.

Harbir Singh Pandher

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HOW FATHER’S INVESTMENT IN APICULTURE, HELPED SON REAP RICH DIVIDENDS FROM IT IN THE FUTURE

The young scion of Pandher family – Harbir Singh Pandher not only took his father’s beekeeping business ahead but he also turns it into a profitable venture with his ideas and efforts.

Harbir Singh, a residence of Kuhli Khurd, Ludhiana is a young lad who even after holding an engineering degree in Civil, decided to continue his father’s occupation and give it a boost with his innovative ideas.

When Beekeeping Business was basically introduced to Pandher Family….

Gurmail Singh Pandher – Father of Harbir Singh, started beekeeping business almost 35 years ago without any training. In 80’s, when nobody ever thought that apiculture can also be a profitable source of income at that time the futuristic mind of Gurmail Singh ran in a different direction. At that time, he started his apiculture business with mere two honey-bee boxes, and today his son has turned his work into a flourishing endeavour of 700 honey-bee boxes.

Even though Harbir’s father beekeeping work was making a good profit but it was still lacking the marketing perspective, due to which they were not able to cover the ideal market. So, Harbir thought of giving his father local business a boost with his planning and thinking. Harbir just after completing his studies overtook his father’s business. Choosing father’s business was not a compulsion for Harbir, it was his passion to continue the work which he has seen his father doing all his childhood.

The first thing that Harbir did after he started managing his father’s work was to give a brand name to the business- “ROYAL HONEY”. Harbir was well aware that to promote a business on larger scale branding is very much important, so he got his business registered under this brand name. To give his work a more professional touch, Harbir especially visited PAU in 2011 for beekeeping training.

In the year 2013 he also gets his product registered under AGMARK and today from packaging to marketing, he does everything himself. He is mainly focusing on two products and that is honey and bee wax.

Harbir has mainly Italian Bees at his farm, and to maintain the higher quality of the honey yield they do season to season migration of honey-bee boxes from one place to another in nearby states of Punjab. He has employed 7 workers for this work. Mainly he leaves his boxes in Chittorgarh (Carrom Seeds fields), Quota (Mustard fields), Himachal Pradesh (Multi-flower), Malout (Sunflower fields) and another place in Rajasthan (Bajra & Tuar fields) by taking area on rent. By the method of manual processing, he extracts honey and then does the packaging and marketing of his products.

Other than beekeeping, Harbir and his family are also doing farming and dairy farming. They have 7 acres of land on which they grow rice and wheat for home purpose, and have 15 buffaloes, whose milk they sell in the village and also keep some of it for personal use.

Currently, Harbir is making a good profit from his family business and in the free time, he also helps other people by guiding them towards the beekeeping business. Harbir’s future plan is to expand his business to a larger extent and also become fully independent in terms of marketing.

Message for Farmers:

“
Nowadays farmers shouldn’t be dependent on farming only, they should adopt other agribusinesses also along with farming, so that if one option fails then they at least have other option to survive. Beekeeping is a very profitable business and farmers must give it a try to know about its benefits.
”

Gurdeep Singh Brar

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A MAN’S AWAKENING TRANSITION: FROM CONVENTIONAL FARMING TO ORGANIC FARMING

The main reason behind people’s awakening is because they have finally stopped agreeing to the things that doesn’t satisfy them. It is said that when a person is evolving into something good, at that time the road may seem lonely but you are simply shedding the things and habits that no longer is required. One such person who went opposite of the society’s trend and gone through an awakening transition of conventional to organic farming is Mr Gurdeep Singh Brar.

Gurdeep Singh Brar is a resident of village Mehma Sawai , District Bathinda. 17 years back a huge transition phase came into Mr Gurdeep’s life which totally changed his views and methods of farming. Today, Mr Singh is a successful and well known organic farmer in Bathinda. And his earning is also very good as compared to the other farmers who are practicing conventional farming.

Before doing organic farming, Gurdeep Singh Brar was an ordinary farmer who used to do the same thing that he saw while growing up all his childhood. He had only 2 acres of land on which he was farming and his income was only hand to mouth.

In 1995 he came in contact with the experts of Farmer Salahkar Seva Kendra. There he discussed all his farming related doubts with them and found out all the solutions and answers of it. He also get associated with the experts of KVK Bathinda branch. After sometime the experts of Farmer Salahkar Kendra motivated him to make a small kitchen garden in 1 canal of area by providing him a vegetable seed kit. When the kitchen garden idea went successful then he expanded the 1 canal area to 2 canal and started generating good produce of vegetables out of it.

In 1999, just after 4 years he came in touch with Ambuja Cement Foundation, he co-operated with them and visited many different farms…

Some of them are:
• Nabha Organic Farm
• Bhagat Puran Singh farm in Ganga Nagar.
• Organic Farm

This whole series of visit to different farms inspired him towards organic farming. And after that he also started growing seasonal fruits along with vegetables. He uses organic method for seed treatment, traps for pest control and also prepare organic manure. For seed treatment he uses Neem Water, Cow Urine (Gau Mutr), mixture of Lime Stone Water and Asafetida water mixture. He also uses Jivamrit (made by him at home) to make vegetable yield more healthy and chemical free. For pest attack prevention he uses sour buttermilk (Lassi made by him) in his fields. He is also very conscious towards the water management so for irrigation he uses drip irrigation system.

Gurdeep Singh has also established a vermi-compost unit at his farm so that he can provide pure organic manure to the vegetables and fruits. He has made two holes of 1 canal each, where he decomposes cow dung, buffalo dung, and poultry manure.

Along with farming he also prepares seed of pumpkin, bitter gourd and ridge gourd himself at home, which completely end his need of buying vegetable seeds from the market. To increase the quantity and quality if the pumpkin, he especially uses rope mesh to give pumpkin vines proper support.

Today his vegetable are so popular that people from Bathinda, Goniana Mandi and other nearby villages visit his farm especially to buy vegetables. When it comes to marketing the vegetables, then he is never dependent on any third person. He himself sell his produce by making 500 grams of packets and in current date he is earning good profit out of it.

For his farming techniques and methods he is awarded with many local awards and he also has membership of many farming societies and organization. In 2015, he received Surjit Singh Dhillon Award from PAU. Reaching up to this level for a man who never went to school, is really considerable. Currently he is living with his mother, wife and son in his village. His future plans is to continue organic farming and provide health and chemical free food to the community.

Message Given To Farmers:
“
Today cancer like disease is spreading among the people is because of chemicals being used by the farmers. I’m not saying that farmers shouldn’t use fertilizer and pesticide, but they should reduce its use and switch to organic farming. In this way they can stop the soil and water pollution and can also prevent cancer like deadly diseases.
”

These are some of his inventions

Angrez Singh Bhullar

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How the deteriorating health of this farmer enlighten him to recognize his mistake and switch to organic farming

Angrez Singh Bhullar, this 53 old year farmer from Giddarbaha, after recognizing what mistakes he has made and how it is affecting his health, made the most enlightened decision of his life.

In the young age of 4, Angrez Singh Bhullar lost his father. His family conditions were deteriorating day by day, as there was no bread earner. They were surviving on the money they were getting from their land rented to the relatives. There were two elder sisters in his family and fulfilling the family needs was becoming very difficult for his mother day-by-day. Due to worsening financial conditions, Angrez Singh received academic qualification until 9th class only and his sisters never went to school.

After dropping off from the school, Angrez Singh used to spend time with his uncles on their farm and learn some farming techniques from them. Until 1989 the land was rented to relatives, but after that Angrez Singh was big enough to take the responsibility of the family, so, he decided of taking his land back, and start farming on it.

On the behalf of whatever he learned from his uncle and by seeing other farmers of his village, he also started chemical farming. He started earning well and financial conditions of his family were improved. Soon after some time he got married and was living a happy family life.

But in 2006, he got sick and suffered from major health issues. Earlier he used to take this problem lightly but later after getting diagnosed, he came to know that his intestine are swelled up which can lead to serious problem in the future. At that time, many people use to visit him to ask him about his well-being, and someone told him that using chemical in farming is the reason behind your health issues and you should start organic.

Although many people told him many things to do, to get cure, but the one thing that knocked his mind hardly was switching to organic. He took this matter very seriously and started organic farming in 2006 with 2.5 acres of land. He grew wheat, vegetables, fruits, lemon, guava, sugarcane and paddy and earned good profit from it. To multiply his profit, he thought of processing his produce on his own and then he started making jaggery out of sugarcane. He adopted manual jaggery processing method as he was starting this venture on his own. In the beginning, he was unsure that how it is going to benefit him, but slowly his village people started liking his jaggery. Slowly the jaggery demand rose up to a level that he started making jaggery on advance booking. After sometime he also established vermicomposting plant at his farm to reap good harvest from homemade manure.

He has received many awards, achievements and attended many training camps, and some of them are listed below:

• Participated in District Muktsar Science Fair held between 15 to 18 November in 1979.

• Participated in 90 days training of Artificial Insemination organized by Verka Plant Bathinda in 1985.

• Attended 3-days-training of Hybrid Seeds Preparation organized by PAU, Ludhiana in 1988.

• Received Yog Teacher’s Training Certificate for participating in Patanjali Yog Samiti from 9 July to 14 July of 2009.

• Appreciation from the Director of Kheti Baadi Vibhag, Punjab, 28 Sep, 2012.

• Participated in Vibrant Gujarat Global Agricultural Summit held at 9 & 10 Sep on 2013.

• Appreciation Letter for Natural Farming & Environmental Fair which was help on 26 July, 2013 by Kheti Virasat Mission.

• Received appreciation for attending Rabi Crops Farmer Training Camp at state Level- by Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) on 21st Sep, 2014, Organized by Kheti Baadi Vibhag, Dist. Shri Muktsar Sahib, Punjab.

• Appreciation Letter by Kheti Baadi Vibhag at shri Muktsar sahib on 21st Sep, 2014 for State Level Farmer Training Camp.

• Participated in Advance training course of Bee Breeding 7 Mass Bee Rearing Technique organized by PAU on 12-14 Oct, 2014.

• Attended Poultry Farming Training of 2 weeks organized by Department of Animal Husbandry, Punjab at Sarkari Murgi Sewa Kendra, Kotkapura.

• Registered as a Beekeeper by National Bee Board

• Received CRI Award.

• Attended Kharif Crop Farming 1-day-Training camp organized by KVK, Goniana.

• Attended 10 days beekeeping training organized by PAU Ludhiana.

• Attended 1-day-Training Pest Control in Grains stored in Storehouse organized by KVK, Goniana.

• Participated in Organic & Herbal Products Mela organized by department of Rural Development, NITTTR, Chandigarh.

• Participated in workshop training programme- “MARKET LED EXTENSION” conducted by PAMETI (Punjab Agriculture Management & Extension Training Institute), PAU.

Angrez Singh Bhullar is a futuristic farmer of Punjab who understands the importance of going organic. Today, we need more farmers like him to deal with the worsening environment conditions.

Message for Farmers:
“If we don’t start organic farming now then our future generation will be in a big problem.”

Prem Raj Saini

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HOW A UTTAR PRADESH FARMER IS BLOOMING HIS BUSINESS WITH FLORICULTURE

Floriculture is a profitable livelihood choice and it is booming lives of many farmers across the country. One such farmer- Mr. Prem Raj Saini from Peer Nagar village of Uttar Pradesh is an emerging floriculturist and he is an ideal example for the rest of the farmers in our society.

Prem Raj’s father was the biggest inspiration behind Prem Raj being a floriculturist. It’s a matter of the seventies when his father used to bring different varieties of flower seeds from Delhi to grow it in their farm. He used to observe his father very closely and from that time only he wanted to do something related to flower farming. Although, Prem Raj Saini is a B.Sc graduate and he could have chosen a different occupation other than farming, but he chose to follow his dreams.

On 20th May 2007, his father got expired and just after that Prem Raj decided of starting what his father left in the middle. At that time the family was financially stable and his brothers were also settled. He started farming and his elder brother opened a wholesale flower shop through which they will be selling their farming produce. The other two younger brothers were doing jobs but later on, they also joined Prem Raj and elder brother in their venture.

One initiative taken by Prem Raj united the whole family into one thread. The eldest brother is managing two flower shop in Kanjipur Phul Mandi, Prem Raj himself manage the whole farm work, and the two younger brothers are managing the shops in Sabzi Mandi of Noida. In this way, they have divided all their work, resulting in increased income. They have kept only one permanent labour and they hire more when they need in the harvesting season.

Prem Raj farms every type of flowers and vegetables according to the season. For better yield, he is following Net house farming and Bed farming method. Moreover, for good quality of yield, he avoids the use of chemical and use pesticide very rarely when required. In this way, his expenses are also reduced to half. He use all the latest farming equipment like tractor and rotavator at his farm.

Future Plan-

Saini brothers are planning to establish more shops at the different location for better income. Their future plan is to expand their farming area and business.

Family-

Currently, he is living with his full-fledged complete family (Mother, Wife, two sons and one daughter) in his village. He is very open-minded and he never enforces his thinking on his children. With floriculture business and income, today, Prem Raj Saini and his brothers are supporting every need of their family.

Message
“Nowadays, there is job scarcity, because if there is one job vacancy then there are thousands of applicants to apply for it. So, if you have land, then it’s better to start farming and reap benefit from it. Take farming as your job rather than as a low profile occupation.”

Satya Rani

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SATYA RANI: A SELF-MADE WOMAN RISING LIKE A SUN IN THE FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

When it comes to development, then there is no doubt that women are playing a major role in shaping and guiding the young minds of India. Even in agriculture field also women are not left behind, they are leading the way to sustainable and organic farming. Today, many Indian women from both rural and urban areas are aware of the issues related to chemicals used in farming and they are also working towards this cause. Satya Rani is also one of those women who is doing organic farming and is also actively involved in the food processing business.

With rising health issues and climatic change, food security has become a major challenge to deal with, and Satya Rani is one of the emerging agripreneur who is working towards this issue.

It was Satya’s childhood dream to contribute to the agriculture field and give back to nature. From the beginning, her parents always guided her and inspired her and finally the little girl’s dream was transformed into a woman’s vision.

There also came a bad time in Satya’s life, in which if there was any another girl, then she would have lost her confidence and hope easily, but Satya didn’t. Satya’s parents told her to stop her studies after 12th because of financial problems, but she was so determined towards her future that she told her parents that she will manage her higher studies on her own. She started part time job of making food roducts like pickles and chutneys and started selling it.

During this time she learned a lot of new things and her interest was increased towards food processing business. After completing her BA from Hindu Girls College, Jagadhri, she got the job of home science trainer in the same college. Soon after that she was married to Rajinder Kumar Kamboj in 2004, but after marriage also she didn’t give up her work. She continued her food processing work and developed many new products like mango laddoo, coconut laddoo, pickles, fruit jams, murraba and many other different types of laddoo. Her efficiency increased with the time resulting in good quality products and larger customer base.

Well, food processing is not the only field in which she excelled. From her school time, she was very active in sports and she was the captain of the Kabbadi Team. She was also very zealous towards her profession, and for her work, she even achieved Best Training Award by Hindu Girls College. Currently, she is doing organic farming on 1 acre of land and is also actively involved in dairy farming. She grows every type of seasonal vegetables with the help of her husband. Satya Organics is the brand name under which she is selling all her processed products (different types of laddoo, pickles, Jam, and Murabba)

In the coming time, she is planning to expand her work and make more revenue from it. She also wants to inspire other girls and women in the society towards food processing and organic farming, so that they can become self-dependent.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS-
“If God has given you everything – physically fit body and mentally fit mind, then you should work in a constructive direction and make use of strength in a positive way. Every person should recognize the hidden talent in themselves so that they can work towards it in benefiting the society.”

Kulwant Kaur

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“Behind every successful woman is herself”
– How Kulwant Kaur proved this quote absolutely true

In India there are many women who have extraordinary personalities, not citing the looks but their skills and confidence are what makes them amazing from the others. Nothing can stop them from accomplishing what they aim at, and the reason behind their unique persona is that they are the inspiration of themselves.

One such a woman who realized the calling and chose agribusiness as her future plan is Kulwant Kaur. As being from a farming background, Kulwant Kaur and her husband Jaswinder Singh were doing paddy and wheat farming and were also actively involved in dairy farming. From the beginning, family’s main focus was on dairy business, because they owned 2.5 acres of land and used to take land on the lease when necessary. With 30 buffaloes in the dairy farm, their milk business was flourishing very well and was more profitable as compared to farming.

Kulwant Kaur was very interested in agriculture and the trades related to it, and one day when she read about KVK Fatehgarh Sahib then she decided of joining it. She took fruit and vegetable management training of 5 days from there in 2011. On the last day of the training, she participated in a competition and won first prize in making apple jam and turmeric pickle. The first prize that she won there was her first achievement in her life, and this achievement made her so determined and inspired that she decided to start this work on her own. Her products were so good that soon she gained a good customer base.

Gradually her work speed, efficiency, and product quality got better with the time and turmeric pickle became the most in demand product of her. Later on, to enhance her skills she joined KVK Samrala for Phenyl, Soap, Amla Juice, Chutney and Pickle training. To make her training in use, she especially visited Delhi to purchase Amla juice machine. Very soon she grasped the technique of making aloe-vera juice, shampoo, gel, and hand wash from the same machine and after seeing the processed products she was enthused and gained confidence.

It was her confidence and achievements which always motivated Kulwant Kaur in doing more. Finally, Kulwant Kaur started manufacturing products at home and also marketed them herself. Her interest towards agribusiness drifted her more towards this field. In 2012 she became the member of PAU Kisan Club. And after that, she took every training given by them. Her interest towards farming was increased and slowly they reduced their dairy farm work.

Besides Paddy and wheat, now, Kulwant Kaur and her husband started growing mung beans, sugarcane, fodder crop, turmeric, aloe-vera, tulsi and stevia also. From turmeric, she is producing turmeric powder, turmeric pickle, and Panjeeri (sweet dry powder mixture made up of Bengal Gram Chickpea powder, Flour, and Clarified butter). Panjeeri and turmeric pickle are her most in demand products.

Well her journey was not that easy, she faced many problems also. She planted 1000 stevia plants out of which only half survived. As she knew that stevia cost is very expensive (Rs 1500/Kg) due to which it out of reach for common people. So, she found out a different way of selling it, she bought green tea from the market and mixed stevia in it and started selling it at Rs. 150 per 100 grams. Because of the stevia’s health benefits for diabetic patients, the tea was purchased by many local homes and other customers also.

Currently, she is manufacturing around 40 products and is selling it in the nearby market and in PAU fairs. She also has a product called Satras (made up of Tulsi, apple vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic, aloe-vera, garlic, and amla) especially for heart patients and it is very effective also.

Along with the skills, Kulwant Kaur also likes to be updated with all the latest farming machinery and equipment. She has all the farming machinery and, she uses laser leveller to level the fields. Her whole family is helping her and is working with her especially her husband. Her daughter is doing government job and her son is helping her in the business. Currently, the main focus of the family is towards marketing and less on agriculture. Her efforts in the agribusiness field have made her won first prize in Kisan Mela (Patiala) for turmeric products. Besides this, she also received Sardarni Jagbir Kaur Grewal Memorial Award at Kisan Mela (organized by Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana in 2013)

Today whatever Kulwant Kaur has achieved that is only because of her own belief. In future, she wants to market all her products herself. She also wants to impart training to other women in the society so that they can stand on their own and be independent.

Message to farmers:

“Ladies should be productive in their free time because this helps in managing the home finances effectively. They should take advantage of the food processing training and step forward in the field of agribusiness. Agribusiness is a very profitable venture in which people can make money without any big investments.”

Mahak Singh

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FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING– HOW THIS MAN IS HELPING FARMERS BY UPDATING THEM WITH MODERN FARMING TECHNIQUES

Nowadays, very few people justify the true meaning of philanthropist and Mahak Singh is one of them.

Mahak Singh is a normal agriculture expert from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. For making his own retirement a positive experience for others, this man chose to help farmers by updating them with better farming methods.

From the beginning, Mahak Singh was interested towards agriculture, because he was from a farming background. He always felt a pull towards the land, towards that land which gave him everything throughout his life, and because of this reason agriculture still, exists in his life and plays an important role.

Well, in many farmer’s families it is a trend to give your child higher education so that he doesn’t have to be dependent on farming occupation and he can choose any other job profile as his career. But in Mahak Singh’s family, the situation was just opposite, his parents always inspired him towards agriculture, and that is why he chose B. Sc. Agriculture during his college time. After completing his college he got a government job in District Agriculture Department of Muzaffarnagar as a Subject Matter Expert.

“There was one more reason for choosing B.Sc. Agriculture, I wanted to help the unprivileged farmers who were not aware of better farming techniques and methods and after joining the hob as an agriculture expert I got a chance to do that.”

As being a farmer’s son, he always understood the common problems of farmers. While working in Agriculture Department, he was always posted in backward areas (tribal areas) like Sonbhadra, Lakhimpur, Mirzapur and Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. During that time he used to work for poor farmers and he also rented a quarter near their village, so that, he can closely observe them and help them in farming. He devoted 40 years to his profession and got retired in July 2016.

His passion towards farming was so much that after retirement, he decided to devote the rest of his life to agriculture so that he can contribute to the farmer’s society and help them. Even today also if any farmer needs help at any odd hour of time, he is always ready to help them.

“I’m very grateful to my life that I got the opportunity to help farmers.”

To help the farmers he has especially created a Whats App Group by the name ‘Hello Kisaan’ and he is also using Facebook as a medium to reach farmers and help them. Even after serving the state service and helping farmers at such a great level, he never accepted or showed any kind of interest in any kind of award.

Future Plans:
In the future also he wants to continue his work and help the farmers.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS-
“Every farmer must get their land tested from the experts and check that which minerals are present in it and in what amount. So that they can grow crops accordingly and also add required bio-fertilizers. ”

Kaushal Singh

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HOW THIS YOUNG STUDENT FARMER OF GURDASPUR IS SETTING GOALS FOR OTHER YOUNGSTERS IN THE FIELD OF FARMING

This young student of Gurdaspur is unlike other student, he is not the one who chose farming because his father use to do that and he had no other option left, but he chose farming as an alternate learning option along with his studies.

Meet Kaushal Singh an aspiring student who in the bright young age of 22 has setup his own agri-business. Yes, just 22, in this blooming age where most of the youngsters are still confused with their career option, Kaushal Singh has made up his own product of brand name “CANE FARMS” and he is also marketing the products in the market.

Kaushal, comes from a family of Zamindars (landlords), and they use to give their land on rent to other farmers. Earlier their ancestors use to do farming but as the time passed the next generation prefer to go away from farming, but who knew that the youngest generation of the family will start his journey with farming again.

Well the journey of Kaushal Singh up to “CANE FARMS” was not that clear and easy. Like other youngsters of Punjab, Kaushal Singh also had plans to go abroad to his elder brother after completing his school (12th). Even his Visa for Australia was also ready, but at the end moment the whole family was hit by a very sad news. Kaushal Singh’s mother was detected with cancer, due to which Kaushal cancelled his plan of going abroad.

Although Kaushal’s mother didn’t survived cancer but then he decided to do something productive by staying in India in his home town only. In all the hard times Kaushal never lost his hope and connectivity with studies. He enrolled himself in B.Sc. Agriculture and thought that

“I thought that we have enough money and 12 acres of land here in Punjab, so why not utilize it properly.”

So he took back his land from the renters and started farming sugarcane organically. In 2015 he produced Jaggery and Jaggery Powder out of Sugarcane. As he had no knowledge in the beginning about marketing so he started selling it openly without any packing and branding. But Kaushal faced a huge loss in this venture.

But as it said that nothing can stop the flying heart. So Kaushal decided of partnering with his friends- Harinder Singh Rear. Along with him Kaushal cultivated sugarcane in 10 acres of land and Harinder in 20 acres. This time Kaushal was very cautious and he took expert advice from Dr. Ramandeep Singh- Agribusiness Expert in Punjab Agriculture University.

Dr. Ramandeep Singh inspired Kaushal and he told Kaushal to start packing and branding his product before selling it in the market. Kaushal did the same, he started selling his product from his nearby village markets. He faced failure and success both, some shopkeepers happily accepted his product but some didn’t. But slowly Kaushal set his feet strongly in the market and he started getting good response.

Kaushal decided his brand name SWEET GOLD before getting it registered but later on he changed the name to CANE FARMS because of the unavailability of the name.

Today Kaushal and his friend is managing everything on their own- from farming to marketing and they are selling their product in the whole Punjab. They also have designed a logo for their brand. Earlier they were buying box and stickers from the market, but now Kaushal has started doing everything at his own level.

Future Plan

In future we are planning to take every organic farmer along with us in our venture to sell the products. So that other farmers who are unaware of our brand, can know about the modern agribusiness trends and take advantage of it.

For Kaushal this is just the beginning and in the future also he is going to come up with more bright ideas to take out more profit from agriculture.

MESSAGE FOR FARMERS:

“Those young farmers in the age group of 18-20, who thinks that farming is a losing deal, this message is for them- They need to understand what farming is, because if they also start thinking indicatively like us, they can also work unitedly with us.”

Iqbal Singh

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FUTURISTIC FARMER ADOPTED A UNIQUE WAY TO MAKE A CHANGE IN THE FOOD CYCLE OF THE SOCIETY

Generally people know what faults there are in their work but they keep on doing it in the similar way, because others are also doing the same, and still they want to make a change in the society. But as said by Albert Einstein that-

“We can’t solve the problem by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them…”

So, if we want to make a change in the society we have to think different and do different. Iqbal Singh of Basarka Village (District Tarn Taran ) is a person who chose organic farming after completing his studies just to improve the food cycle and its bad effects on the people.

Iqbal Singh’s father used to do conventional farming earlier and after completing the studies (B.Com from PU) Iqbal also decided of starting farming along with his father. But when he noticed the deteriorating health of one of his relative then he realized that how badly our food system has been affected by the chemicals and pesticides use. At that time he understood that “our food cycle and water cycle has been poisoned and if we don’t take necessary steps towards our environment then our coming generation will get affected by it very badly.”

Iqbal decided of starting farming but in a different way. He stopped the use of chemicals and pesticides and slowly expanded the organic farming in his 16 acres of land. Today he is successfully earning good profit by farming all types of seasonal vegetables organically. He implements every type of tractor, trolley, plough device, disc, and rotavator. In the coming times he wants to start food processing and its marketing so that he can take better advantage of it and earn more profit.

Message to Farmers:

“If we don’t want our coming generation to face problems and diseases like cancer, skin allergy etc, then we have to turn towards organic. This is the right time, we can restore the damage that we have done to our environment, because any delay will cause serious impact on human’s health.”

Pooja Sharma

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Story of A Strong Willed Woman Who Stepped Forward to Support Her Husband in Managing Family’s Livelihood through Farming

In our Indian Society, a notion has been deep rooted in our minds that woman should be at home and men should earn. But still, there are many women who bear the tag of bread earner very confidently in a positive way and help their husbands in running and supporting the house needs. One such a woman who is helping his husband in fulfilling her house needs is Pooja Sharma.

Mrs. Pooja Sharma is a rising agripreneur from the land of Jats – Haryana, and currently, she is the president of Kshitiz Self-Help Group and leading women of her village (Chandu) under her. By using the innovative farming technique she is producing 11 varieties of ready to cook and ready to eat items made up of soybean, wheat, maize, pearl millet, and corn.

The decision of making a move in the field of farming was taken in 2012 when Pooja Sharma (mother of three children) realized that her house needs aren’t going to be fulfilled with just his husband (Government Contract Employee) earnings, and now it’s her responsibility to support her husband.

She joined KVK Shikoupur and told them to teach her things that will help her earn a livelihood. She took training from there and learned innovative farming techniques. There she learned how to process the soybeans and other cereals so that it can be directly used for eating. And after taking this training she encouraged other women of her neighbourhood and village to take the same training.

In 2013, she established her own small manufacturing unit of roasted soybeans at home and also involved other women of her village in her venture and slowly expanded her business. She also made a self-help group by the name Kshitiz SHG and involved and encouraged more women of her village to join it. By collecting all the savings of the group’s women, she purchased three more roasting machines. And after some time she collected more money and purchased two more machines.

Currently, their group has 7 units of manufacturing machines. The machines were expensive according to their budget but still, they managed and it cost them around Rs. 16,000 and Rs. 20,000 per piece. She has 1.25 acres of land and she is actively involved in farming also. She grows mostly those crops of pulses and cereals, so that, she can process it and use it later for selling purpose. She is teaching the same thing to other women of her village also to use their land effectively because it can benefit them in the future.

Along with the team of 11 women today she is processing and selling more than 11 varieties of products (millet khichadi, millet laddoo, roasted wheat grains, roasted sorghum, roasted soy beans, roasted Bengal grams) which are ready to eat and cook (wholesome packets of nutrients) across the states and country. With the willpower, Pooja Sharma has helped other women of her village to gain self-reliance and confidence.

For her, it has been a long journey to reach where she is today and she has faced many challenges also. Now they have setup the machines at their home, so that women can operate it at home when they are free; and in their village, as power cuts are very frequent, so they have divided their work according to that; some women dry up the beans, some clean them and the rest of the women roast and grind them.

Currently, the big problem that Pooja Sharma and group face sometimes is language barriers (English). Because when it comes to communicating with big companies then they realize that in which skill they are lacking the most and that is education. But they are not discouraged by it and are trying to work on it. Apart of manufacturing food items, she is also helping women acquire training in stitching, farming and other activities they are interested in.

Her future plans are to expand his business and inspire more women and make them independent so that they don’t have to be dependent on others for money. For her passionate work and effort, she has been awarded a cash prize of 50,000 and a citation certificate for innovative farming techniques with Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Krishi Puraskar from Zone II comprising states of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. She is also a member of ATMA SCHEME and she has also received appreciation by the Governor- Kaptan Singh Solanki, for making protein-rich food items.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS-
“Wherever farmers cultivate cereal, pulse or any crop, there they should create a group of those women who are just doing household work and train them to use the produced crops for making good things by processing them, so that they can sell those things in the market and get a good price for it.”

Shahnaz Qureshi

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Woman Revealing the Mysteries of Healthy Food through Food Processing and Agribusiness

There are very few compassionate people who like to think for the welfare of the society and direct their future on the path of agriculture because making profit from the path related to agriculture it is not that easy. But there are many opportunities in our surrounding, that we just have to learn to seize it. One such woman who came with her innovative dreams and thinking to devote her life to the field of agriculture and agribusiness is Mrs. Shahnaz Qureshi.

Despite getting married at a very young age, Shahnaz Qureshi never stopped dreaming. After marriage, she continued her studies and completed her graduation and also did M. Sc. in fashion designing. She got many job offers from abroad but she chose to stay in her country and do something good for her society.

During all this time, one of the instance that changed her perception towards the food quality and her future plans was her parent’s health. Both, her mother and father were suffering from common health issues like arthritis, diabetes and kidney problem. She thought that if food is the reason behind problems, then food will be the only cure. She changed the food habits of her family and started eating only good and fresh things. This habit made a huge difference in the health of her father and mother. Just after seeing huge improvement she decided of entering the food processing business. Moreover, sitting idly was not what she was made for, so she chose to step in the field of agribusiness and help unprivileged farmers.

Her decision of stepping in the field of agribusiness was just the first step of success and rest the whole Bathinda knows about her. She and her family took training from KVK Bathinda in beekeeping and started beekeeping business with 200 honey bee boxes. She did the marketing and her husband did the processing part. To take more advantage of this business she also started making face wash, soap, and body scrub of honey. Customers start liking it and approached her for more. After some time she also took training in vegetable/fruit farming and food processing and started implementing it by making chutney, murraba, and pickles.

There was also a time when even her husband criticized her for the work she was doing, because he was unsure about the business profit, moreover he also thought that these products are already available in the market, then why people are going to buy these things from them. But she never got demotivated, because her children’s support was always with her. Some great personalities who always inspired her are APJ Abdul Kalam, Bill Gates, Akbar and Swami Vivekananda. In free time she loves to read books about them.

With the time she increased her collection of products and started gaining good profit from it. And soon she also started making fruit squashes, gram flour badiyaan and pakode and many other things. Sprouted fenugreek pickle is one of her popular products which is always in demand because of its amazing health benefits in most of the fairs and events organized by PAU in Faridkot, Ludhiana, and other places. She made a different place for her products in the market and gained a huge loyal customer base.

In 2014 she made a farmer self-help group in Mehma Sarja village near Bathinda and through this group she promoted other farmer’s products. Sometimes she even overlooked her profits just to help and support farmers who lacked confidence and resources. In 2015 she made a firm by the name FRESH HUB and there she started selling her products. Today, she has total 40-45 products in the collection, which she buys, process, pack and market herself. She is making all these efforts just to ensure the purity and healthiness of the products so that there will be no side-effects on the customer’s health. Even when she prepare pickles, she never uses cheap vinegar and always uses apple vinegar to ensure the best quality.

In 2016 she also took vinegar training and very soon she will be implementing that too. Currently, she is making 10 lakh profit annually. One thing that she understood very early and implemented was to deliver always the quality, not the quantity or just the taste. For marketing, she is using the latest technology like Whats App to connect with the farmers and other necessary details. Before purchasing, she always makes sure that she purchases chemical free vegetables and also encourages farmers to start organic farming. Her work not only includes processing and marketing the products, but she also provides free information about her technique to other women, because she wants other people to progress and do something good for the community.

From the beginning, Shahnaz Qureshi’s mindset was very clear towards her work. She wants everyone in the society to be independent and confident. She has given her children an upbringing that they don’t have to spread their hands in front of anyone, they should be self-sufficient to fulfil their basic needs themselves. Today her main focus is towards the youth especially the girls. To make her thinking and skills reach more people, she has also given training and information through TV, newspaper, and radio. She personally visits the farmer training events and meetings to especially impart her skills to them. In 2016 she also started tiffin service for college students. Today, her work has made her so popular that she has her own radio show that is aired every Friday from 1 PM to 2 PM, where she gives tips to people about water management, health food recipes and much more.

As being a Kashmiri by birth, Shahnaz always tries to bring an essence of her native place in her work and products. She has opened a restaurant in Bathinda by the name “Shah’s Kashmiri and Mughlai Chicken” and is also planning to give a rustic Kashmiri interior and use Kashmiri crockery set in her restaurant, even she also has a popular product known as Kashmiri Kahwa (Tea) which reflects the core of Kashmiri tradition and cuisine. She wants to share every healthy, beneficial and traditional recipe that she knows through her products, restaurants, and training. She also has orchards in Kashmir, which is under the care of her cousin in her absence. In orchards she follows organic ways to nurture it, to maintain the soil fertility and get a good yield from it.

These are just a few achievements of Shahnaz Qureshi, in the coming future, she will accomplish more to work in the interest of the society. Her efforts are admired by many organizations and she was awarded by the food processing department of Muktsar Sahib. Other than that in 2015 she was also awarded Jagbir Kaur Memorial award by PAU.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“
Don’t blame the government all the time. Because the problems which we are facing today, for that only we are responsible. Nowadays farmers are not aware how to take advantage of the opportunities. Because if farmers want to move ahead then they have to change their thinking. Moreover, it is not necessary to follow, you can be the inspiration for others. Farmers have to understand that food processing has more money than raw material.
”

Gurwinder Singh Sohi

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Young Agripreneur Booming In Floriculture Business by Blossoming Holland Gladiolus in Punjab

It is said that success is not that easy to attain, you have to taste failures many times, only then you can enjoy the real flavor of success. Same was the case with Gurwinder Singh Sohi- a normal student who opted farming when he wasn’t able to crack the Punjab JET Exam.

He was determined from the beginning that he was not going to act like a sheep and start his family occupation of wheat-paddy cultivation. So, he started mushroom farming, but it was not that successful, soon after that he setup his own sweet shop in the nearby town- Khamano. But maybe he was not meant for that also, so he took up the profession of horse breeding and later on he shifted his profession to jeep customizing.

After leaving all these jobs, in 2008, he came to know about a news that, Punjab Horticulture Department is giving subsidy on Holland Gladiolas Seeds and then the real game started for Gurwinder Singh Sohi. He started growing Gladiolas in 2 Kanals and gradually started adding more acres under the same flower. He started getting a higher price than the local variety of flower and his revenue also got increased.

The area got increased from eight acres to 18, of which 9 were his own and nine were on lease. He used 12 acres out of the total for gladiolus, 3 acre for marigold and the rest for pulses, paddy (mainly basmati), wheat, maize, and cattle fodder. The sowing (September-October) to harvesting (January- March) time of gladiolus is 7-8 months, while paddy and wheat have just opposite sowing and harvesting pattern, so the same land gives him revenue round the year. Moreover, these gladiolus are sold as Rs 7 per stick in wedding season and Rs 3 on an average. In this way, he has secured his income around the year.

Gladiolus crop is just like reaping treasure because the seeds of Holland variety are a one-time investment of 1.6 lakh per acre- which is later sold at Rs 2 per bulb and from that crop next year plants can also be prepared. Although it’s a one-time investment, it requires large workforce while sowing and seed extraction from Feb-April and labour almost cost is up to Rs 40,000 an acre.

The marigold field is also rewarding and it generates profit around Rs. 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.3 lakh every season. And this revenue is far better than wheat and paddy. All-n-all after taking out the land lease, labour and another input cost, he is left with the half of the total profit, and that is good enough.

His startup is with the name of RTS Flowers and it is booming in many cities of Punjab like Chandigarh, Ludhiana, and Patiala. However, he didn’t pursued his higher studies but time-to-time he up-skills himself to become a pro in marketing and today he is selling his gladiolus produce across the country through his firm’s Facebook Page and other online websites like India-mart.

With the coming modern marketing skills and advancement, Gurwinder has also updated himself about the term agri-marketing, and his work is in progress on the concept of farm-to-fork. He and his 12 friends have installed drip irrigation, solar pumps and other agriculture equipment with the help of government departments, and has also setup a Friends Farmers Welfare Club which has a membership of Rs. 5000 each so that in future they can buy other machinery like rotavator, power spray, and seed drill. And to promote organic farming the members of the group has also started growing turmeric, pulses, maize and basmati organically. And to expand their market of the organic food industry, they have started marketing the produce directly to the customers through Whats App groups. And to ensure that the customer and farmer both get the fair deal, they directly market their produce to 30 homes in Mohali and soon they will be staring their service through website also.

Recently, they have also started a company named as Akal Farmers Producer Company Limited and all the crops produced by farmers are packed and sold under this company. They have total 20 types of products like moong bean, black gram, chickpea, honey, Kidney beans, mustard oil, turmeric, 4 types of flour, Squashes, Garam Masala, Lassi Masala etc. and to expand the business they have also opened a shop in their village for selling the products and farmers income has increased by this. Besides this Gurwinder Singh Sohi also organizes farming, Horticulture and KVK camps on his farm to motivate other farmers.

Gurwinder Singh Sohi’s young mind hasn’t stopped dreaming and soon he will be coming up with more bright ideas to chase.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“Farmers should work in unity by making small groups, because buying and using farming machinery in this way is easy. By using machines in a group the expenditure get reduced resulting into a profitable venture. I’m also doing the same, I have also made a group in which we buy machines by the group names and all the members of the group can use it.”

Hind Pal Singh

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Meet Rajasthan’s Jojoba Farmer Who Hold Hotel Management Degree from IHM Pusa Delhi, But He Chose to Follow His Father’s Footsteps

Farming has never been and never will be an easy life, but for many people who don’t have any option for them farming is the only choice. That’s why today most of the farmers send their kids to school and college so that they can choose whatever they want and become whatever they want. But one such person who even had a good job opportunity, but then also he chose to farm is Hind Pal Singh Aulakh.

Hind Pal Singh was born in a typical farming family of Rajasthan (Ganganagar District), but was grown up in a very different modern environment; with the motive of pursuing different profession than his father, he pursued Bachelors in Hotel Management from IHM PUSA, Delhi.

“But maybe Hind Pal Singh wasn’t destined to continue his career in the same field. His father was a farmer and was very much interested in farming. His father inspired and motivated him to start farming.”

After seeing so much passion of his father towards farming, he decided to help him. He also started reading agriculture related magazines like Changi Kehti etc. In one of the magazines, he read about Jojoba Farming and thought of giving it a try. He visited Jaipur and took training from there in Jojoba Farming. Mr. Saini was a faculty member of the training staff who helped and guided him in jojoba farming and especially visited his farm in his hometown also.

In the beginning, Hind Pal Singh was a little scared before starting Jojoba Farming, but now it’s been 12 years since he is doing jojoba farming and he is very happy with the yield and returns. He bought the Jojoba seedlings from Rajasthan Agriculture University because jojoba plants need to be planted in 10:1 ratio, where 10 is for female jojoba plants and 1 is for male jojoba plant. And only a proper agriculture university or expert can help in providing the right jojoba plants because common people cannot identify the male and female plants in seedling until they start flowering (can take up to three years).

“The female plants produce seed from flowers pollinated by the male plants, female plant is dependent on male plants for seed production.”

Planting and farming jojoba was not that easy for Hind Pal Singh. He faced many problems like termite and fungus, but he dealt with it very smartly. He always consulted an expert and used micro food and basic fertilizers for farming. From the year of the plantation, it starts bearing fruits in 6th and 7th year.

“One Time Investment: Jojoba farming is the best thing to do in an area like Rajasthan where there is water scarcity because it needs very less water for irrigation (can survive without water for two years), moreover the plant age is up to 100 years.”

In the beginning inter-cropping can also be done when the jojoba plants are small because they don’t start bearing seeds properly up to 6th to 7th years. He faced few difficulties in marketing the produce, but he took no help from the government. As Cosmetics Company need jojoba seeds in for making face cream, oil, face wash and many more beauty products, so soon he found his consumer and started earning good profit.

“Jojoba Oil also has an alternate use as a fuel oil because of its viscosity index. It can be used as transformer oil or as a lubricant for high-speed machinery or machines operating at high temperature.”

Other than jojoba farming which he is doing in approx. 5 acres, he is also growing cotton, wheat, seasonal veggies, mustard, kinnow and other crops in the rest 65 acres of land. He implements all the modern farming machinery like tractor, trolley, cultivator, leveller, disc harrow and drip irrigation system for better farming. His future plan is to expand what he is doing right now and attract more loyal and profitable consumers of jojoba seeds. With a minor 45 thousand of investment today he is earning in lakhs. Moreover, jojoba is a disease free and fire resistant plant which needs very less care once the plant is fully grown.

Message to Farmers
“Farmers have to become independent and start thinking differently if they want to earn profit from farming. One more thing that farmers have to do is to keep track of their accounts and give their hundred percent if they have started something.”

Rajnish Lambha

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Man Achieving Success through Organic Farming by Following His Grandfather’s Footsteps

There are very few children who take their ancestor’s occupation ahead in their life with the motive of making their father and grandfather proud of it. One such a person who after getting inspired from his grandfather, started organic farming is Rajnish Lambha.

Rajnish Lambha is a successful horticulturist based in Village Chelasi of JhunJhunu District of Rajasthan. He has a 4 acres orchard farm named after his grandfather as – Hardev Bagh and Udhyan Nursery and it has more than 3000 fruit trees of lemon, pomegranate, Bel Patra, Kinnow, Mousami etc. in it.

Choosing farming as his profession was Rajnish Lambha’s own interest. Rajnish Lambha’s father- Mr. Hari Singh Lambha was a Patwari and he had a full opportunity of choosing a different profession. And the education (double MA) that he received, from it he could have found any good job in his field, but he chose farming. Before organic farming he was into conventional farming and was growing crops like Bajra, wheat, Sorghum, Chickpea, mustard, fenugreek, onion, and garlic. But when he came to know about his grandfather’s organic farming experience he thought of taking his ancestral occupation ahead and make that work more profitable.

It all started in 1996, by planting 25 trees of Bel Patra in 1 Bigha area and implemented organic farming and no chemicals. Along with that he also started preparing nursery himself. After 8 years of hard work and efforts, in 2004-2005 finally the Bel Patra trees started bearing fruits and he earned huge profit of 50,000 from it.

This increase in profit made his belief stronger that orchard business has good yield and returns, so he decided of expanding the orchards in his whole area. In 2004, he planted 600 more trees of Bel Patra. And in 2005 along with the Bel Patra, he planted 150 trees of Kinnows and 150 trees of Mosambi in the orchards. As it is said that fruit of hard work is sweet, the results were the same; in 2013 he earned a good profit from Mosambi and Kinnows produce. And by getting inspired with that he planted 600 trees of pomegranate of sinduri variety and 250 trees of lemon. In 2012 he also planted 5 trees of mango (amrapali variety) and 5 trees of guava.

Currently he has total 3000 fruit trees in his orchard and he is gaining good profit from all the trees till date. Now even his younger brother (Vikrant Lambha) and his father (Hari Singh Lambha) are also helping in his orchard business. Other than orchard farming he also gave a try to dairy farming in 2006 with 25 cows, but he didn’t gain much profit from it and ended it in 2013. Now he has only 4 cows for domestic work.

To maintain the healthy yield and quality he prepares manure himself by using cow dung, Gau Mutr (Cow Urine), Neem water, Datura (Herb – Angel’s Trumpets), and vermicompost. And sometimes he also purchases cow dung from the market if they need it.

The main motive of Rajnish Lambha behind adopting horticulture as the main profession is that, it provides 10 times more profit as compared to conventional farming and can be easily done in an eco-friendly way. Moreover, there is very less need labour, he hires labours only when he needs to pick the fruits. Otherwise he has 2 permanent labours working for him every time. Now he also started preparing nursery for commercial purpose and is gaining good profit from it. And whenever he needs information regarding orchard farming then he consult agriculture related magazines, print media, internet etc.

To make his organic farming more updated and advanced he joined Morarka Foundation in 2009. Many farmers visit his farm regularly to learn something new from Rajnish Lambha, and he also provide them information and training without and cost. Sometimes, even agriculture officers also visit his orchard farm with group of farmers for events and training session.

From the beginning his dream was always to make his grandfather (Hardev Lambha) proud, although he is no more now, but he want to take his teachings ahead and inspire other farmers to start nursery preparation and orchard farming like him. For his great effort in the field of horticulture he is awarded by Agriculture Minister- Harji Ram Burdak in 2011 and also appreciated by Governor of Rajasthan – Kalyan Singh and many articles on him has also been published in the newspaper and magazines.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“He wants other farmers to adopt organic farming because organic farming has many health benefits as well as it is eco-friendly. Farmers should also reduce the use of chemicals. One thing they should remember that, regardless how much profit they are earning, profit can only be earned by doing something different like orchard farming.“

Satvir Singh

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Story of a Successful Agripreneur Coming Up as a Role Model for the Other Farmers in the Society – Satvir Farms Sadhana

It is said that great things never come from the comfort zone. And if a person really wants to do something different that he has never done before, then he has to leave his comfort zone. One such a person who left his cushy lifestyle and came back to Punjab, India, and pursued his interest is Satvir Singh.

Today Mr. Satvir Singh is a successful agripreneur and is earning two times more profit than wheat and paddy and has also established his own farm by the name Satvir Farm in Sadhana. He is mainly farming and cultivating vegetables in 7 acres of land out of which 5 acres land is his own and has taken 2 acres on rent.

The path that Satvir Singh followed to reach this stage in life was not that easy. He faced many ups and downs, but still after his steady efforts and struggles he pursued his interest and achieved success in it. It all started when he completed his school (12th) and after four years he went to Dubai for a job. But after some time, he came back to India and decided to start farming and dropped his idea of going back to Dubai. In the beginning, he started farming wheat and paddy, but after a visit to a vegetable farm with one of his friends, he was very much impressed and attracted towards vegetable farming.

Almost 7 years back (in 2010) he started vegetable farming and faced many problems in the beginning. Cauliflower was the first vegetable that he grew on 1.5 acres of land on his farm and suffered a severe loss. But then also he never gave up and keep on doing vegetable farming. Slowly he expanded his vegetable farming area to 7 acres and started growing pumpkin, bottle gourd, eggplant, onion, different varieties of chillies and bitter gourd and he also started preparing seedling and selling them in the market. Gradually, his work gains momentum and he started earning good profit from it.

After facing the severe loss from the first batch of cauliflower, Mr. Satvir Singh put his efforts into vegetable farming very wisely and in a strategic way, to avoid such situations in the future. First, he understood the customer and market demand and according to that, he began with vegetable farming. He gave at least one acre of land to one type of crop and in this way, he solves his marketing problems. He also participated in PAU event in which he got a chance to visit different farms and learned about the Net House farming method and he is using it currently to give his vegetables a protective environment. He also cultivated and harvested Tatuma Summer Squash a bit earlier and made them available in the market at the right time in December, just before the stock of the same vegetable reached the market from Gujarat. In this way, he marketed his veggie produce at a good price in the market. Moreover, he goes himself to the market every time to sell his produce and is not dependent on anyone.

In winters he does vegetable farming in the whole 7 acres of land and in summers he reduces his vegetable land to 3.5 acres and uses the rest of the land for paddy and wheat. In the whole village, only his land is seen with vegetable plantings cover and the surrounding area is covered with paddy and wheat. For his efficient agricultural practices and marketing tactics, he has received four prizes from Punjab Agriculture University till date. One of his great achievements is developing a new variety of pumpkin and he named that pumpkin after his son’s name “KABIR PUMPKIN”.

Currently, he is living with his family (mother, father, wife, two children and his elder brother and his wife are settled in Singapore) in Sadhana village which is located in Rampura Phul Tehsil of Bathinda district in Punjab. His father was the main inspiration that dragged him towards farming in the beginning, but now his father no more works in the field, he only stays at home and be with the kids. Today his whole family is a big support behind his successful farming experience and he gives all the credit to his family.

Satvir Singh manages his farm with the help of only one permanent worker and sometimes hires women workers for picking the vegetables. He earns 1-2 lakhs in a season from one acre of land depending upon the vegetable price.

Future Plans
In future, he is planning to switch to organic farming and for that, he has also taken 3 days training for Vermin-compost making. He wants to make people aware of the difference between organic and non-organic vegetables and food products. He also wants that vegetables should also come in packets like the other grocery products so that people can recognize that they are buying vegetables of which farm and which brand.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“I have faced many problems in the beginning, only because of lack of knowledge. But other farmers who are interested in doing vegetable farming, shouldn’t follow that same mistakes that I did and should consult some experts and analyze the vegetable market before starting vegetable farming. Moreover, the farmers who have enough resources should fulfil their basic home needs themselves instead of buying them from the market.”

Sunita Devi

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How a Dynamic Mother-Daughter Duo Is Attracting People towards Their Handcrafted Phulkari Products

In our Indian society, from the beginning men are considered as the subject matter and the ruling head member of the family, who earns the livelihood for the family. On the other hand, women are given the label of homemaker and a person who is quite helpful, polite and is responsible for making everything (clean clothes, food, clean home, etc.) available to the family members on time. Well, these trends were followed in the beginning and not at present. Today many successful women have come up as an inspiration for the society and are playing roles of both man and woman for their family, and turning the world upside down.

A couple of two such women, which are originated from a small village (Chanarthal Khurd) of Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, are today running their own successful phulkari business by leading a group of 10 women from their village. This couple of women are a “Mother-Daughter Duo” which manages every functioning of the business very smoothly. The head of the group is Sunita Devi (mother) and Beant Sharma (daughter). Beant as being an active, young and communicative member, is the one who represents the group on every platform.

In 1996 Sunita Devi’s husband expired and for the family, it was a distressing situation. Since then it became very difficult for the family members to survive. But, gradually with the time Sunita Devi and her children recovered from that shock and start peddling slowly, to make their life smooth and get back on the track. They faced many difficulties and crossed many hurdles to reach where they are today.

Anganwadi tried to help the women of that village on a local level and formed a self-help group in 2012. And Sunita Devi’s daughters were the member of this self-help group. They were working so hard on every piece of the phulkari suit, dupatta, shawls, and jackets, but they were not getting the real worth of their produced products. Nothing was properly managed. So, in one of the PUNFED meeting, Beant Sharma expressed her and other women’s problems; after that two groups were created in May 2017 – “SHRI GURU ARJAN DEV SELF HELP GROUP” and “DEVI ANNAPOORNA GROUP”. Sunita Devi was made the president of “SHRI GURU ARJAN DEV SELF HELP GROUP” and Beant was the re-presenter of the group. Well yes, it was a group effort, but Beant’s willpower and Sunita Devi’s strength to support her daughter is what helped in the formation of this group. And when love and skill work together, it is expected to get a masterpiece.

Earlier, due to financial crisis Beant and other children were forced to stop their studies in the middle, but now as the things are going good, Beant and other girls are planning to continue their studies. Beant has planned to pursue BA privately from Punjabi University.

In Sunita Devi’s family, there are total six members, four daughters, one son and she herself. Son is working with Honda City in Gujarat on the contract basis and the four daughters are supporting the mother in running their group. Beant is the active one, out of all the four and represent the group in different events and exhibitions. Now Sunita Devi and Beant are connected to a large mesh of customers and they sell their products themselves to their customers and get the right value of their produced goods. Beant is a young girl and she is well-aware about the current marketing trends and she is also following them. She is connected with all the customers through WhatsApp group and you can get their phulkari by just ordering them and it will get delivered at your home. The handcrafted products made by this group are really very beautiful, unique and best in quality. They buy their raw material from Sirhind and make phulkari suit, dupatta, keyrings, book markers, shawls, jackets and other home decor things out of it. In future, they are planning to come up with more phulkari products with creative designs.

Message By Mother-Daughter Duo
“A woman has the potential of doing everything, it’s all about the inner strength and determination. So never underestimate yourself and always try to make your skill useful to yourself. One of thing that make the woman stronger is education. Every woman should study and complete their education in order to be updated and aware of the current situation of the world.“

Kamla Devi Shokeen

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Rousing Story of a Woman Who Started Her Entrepreneurial Business after Her Retirement And is Successful Today

In India, when a person reaches the retirement age, then his age is almost around 60. And the most common mentality of Indian people after the retirement is, no work after retirement. Because everyone has their own dreams for their golden retirement age- some people want to go on vacations, some people just want to relax and live a normal peaceful life, and some people choose the spiritual path. But there are very few people who like to choose their hobbies and interests after their retirement and pursue it as their second career. One such woman who also didn’t give up after her retirement and started her own business is Kamla Shokeen.

Kamla Shokeen, a woman who is still young by her spirits, started her entrepreneurial career after her retirement. But before getting retired, she was a Physical Education teacher for 39 years in Government School. She had the hobby of pickling berries from the beginning, so after retirement, she thought of changing that hobby into a business, and today she is running her own successful pickle business by the brand name KAMAL AACHAR.

Kamla Shokeen began her pickle business 7 years back in 2010 after getting retired from her teaching profession. And to make her pickles business more professional, she took pickle making training from PUSA Branch- KVK Ujwa under Kamkaji Mahila Kutir Udyog. After getting certification from there, she gathered the deprived and poor women of her village Dichaon Kalan, which is in Najafgarh district, to start her own pickle making and selling business. Today her fruit farm is scattered in 2.75 acres of land, in which she has grown Jujube (Ber), Carissa carandas (Karonda), Indian gooseberry (Amla), Java Plum (Jamun), and Guava trees for pickle making. And she manages all the work with the help of few workers. To maintain the good yield of the trees she never uses chemical fertilizers. She only uses vermicompost (kenchue ki khaad).

By qualification, Kamla Shokeen is MA in Political Science, but when she started pickle business after retirement, at that time, then she never felt that the work she is going to do is low grade or not of her level. Even her husband- Mr. Mulchand Shokeen, who is a retired director from GDA; two sons, out of which, one is pilot and other is an engineer by profession; one daughter- who is a doctor by profession; and two daughter-in-laws- both are teachers by profession, supported her in her venture.

Today, she is 69 by age, but her gusto of pursuing her hobby never went down since day one after her retirement. Kamla Shokeen always tried to give her best efforts, during her teaching career and as well as for her pickle business. She even received “Best Teacher Award” for her teaching from the school. And after starting the pickle business she was also awarded by PUSA for Best Quality of Aachar.

Generally, she visits events, exhibitions, and fairs to sell her handmade pickles, but to make her products available to more people she has opened a small shop in her house. Most visited fairs, where she earns the most profit by selling her pickles are Pragati Maidan and PUSA Fair. In a year she earns more than 60-70,000 from her pickles business. And in the future, she is planning to include more varieties in her pickles collection- like mango and lemon. Whenever someone comes to her for guidance related to pickles making business, she never refuses them and always provides true advice and suggestions. Till now she has suggested many people to take training from PUSA so that, they can also start their own business.

Message By Kamla Shokeen
“Rather than sitting idly on a chair all day long and doing nothing, it’s better to make yourself useful. I started working after my retirement because, I had the interest in pickling and I didn’t want to be bored. From my pickle business, I’m also able to support the poor people of my village. According to me, every woman should use her skills and hobbies to make herself independent even after the marriage, but before that they should complete their education. ”

Anita Goyal

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Journey of a Passionate Woman from a Common Housewife to Renowned Personality- Zaika Ma’am

Earlier in India, after marriages, most of the women never have the confidence to pursue their hobbies and interest as their career and they just use to sit at home and do their house chores. The reasons which come in support of not pursuing their interests was societal pressure, family pressure, conservative society, financial crisis, family responsibilities and much more. But there were still some women who could not be stopped by anyone. And for those women this line natch the best – Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.

Such a woman who has always been an inspiration for women’s society is Anita Goel. Anita Goyal is a successful entrepreneur from a town in Ludhiana called Jagraon. She is very popular in her hometown for her cooking classes and is leading her business under the brand name called Zaika Cooking Classes. She also teaches painting and embroidery to her students, and all her students are from young age girls in their teens to elderly ladies. Her passion for cooking has led to spread her name so far that she is known as ZAIKA MA’AM in her city. She also became a member of Kisan Club in PAU in 2009 and till then she is conducting cooking classes in PAU regularly. All her students are very passionate about taking cooking lessons from her and listens to her very calmly whenever she start taking her lesson.

Well, all this success, prosperity and name is not achieved so easily. It all started in 1986 after her marriage. She was married in a family, where till now no woman has put a step outside the house and done any kind of work outside the house. But she was the first one. Her husband was an advocate by profession, so basically, their family was financially sound and there was no need for her to lay hands and work. But it was her passion, which led her to this level of achievement, she has gained today. She is currently living with her happy and complete family (husband, two sons, one daughter, two daughter-in-laws, and grandchildren) in Jagraon and also managing her daily business and teaching schedules along with her younger son. For her, her family is the greatest strength who supported her all this way and never discourage her from what she was doing.

It is said that to be great you need to start from the small and same did Mrs. Anita Goyal. She earned Rs. 750 per month from her first job, to which her husband objected in the beginning and for her also it was very difficult to manage everything (cost of cooking ingredients, convenience, personal use) in that little amount. She faced many hurdles and hitches in starting her own business. Even though she has lost a lot in life, but she never gets demotivated and always kept her zeal and enthusiasm alive. After working very hard, she finally got her break through and she officially opened her cooking classes and today she is successfully running her own business.

For her, cooking is like dispensing happiness, and the thing that makes her cooking skills unique and special from others is healthiness and wellness quotient of the food products made by her. She makes every type of bakery products, pickles, chutneys, 17 types of spices, 3 types of instant mix spices and also 3 types of instant sweet dishes mix (thandai, phirni and kheer) . She use flour (flour is made from hard wheat) instead of refined flour (cake flour or Maida in Hindi) while baking bread, muffins, pizza base, cakes of different flavor, coconut castle, cupcakes, biscuits and other bakery products. And in her pickles, she never adds any kind of added preservatives except salt, sugar, and oil; because according to her, salt, sugar and oil are natural preservatives in themselves. Everything made by her is very healthy and natural. She makes so delicious pickles that, even demands comes from abroad for her pickles. She says that, if you are giving the best then you will definitely stand out from the rest.

She also has a little kitchen garden in her backyard, where she grows turmeric, green chili, and other seasonal vegetables for her home use. She is in her sixties, but from her active participation and involvement in different events, exhibitions, and business, it seems that she is going to prosper more and achieve greatly in future. Mrs. Anita Goyal’s hobby and passion for cooking has helped her in making her own identity in the society and earn well. Currently, she is planning to take her business to the next level and open an official shop where she can sell all her products easily.

Message by Mrs. Anita Goyal-
“According to her- No work is small or big, if you really want to make a change, all you need is immense determination and willpower to push through. You have to be strong-willed, only then you can achieve what you want. A woman can only bring change in her life with her own strength and not excuses. Women should make their own identity in the society and get recognized for their skill and talent, not just their husband’s name because it feels very proud when your family gets recognized because of you.”

Bhagat Singh

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Joint Effort Made by the Two Brothers Has Turned Their Father’s Small Poultry Farm into a Large Scale Business: Jagjeet Poultry Breeding Farm

A small business started by a man with just Rs. 15,000, he never thought his own sons will take it to such a large scale in future. Well, it is said that big things often have small beginnings. This is the story of two sons, who followed the same footprints of their father after their education and expanded the business to a greater extent.

Sardar Bhagat Singh a small farmer of Patti town in Tarn Taran city of Punjab, started a poultry farm business in 1962 with just 400 hens. He started the business in the times when no one was aware of poultry farm business idea. He named his poultry farm – Jagjeet Poultry Farm, JAG was taken from her wife’s name (Jagdish) first half and JEET was his own nickname. Well, Bhagat Singh started the poultry business because it was his dream and he had interest in doing that. But he never imposed his words and business on his children. He had two sons- Mandeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh, and both were sent to school and college to persuade their primary and higher studies and do whatever they wanted to do with their career. But both the sons chose to join their father’s business and extend it.

Both the brothers, Mandeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh, took the grip over the business just after their father’s death in 2012 and gradually with the time, extended their farm into 3.5 acres of area. Earlier there was only poultry farm, but after some time they also started breeding, and they renamed their farm as Jagjeet Poultry Breeding Farm. But everyone in the village, from that time till now, knows the poultry farm by the name of Bhagat Singh. Well, the name doesn’t make the difference, it’s the efforts of two brothers that has made the huge difference and changed the face of the whole poultry business.

They have 1.5 acres of land for breeding purpose and 2 acres of land for commercial layer purpose. Today, they have around 12000 hens in breeding farm and 18-20,000 hens in the commercial farm.

To make their farm functioning easier and automatic gradually with the time they managed to install 8 machines in the poultry farm, and cost of each machine is around 3 lakhs. They have employed around 25 workers to manage their farm and machines along with them. Mandeep Singh and Ramandeep especially take care of cleanliness, hygiene of the poultry farm. Even Mandeep Singh’s son Dr. Jasdeep Singh is also associated with the poultry farm business. As a veterinary doctor, Jasdeep Singh plays a major role in taking care of the chicken’s health personally. He ensures that every chicken is healthy and free of any kind of disease to maintain the good quality of poultry products. He gives all the required vaccination as per the requirement and quarantines the chicken if any kind of disease or symptom is found.

A joint effort made by the two brothers 7 years back has turned the small poultry farm business value in millions. Today they supply their poultry product all around the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. They also train and guide the people who come to them to get an idea to start their own poultry farm business. And Dr. Jasdeep Singh also helps people by telling them that which kind of feed and vaccination they should give to their chickens to maintain the quality of their poultry products. In future, this 2 brothers-son trio are planning to expand their business and make their poultry farm products available in farther areas also.

Message by Bhagat Singh’s Sons
“Nowadays, farmers are committing suicide, they should not do so. They should think that what will happen to their family after them, their family is dependent on them, and thus this is not a way to get rid of their responsibilities. Farmers should think about how to make their skills beneficial for themselves and how to process their crops so that it will give them profit in the coming time. Now, farmers have to start farming in a smart way and they have to sell their produce themselves in order to get the right price of their crops.”

Amarjit Bhattal

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Know about an Ex-Army Officer Who Turned into an Agripreneur & Is Bringing Revolution in the Field Of Agribusiness

Nowadays, very few people see a future for themselves in the field of agriculture. And the era in which we are living, most of the people are attracted towards the bright lights of the big cities. And when it comes to life after retirement, then people generally prefer to live an easy and comfortable lifestyle in which they have to do nothing, just sit at home, read the newspaper, spend time with grandchildren, do little exercising and that’s it. There are very few people who are concerned about nature and fulfil their responsibility and try to give back to the soil, that the soil has provided them all their life.

Well, one such person who is fulfilling his responsibility towards the Mother Nature and has made that responsibility as his hobby of farming and a way of relaxation is, Ex-army Officer- Mr. Amarjit Singh Bhattal. Leaving all his luxuries he is living with his father and wife in a small village of Ludhiana- Banohar (Banohad) and running a small shop with the name “JATT SAUDA”.

Well, many people have shops and retail stores along with the road, so what is that special in JATT SAUDA? The thing that makes “JATT SAUDA” unique and different from others is the organically produced vegetable, lentils, fruits and spices from his own farm which is just behind the shop. So basically, he has an “ON-ROAD FARM MARKET” where you can buy everything fresh and organic. Moreover, he also has a small poultry farm where he has around 100 chickens (desi murgiyan). The number of chickens keeps on going up and down, but the demand for the desi eggs never goes down and are sold as soon as they reach his store’s rack.

He started organic farming in December of 2012, after taking training from Kheti Virasat Mission. And from that day till now, he is so actively involved in farming that, from morning till evening, he spends all his time in the farm store and his father is always there to accompany him. It’s like the father-son duo is nurturing the small piece of land like their own child.

He has given a very rustic touch to his small shop, where you can see all the fresh seasonal veggies displayed on a side and garlic hanging from the roof. In his shop, there is a way towards the backyard which leads to his small farm where you can find small plantings of okra, ridge gourd, tomatoes, bitter melon, pigeon pea, different types of lettuce and many more vegetables. According to him, you can see the best view of his farm in the early morning or evening because at that time you can see the best natural colors of nature emerged with the farm beauty. Poultry farm is at one corner of his farm where you can see a dog tied with the hook. All in all, his whole farm will give you an ideal view of a perfect farm. He has 2 to 3 helper, which help him in farm work.

Amarjit Singh completed his M.Sc. degree from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and serving the country was one of the career choices of his life. Before farming, Mr. Amarjit Singh had one more profession and that was a consultant in an immigration firm, at that time he used to counsel children, talk to them and discuss them about their thinking and perspective for their life aims and goals. Moreover, he was also a popular advisor of Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Even after achieving all these prominent titles in his previous life, today, he is not proud of anything. He believes in simple living and respecting the Mother Nature, and by doing organic farming he is trying to do his side of effort in conserving the nature and providing healthy food to the community.

Amarjit Singh has also an unseen talent. From his college days, he was leaned towards literature and was very fond of Leo Tolstoy’s work. He is also a very keen writer and now also whenever he gets time from the farming, he writes about his thoughts and thinking.

After having the conversation with him, he discussed his views on the poor consumer’s demands and according to him – “Nowadays consumer demand is very unhealthy. With the advanced technologies and modern ways of preserving the food, today you can shop and eat peas and carrot in summers and bottle gourd in winters. As we know that vegetables are an important part of human’s diet and each season offers an array of beautiful fresh produce, so if you include more organic seasonal fruits and veggies in your palate, then it will be more beneficial. Because by adding seasonal fruits in the diet you can enjoy the better taste of the veggies with higher nutritional values, without any chemicals, and it will also support the body’s need according to the season. He also said that the day consumer will be aware of the benefits of organic food, from that day the demand of organic veggies and fruits will increase. And to increase the awareness, farmers and consumers interaction is very much necessary.”

On his own behalf, he tries to make the people aware about the organic farming and he has also given presentations to school children on the importance of organic farming and foods. Currently, he is just planning to continue organic farming and make more people aware about benefits of organic farming.

In future, he is planning to:

• Upgrade the infrastructure of his on-road farm market

• Build up a net house in 2000 yards

• Give a protective environment to the crops in his farm

• Install hybrid system of irrigation

• Increase water storage

Message by Amarjit Singh Bhattal
“He has given a very wise message to today’s farmers- “You can’t control the product price and can be dependent on the government, you should do what is in your hands. The farmer should try to control the input cost and start doing organic farming as it requires less monetary input. A time will come when people will realize that conventional farming is not going to fulfil their demands. So, it’s better to understand the rising need of the hour and start acting according to it.”

Maninderjit Kaur

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How A Woman’s Fascination towards Creativity Led Her to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

It is said that, when you have the passion, then take the action and magic will happen. Well, this is a very true saying. A woman with the same attitude, followed her passion and today she is running a successful business.

Maninderjeet Kaur – a usual woman who always was fascinated with the creative handwork from her childhood, and later on, in her teenage, stitching and embroidery became her hobby. As her passion for creativity and her hobby grew more steadily, it made her feel like she should learn this skill professionally, and this ultimately led her to pursue Diploma in Stitching after her education (10th passed).

After marriage, generally, women think about spending a good time with their better half, getting settled with their family responsibilities and spending time with their kids. But this was not the case with Maninderjeet Kaur. It is not that, she hasn’t fulfilled her responsibilities, but at the same time, she also gave equal importance to her interest also. Currently, she is living happily with her family in Zirakpur and also running her business.

Twenty years ago Maninderjeet Kaur started Maninder Silayi Center and later on gave a label name to her business called Kohinoor, which today has prospered to a very successful business cum workshop. And to reach every big thing you have to start from small. Maninderjeet Kaur started by teaching stitching and embroidery to few girls at her home. Soon, she got recognized in the locality and many women and girls started visiting her for tailoring lessons. Finally, her degree came to work, she rented an area where she started giving tailoring lessons. She taught her students to stitch designer suits, bed sheets, pillow covers, kitchen cloth bag, grocery shopping bag, mats and many more things. Today there are total 60 girls under her, some of them are trainers and the rest are students who are still learning.

In her stitching centre, she has 15 stitching machines from which she teaches around 10 courses- stitching, fashion stitching, quilt making, bed sheet making, painting, embroidery (machine/handmade both), cooking, and different types of bag stitching. Her tailoring centre and classes are so popular that even educated women who are working as a doctor, engineer, and nurse take out time from their busy schedule to learn from her. Usually, she charges Rs. 500 for stitching course and 600 to 1000 for painting course to normal students. But sometimes she doesn’t charge to girls and women who are from a weak financial background and don’t have enough money to pay for the course. Moreover, she provides stitching material from her side to them, so that they can learn the skill and earn for themselves.

In the beginning, when she started her business, her quality work bring her a good customer (a shop in Chandigarh called VIVCO) and she partnered with them. She purchases clothes in bulk from VIVCO, wash them, make different items from it like bed sheets, pillow covers, bags, suits in her workshop and send all those products to VIVCO so that they can further sell it in the market. This whole process was generating good profit to her business. But around three years ago, in 2014, VIVCO closed their business, and it impacted Maninderjeet Kaur’s business severely. Till then she is facing hindrances in running her business smoothly because she doesn’t have a proper commercial platform to sell her workshop produce in the market. Despite all these hardships she never felt demotivated, and even today is she gets any opportunity or chance, she actively participate in it and gives her 100%.

Today Maninderjeet Kaur is in her mid-60s, but her inner passion has not diminished yet. She still teaches her student with full of energy and enthusiasm. According to her, she is still growing and learning which is helping her to add more products to expand her business. She attends every type of exhibition or event to make her brand more popular and gain the ideal audience.

Maninderjeet Kaur has been stitching clothes and doing embroidery since her teenage but never had she thought that this would someday turn into a full-fledged business for her. She is tailoring her way to success and the identity she has earned today is because of her zeal to continue her interest. For now, she is focusing on improving her revenues to maximize the profit and also to take her business on greater heights.

Message by Maninderjeet Kaur
“A woman should never suppress her skills and interest because of other reasons. Because those skills and interest can help her earn livelihood tomorrow in difficult times. Moreover knowing an additional skill is never a disadvantage, sometime in future that skill will definitely come to work. And whenever you get the opportunity, never miss it and always take advantage of it.”

Paramjit Kaur

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How a Woman with the Zest of a Female Sikh Warrior Is Covering the Milestones to Become a Rising Entrepreneur

Women have contributed a lot in the past for the community along with men, but oftentimes women contribution is overlooked. In India, there were several women who ruled, taught and served the country, their community and their people in the past. They have managed organizations, guided communities and led revolts against the enemies. And all these accomplishments are admirable in their own right. These Female Warriors were great inspiration for women before and even today. One such woman who is inspired by a great female Sikh warrior- Mai Bhago, and is a rising entrepreneur is Paramjit Kaur.

Paramjit Kaur is a woman of strength and faith, who took the first step of establishing Mai Bhago group in her village Lohara (Ludhiana). She started this group in 2008 and since then she is devoting her most of the time in expanding the business and adding and refining the products. Well, there is no doubt that being a woman in the man’s world and establishing a business of their own is no cake walk. It was Paramjit Kaur’s willpower and her family support which helped her in forming the group.

Behind the startup of every good thing, there is a guiding force, similarly, behind the Paramjit Kaur’s motivation of starting her own group was a social activist Suman Bansal, who helped her in getting one-month free training in homemade food products in the Punjab University of Ludhiana. And after that, she never looked back. Today, she has 16 members under her and she guides everyone personally.

Products made by Mai Bhago group are seven types of squashes, perfumes, jal-jeera, phenyl, body moisturizing balm, sabzi tadka, honey, herbal shampoo and mango chutney. Paramjit Kaur herself visit the market to buy the raw material of all the products. Everything made by Mai Bhago is handmade and they use machines for extracting the fruit juice, packing and sealing the food products.

• All the squashes are made from very natural process using the fruit extracts and give the taste of real fruits;

• Perfumes are made from different types of roses and contain the natural essence of rose fragrance;

• Jal-jeera powder which will give you a refreshing taste;

• Pure honey extracted from a very natural process;

• Herbal shampoo which does not contain any type of chemicals;

Well, these are just a few to mention, in future, they are going to come up with more natural and herbal products.

Paramjit Kaur is just 10th passed but her achievements and determination to do something on her own, has won her award and prize money of Rs 50,000 from Captain Kawaljeet Singh on the 55th celebration of Cooperative Society. She has also won appreciation award from the Punjab Agriculture University of Ludhiana for her admirable work. Apart of this, she is actively involved in events, exhibitions, and committee that are for the welfare of farmers, self-help groups, and entrepreneurs. She and her husband are the secretary of Cooperative Society and make decisions in helping the needful people. She is also an active member of Kisan Club and attends monthly meeting and farmer fairs regularly to be updated about the new things and technology in the farming field.

Despite being involved in so many activities and her business, Paramjit Kaur never neglected her children and family responsibilities. She always took complete care of her kid’s education and wants them to go for higher education and do great in their life ahead. Currently, her son is pursuing diploma in electrical and her daughter has done BA and now she is pursuing MA. Her kids are interested in supporting her business in the future and whenever they get time from their studies and college, they assist her in attending events and exhibitions.

Apart from her busy world, she has some hobbies for which she is very much eager and excited, and that is the kitchen gardening and teaching religious music to kids. No matter how much busy she is, she always makes out time from her busy schedule to contribute to her hobbies. She loves to do gardening and she has a small kitchen garden for it, where she grows seasonal vegetables (lady finger, eggplant, bitter gourd, chili etc.) and herbal plants (Aloe Vera, tulsi, sage, thyme, mint etc.). She is also very passionate about teaching religious music, musical instrument and how to read Guru Granth Sahib to the kids. In the evening, nearby children visit her and learn from her very eagerly how to play harmonium, sitar, and tabla. And she provides all these lessons free of cost.

Paramjit Kaur is a great inspiration for the other ladies of her village. She always wanted to do something on her own, because according to her doing something on her own makes the woman confident and independent. Even she never stopped her daughter from doing anything which will lead her to be an individualistic and self-regulating personality in the future. Nowadays, she is promoting her group through different platforms and is planning to expand it to a huge level.

A very true line said by Shad Helmstetter-

“It is the big choices we make that set our direction. It is the smallest choices we make that get us to the destination.”

So it is totally up to your choice, what path you chose and where you reach. And Mrs. Paramjit Kaur has already chosen her path.

Message by Paramjit Kaur
“Today every woman need to be independent and self-assured in order to survive the world. Learning to support yourself is a major element of any success you hope to achieve. Females should recognize their skill and stand up on their feet to financially, mentally and emotionally support themselves, because in the end, you will have yourself to fall back on.”

Raksha Dhand

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Story of a Woman Who Is Helping Phulkari Artisans in Showcasing their Rich Cultural & Artistic Work

Gone are the days when women were only bonded to work in the kitchen and were financially helpless. Earlier there were very few people who rarely acknowledged the fact that women were as good as men in parameters like hard work, intelligence quotient, and leadership skills.

Today also there are many women who are confident, passionate and have the enormous fire in their bellies and brains to take on the best in the business and beat in the real game. One such smart woman who is leading a self-help group cum business by using the creative skills of phulkari workers is Raksha Dhand. She is trying her best to keep the art of phulkari alive with new design trends and innovation.

Raksha Dhand is a resident of Chamkaur Town of Punjab and the president of Genda Self-Help Group. She formed this group in 2010 with the unity of 16 Phulkari workers. And after her phulkari handcrafted material cluster was approved by the Development Commissioner Handicraft (New Delhi), she never looked back. She started with a boom in upturning the Punjab’s traditional handicraft. After getting the approval, fashion designers were specially sent from NIFD to train the skilled workers under this group. Total 25 days of training was given to fully skilled workers, and gradually their work started getting admiration from the people. Slowly her group’s effort gained good numbers of customers and she started earning good profit. Today Raksha Dhand has its own shop with the name of Chamkaur Sahib Phulkari House in the same town where she lives and she sells cloth material designed, embroidered and crafted by her Genda Self-Help Group workers in the shop. Her son is supporting her with the work and all the exhibitions and events.

There was no compulsion, family pressure or financial problem which led Raksha Dhand to form a group and start selling their product. It was Raksha Dhand’s passion of showcasing the rich cultural and artistic history of Phulkari artisans and craftsmen and also to be independent. She always tries to motivate her group members and help her workers in making the use of different phulkari techniques combined with beautiful and vibrant designs to make the most attractive and unique phulkari suits, dupattas, shawls, jackets, and other products.

Currently, Raksha Dhand is living with her full-fledged happy family including husband, two sons, and daughter-in-law. Out of two sons, the younger one is settled in Australia and the elder one- Harsh Dhand is helping her mother in her business. Under her Genda self-help group, she also teaches other women the art of phulkari, so that they can also craft phulkari material and become self-independent. She buys raw material from the Ludhiana market and gives it to the workers under her group and workers spend their day-&-night to produce exceptionally beautiful phulkari products; as soon as they are done with the work, Raksha Dhand pays them on the spot. She doesn’t wait for the customers to buy the products because the workers working under her are all women and are from humble families and they also have to run their livelihood. She understands the situation of working women under her and that’s why she always pay them the right price for their work.

Future Plans:

In the future, she is planning to expand her business and make their handcrafted work get available to the people on the global level. Recently they have contacted India Mart to make a deal with them and sell their products through their website.

Message by Raksha Dhand
“Every woman should be independent and do what she likes. Because if you are determined to build a future for yourself then nobody can stop you. I’m trying to give the women in my society a future, if you are also capable of doing so then take a step forward in helping the deprived females who come from poor background and teach them how they can use their skills and be independent and self-regulating.self-regulating.”

Gurjatinder Singh Virk

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Success Story Of A Farmer Who Started Fish Farming In Compulsion, But Today He Has Become An Inspiration For Others

Never thought by anyone, a land that had been lying vacant for the last 100 years, can be so productive and useful today. The reason that no one ever tried of doing anything on that land was, it remained waterlogged for 11 months in a year. But with the every coming new generation there comes a new thinking. We all know that to make a minor change in the surrounding and environment, great effort is needed, and that great effort can only come into action with strong willpower and passion. And with such a different outlook, intellect, and zeal, to do something for his motherland and for his community came Gurjatinder Singh Virk.

Gurjatinder Singh Virk residence of village Kandola, District Roopnagar, started fish farming on that 5 acres waterlogged land in the year of 1985, which came to him from ancestral property. As he was left with no other choice, so he especially visited Gurdaspur and took 5 days training before starting fish farming. He started fish farming almost 30 years ago, and since then, with his hard work and diligence, he has spread that 5 acres of land to 30 acres. His revolutionary step towards fish farming motivated many other farmers in following the same path, and ultimately it leads to manifold effect which helped in developing the whole wasteland into a fish farming area.

Today, about 300-400 acres of waste land is being used for the purpose of fish farming in the same area.

It all started years ago with a piece of land and one man’s effort, and today it has inspired many people. Eventually, that little step is helping in improving the livelihood of the farmers and many other localities by uplifting their living standard. Now, a community of passionate fishing farmers has been created in that area and their endeavours are ultimately resulting in the economic development of the area which is adding to the economic growth of the state and the nation.

Now, coming to the Mr. Virk’s farming method and economic progression. Gurjatinder Singh Virk farms breeds of common carp fishes like Catla and Rohu. 2000 fingerling fish seeds are needs for one pond is of one acre nearly. So, he use to put 2000 fingerling fishes, and the growth of the fishes depends upon the conditions of the water, quality of diet, and the predators present in the water. Generally, he puts two breeds of fishes in one pond and maintain an ideal condition for the good yield. He sold the fishes at Rs 80/Kg, whereas the market price is Rs 120/kg, and despite selling the fishes at a lower prices, he is earning in lakhs and making enough profit.

Gurjatinder Singh Virk has also taken many steps in preserving the nature; one of his important steps, he took is- reducing the carbon footprint by using solar pump sets to irrigate his own kitchen garden and also to fill up the pond. For the good work done by MR. Virk, he has received many awards and achievements, some of them are listed below-

He received District level award for Agriculture Technology Management and letter of Commendation by Roopnagar Administration for best agricultural practices. He was also awarded by Zee Networks for developing the area. In 2011 he was awarded as Best Citizen India Award, later on, followed by Bharat Jyoti Award and Fish Farmer Award.

His good work in the field of farming leads him to achieve membership in many prestigious committees and societies. Today, he is a member of Advisory Committee (ATMA) and Board of Management at GADVASU. He is also one of the 11 members of Kisan Vikas Chamber (which is set up to the pattern of major industry association of India like CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM); and the work done by this chamber is to upgrade the state’s deteriorating agrarian economy and bring it back on track by providing farmers with the latest updates related to farming. He was also Ex- grame warden (Forest Department) for Village Cooperative Society under NABARD for the District of Roopnagar and Mohali.

One of the major steps, taken by Gurjatinder Singh Virk in improving the fish farming method was visiting China with ex-chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, to know more about the technology being used in China for fish farming.

Apart from his global achievements, he has also worked very hard in making his surrounding a beautiful place full of greenery. He has his house in the centre of the ponds, and on that piece of land where he has his house, he has grown all types of vegetables and fruits. His farm has peaches, almonds, tangerine, mandarin, mango, pomegranate, apple, pine tree and more than 17 vegetables and pulses. He has developed the land around his house so well that, some of the rarest and common species of birds like fish-hawk, kingfisher, fork tail, geese, parrot, peacocks, etc., can be easily seen chirping around his farm. In short, development work on his homeland has created a diversity of the different species of birds.

All this way, the best motivation and companion who helped him in achieving what he has today, is his wife Rupinder Kaur Virk, she was with him in every step of life and helped him in every work. She also has a professional role in his life and that is maintaining accounting records of all the farm work. In the free time, she also loves to make pickles and candies for selling purpose, by using the own farm grown fruits. Gurjatinder Singh Virk manages all the farm work with the help of his wife and only two servants, and for the future development, he is working on the plan of making his farm a tourist place.

After the China visit Gurjatinder Singh Virk concluded that by using better technology, better production can be obtained, so he wants the farmers to start adopting new technologies for better production. He also mentioned that not having electricity supply 24-hour in their village is resulting into less farming produce and in the future, if they are provided with 24-hour electricity facility, then they can offer better results in the farming field. He thinks that from hard work you can reap anything from a piece of land, the only difference will be in the shape and appearance of the fruit and vegetable.

Ashok Vashist

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Encouraging Story of a Farmer Making Money from Organic mushroom Farming and Mushroom Products

The science of agriculture has been refined and perfected overtimes to fulfill the demands of the ever increasing population. And with advancement, farming techniques has also been changed. Nowadays most of the farmers are dependent on conventional farming (industrial farming) techniques, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, GMO and other industrial product to maximize the potential yield of their crops; very few are doing farming without using chemicals. Today, we are going to introduce you to a personality, who also use to do conventional farming earlier, but after getting the insight and knowing the benefits of using natural ways in farming, he started using natural farming methods.

Ashok Vashist is an ordinary farmer of village Haryana, who breached the stereotypical thinking of using conventional farming techniques and started using organic farming methods for mushroom cultivation. He got the inspiration of doing mushroom cultivation by using natural farming method after his visit to Research Center of Mushroom, where Chief Scientist Dr. Ajay Singh Yadav make him aware of the beneficial properties of mushroom and motivated him to start doing it.

In the beginning, when he started mushroom farming, the person other than Scientist Ajay Singh Yadav, who always encouraged and assisted him in farming was his wife. All the other six members of his family also helped and supported him a lot.

Ashok Vashist mainly follows three important steps of mushroom cultivation.

First Step: In the first step, he prepares compost by using paddy straw, wheat straw, millet straw, etc. He cut the straws in 3 to 4 cm and soak them in water.

Second Step: In the second step, he leaves the straw for 28 days in the compost made at home.

Third Step: In the third step, when the compost is prepared, he sows the mushroom seeds which are specially prepared in the lab.

He always follows these three steps while doing mushroom farming and other than mushroom he also cultivates wheat and rice in his farm. By qualification, he is just 10th passed, but this thing never dispirited him in learning and exploring new things. With his innovative thinking and enthusiasm, he tries to create different product out of mushroom, and till now he has created products like honey muraba, mushroom achaar, mushroom muraba, mushroom bhujia, mushroom biscuits, and even mushroom jalebi and ladoo also. One thing that he especially cares about while making different food products is health. So, he uses Stevia powder made from the plant species stevia to sweeten the sweet recipes. Stevia is an ideal healthy sweetener and is also nutritious; diabetic patients can consume sweet products containing stevia without any worries.

Ashok Vashist journey started from a very small platform, almost from zero, and today he has setup up his own business from his hard work, where he sold his homemade products which have been passed by FSSAI. Maharishi Vashist Mushroom is the brand name under which he is selling his products, and many experts, officers, leaders, and media house visit his farm, time to time, to know his innovative way and the idea behind mushroom cultivation and creating delicious mushroom products.

Ashok Vashist wall of achievement includes:

• Certificate for mushroom production technology training programme from HAIC Agro Research and Development Centre.

• Training Certificate by Chaudhry Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar.

• Award and Certificate of Achievement in 2nd Agri Leadership Summit 2017

• Appreciation award from DC Amna Tarneem Jind.

Mushroom Seed:
Ashok Kumar is the first farmer of India who recently developed the seed of mushroom, which can be used as spawn.

Well these are just few awards and achievements to mention about Ashok Vashist, even his buffalo also won the competition by giving 23 kg of milk, which gave him a cash prize of Rs 21 thousand. He only owns 4.5 acres of land and 6 Murrah Buffaloes from which he tries to make out the best earning and profit. He is also an active participant of various exhibitions and events which help him in showcasing his products and making awareness of his farming techniques. And with the hard work and passion with which he is working, in future he will definitely going to achieve much more successes and praises in the field of farming.

Ashok Vashist has a special message for the farmers
“Mushrooms are highly nutritious and beneficial to human health. I have generated great profit from mushroom cultivation by growing them in a natural way. As, we know that, food processing is going to be a big thing in the future, so try to take advantage of the opportunity. In the coming time I’m planning to expand my mushroom cultivation to produce products in huge quantity for selling purpose. My message to other farmers is that they should also take up mushroom farming and process them to make different products for selling in the market. Even landless farmers can also make great earning from mushroom farming and they should also choose this field for farming.”

Kunal Gahlot

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URBAN FARMER REAPING MILLIONS FROM VEGETABLE FARMING

As we know that time is a limited commodity for everyone and working hard won’t help a person to compete from the multi-millionaire competitors. Because if it was possible to earn fortune by working hard, than today farmers would be the multi-millionaires of this country.

The thing which makes your work more impactful and productive is smartness. This is the story of an ordinary farmer from the outskirt village-Tigi Pur of Delhi, who is making millions from vegetable farming by using smart modern farming approach. It’s not like he has any high-tech farming machinery or equipment or he is using gold in place of manure, it’s just his smart approach which he is implementing in his fields.

Technology adopted by Kunal Gahlot….

Kunal Gahlot is engaged in crop diversification and farm diversification since 2004 which has resulted in boosting up the farm income by 500% in a stretch of 10 years. Yes, you read it right! In 2004 his farm income was Rs. 500000/- and in the end of 2015 it was turned into 3500000/-

Turning this 6 digit income into 7 was only possible for Kunal Gahlot because of the implementation of new and modern techniques. Unlike other farmers he embraced scientific technologies in the production of crop plants and horticulture products, like mushroom farming, and intensive vegetable farming. By this initiative, he has earned Rs 3.60 lakh/per hectare in just 4 months.

How marketing boost up his farming to next level….

As per the market demands, sale of the farm produce rocketed and developed many new effective marketing linkages, which helped Kunal Gahlot to identify the potential market place as per the needs.

To lift up the productivity of farm produce he also established vermicompost plant on a large scale and used farm mechanization for better cultivation and harvesting process. Currently he is growing Wheat (HD-2967 and PB-1509), Paddy, Radish, Spinach, Mustard, Turnip, Cauliflower, Tomato, Carrot etc., and along with this he also prepares vegetable seeds. Well these are just few achievements of Kunal Gahlot to mention…

He has also modified the package of practices for cucumber cultivation, transplanting for cabbage, intercropping of marigold with radish etc.

For his work, he has received several awards and recognition from various government and non-government organizations. He always try to share his knowledge and innovations among the fellow farmers of his area and also contribute in the betterment of the agriculture field.

Katta Ramakrishna

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How Katta Ramakrishna Made Cotton Farming More Interesting With High-Density Plantation Technology

Katta Ramakrishna is a progressive farmer from Obannapalem village near Naguluppalapadu Mandal in Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh state. He has successfully implemented high-density planting technique in his cotton field as per the scientists’ suggestion, which resulted in high yield with improved productivity.

This innovative initiative taken by Katta Ramakrishna to put more plants in a little area, ultimately boosted up the yield. By taking this step he produced 10 quintals per acre which made him won national recognition from Indian Council of Agriculture (ICAR) and he was awarded “Babu Jagjivan Ram Abhinav Kisan Puraskar” in 2013.

Later on, with the guidance of District Agriculture Advisory and Transfer of Technology Center, Katta Ramakrishna planted 12500 plants in an acre, and this he implemented in his 5 acreage plot and got the yield of 22 quintals from an acre.

“For every penny invested by me, I got an equal amount as profit in return”
– Katta Ramakrishna said by proudly showing his award that he received from Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan in New Delhi.

Minimally Rs 5, 000 per acre was added to the investment of Rs 45, 000 per acre that the farmer did in the beginning.

“Normally an ordinary farmer used to plant 8, 000 cotton plants in an acre and get the yield of 10 to 15 quintals. But they don’t know that increasing the plant density can increase the cotton yield.”
– Said by the Senior Scientist Ch. Varaprasada Rao, DOT Centre.

Encouraged by the good productivity of white gold, Katta Rama Krishna said that –
“In the coming time I am going for plant density of 16, 000 per acre to aim at 25 to 20 quintals of yield.”

His achievements
• He has been honoured by various state and national organizations.

• Sri Ramakrishna started practiced high-density cotton planting with a spacing 90 cm x 30 cm (as against 90 cm x 45cm ) which resulted in improved yield (45.10Q/ha) even under rainfed conditions.

• He adopted the hydrogel technology in the cotton field for maximum water conservation that resulted in 15% increase in yield.

• Field trials for chickpea, black gram, and green gram have helped to identify suitable varieties for farmer fields in Prakasham district.

• Biofertilizers such as Rhizobium and Phosphobacteria for Bengal Gram have been adopted for increasing the yield.

• He gives preference to organic fertilizer and green manure for the cultivation.

• He uses neem seed kernel extract to counteract the pest menace.

• He has developed technology for use of tobacco waste as a fertilizer in his fields in collaboration with CTRI, Kandukar, Parkasham District.

• He refined and modified seed cum fertilizer drill to place the seed and fertilizer at different soil depths at a time. This modified seed cum fertilizer drill is useful for all types of pulses plantation to the local farmers.

• The innovative technologies and improved package of practices followed by him are published in local languages. Further, the real name farm experiences were disseminated and broadcasted through various radio tasks and public meetings.

• He has become a role model for others in the area and is an inspiration for them.

Message
“Farmers should get their soil tested by the experts to manage the micro-nutrients in soil for the better growth of crops. And in this way, they can also get best results of pest management by using fewer chemicals and pesticides.”

Rajmohan Singh Kaleka

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Story of a Man Who Is Known For Raising Poison Free Crop in Punjab

Born in an agriculturist family, S. Rajmohan Singh Kaleka is a successful progressive farmer from village Bishanpur, Patiala. Without using any kind of chemicals and pesticides he is growing Wheat and paddy on 20 acres of land and is taking good productivity (35 quintals paddy and wheat 22 quintals per acre) out of it from more than a decade.

He is also against stubble burning and he never burns the remains of the crop (straws). His method of poison free farming and eco-friendly agriculture practices has recognized him as a role model for the other peasants of Punjab.

Other than this he is also a member of the production committee of District Patiala. He is always affiliated with terms like progressive farmers, scientists, officers and agricultural expert; this is a big acknowledgement that he has received. Many agricultural scientist and officers often pay visits to his farm for research and exploration.

Along with his job and crop farming, he is also actively involved in dairy farming; he has kept few cows of Sahiwal breed. Other than this he has also established a Bio-Gas plant at his farm. According to him, one of the reasons that lead him to this level of accomplishment is the advisories taken by him from the agricultural experts, KVK’s and IARI.

In the free time, Rajmohan Singh likes to read books related to agriculture, because doing this boost him towards natural farming.

His Awards & Achievements…

For his good work and initiative towards poison free farming he has been honoured and awarded by many prominent people:

• State Level Award

• National Award

• Dhaliwal Award from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana

• Awarded by Honourable Supreme Court Judge

• Awarded by Honourable Rajyapal of Punjab & Haryana

• Awarded by Agriculture Minister

Not only awards, Mr. Rajmohan has also received special letters of appreciation from various government officials which has made him more proud:

• Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Agriculture, Punjab

• Director of Agriculture Punjab

• Deputy Commissioner Patiala

• Chief Agriculture Officer, Patiala

• Joint Director, IARI

Message:
“Farmers should take step towards poison less farming because this is the only way to sustain a better life and they should also make earth a habitable place for the future generation. Today farmer should understand the current need and look for more meaningful and sustainable ways of pursuing agriculture instead of fulfilling their monetary needs.”

Mohinder Singh Grewal

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STORY OF A MAN WHO MASTERED THE ART OF AGRONOMY AND ESTABLISHED HIS FEAT IN THE FIELD OF DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE

Anyone can think and dream. But there are very few people who can take stand on their thinking and have the ardour to accomplish it. With the strong determination there comes a navy man who decided to change his profession into farming. That man came up with an idea of multipurpose farm and with his passion and hard work, today that farmer has turned himself into a global personality in the field of agriculture.

Sardar Mohinder Singh Grewal, the first Farmer Consultant of Punjab Agriculture University, PAU, has 53 years of experience in diversified farming of growing 42 different types of crops. He has learned hybrid seed developing and progressive farming techniques from countries like Israel. Till now, he has won 5 international, 7 national and 16 state level awards for his work in the field of agriculture.

Mr. Grewal was born on 1st December 1937 in Lyallpur in present day Pakistan. His father’s name was Arjan Singh and mother’s name was Jagir Kaur. If we look at the entire life of Mohinder Singh Grewal, we can see that his life was full of struggles but he assumed every struggle and difficulty in his life as a challenge and with dedication and hard work he fulfilled the dreams of himself and his family.

During his school and college days, Mohinder Singh Grewal was really enthusiastic about football and he used to captain the teams of various schools. He was also a good athlete and due to this, he got a permanent job in Indian Navy. In 1962 Mohinder Singh Grewal travelled to Kala Pani in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia on the ship named INS. While playing a match in Indonesia he suffered a serious injury on his right thigh. Due to his injury and family pressure he left his job in Indian Navy in 1963 and after that his life came to a standstill for a while.

After leaving the job, he did not have much of a choice but to go back to his ancestral profession of agriculture. He started with the farming of wheat and maize and he did this for 4 years. Mohinder Singh along with his wife Jasbir Kaur made a cohesive plan to succeed in agriculture and today he has become world famous due to his agricultural activities. Even though he has a small farm of 12 acres but by doing crop rotation he is making a lot of profit. Mohinder Singh Grewal has been able to grow almost 42 types of crops in his fields and get good quality produce. His feat has not only been recognized in Punjab but in the entire India as well.

Mohinder Singh Grewal’s Work has made him so popular that he has served for many prestigious committees and councils. At the state level, he has served as Member of Governing Board, Punjab State Seed Certification Authority, PAU Publication Committee and PAU Farmers’ Advisory Committee. At the national level, he has served as Member of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Government of India; Member of Seed Act Sub-Committee, Government of India; Member of Advisory Committee, Prasar Bharti, Jalandhar, Punjab; and Member of Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow. At present, he is a Member of Agriculture and Horticulture Committee, PAU, and Member of Governing Board, Agricultural Technology Management Agency. And he is also the Founder and Charter President of Punjab Farmers’ Club, PAU.

He has been honoured by many countries such as England, Mexico, Ethiopia and Thailand for his work in the field of agriculture and has also won over 75 awards at various levels. He has been awarded as “Man of the year” by Autobiographical Institute, USA in 1996; and on 15th August 1999, he was honoured with a Gold Medal and Loyi in Shri Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Jalandhar by honourable Governor S S Rai.

He has also been invited by Farmers Institute, Pakistan twice to educate the farmers of West Punjab on how to earn more profits in agriculture and to educate the officials of the Agricultural University in Pakistan about crop diversification. He has been travelling most of his life and has been to many countries like USA, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, England and Pakistan as a scientific farmer and a delegate member, and wherever he went, he imparted technical knowledge to the local farmers.

Sardar Mohinder Singh Grewal is also a keen writer and has written five books, titled as “Kheti-Bari Di Safalta Di Kunji”, “Tere Bagair Zindagi” (poems), “Rang Zindagi De” (autobiography), “Zindagi Ik Darya” and “Successful Scientific Farming.” His writings have been published in foreign newspapers, national dailies, state newspapers, agricultural magazines and Rotary magazines. He has also contributed to the community by undertaking several community service projects like free eye check-up camps, road safety week, blood donation camps, tree plantation, field days and soil tests.

In the field of agriculture, Mohinder Singh Grewal has achieved tremendous success and has set higher standards for farming. His achievements in agriculture act as a source of knowledge and inspiration for all the farmers.

Rajveer Singh

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Success Story of a Small Dairy Farm in Karnal That Produces 800 Ltrs Milk per Day

This is the success story of Rajveer Singh and the accomplishments of his dairy farm. Hailing from a small village of Karnal district (Haryana), Rajveer Singh never thought that his HF breed cow- Lakshmi, would be honoured with National Award for high milk production.

Rajveer Singh’s Lakshmi is a cow of Holstein Friesian breed which has the capacity to produce 60 Lt Milk every day which is much more as compared to other HF breed cows. Lakshmi has not only won awards for her high milk producing capacity but also for her beauty in many animal fairs at the national level. She has been a beauty champion at Punjab National Dairy Farming Fair.

Well, Lakshmi is just one high milk producing cow at the farm of Mr. Rajveer. All in all, there are total 75 cattle at his farm, from which Rajveer Singh is making a profit of around 15 lakh annually. His whole farm is built and expanded in 1.5 acres of land, in which you can see an amazing view of a scrum of cows (60 HF cows, 10 Jersey cows, 5 Sahiwal cows).

Rajveer Singh’s dairy has a total milk production capacity of 800 litres/ day. Out of which, he sells some of the milk in the market and the rest to Amul Dairy. It’s been 8 years since he is actively involved in dairy farming and with his all efforts and expertise he tries to take care of his cows.

No amount of money can weaken the bond of Rajveer Singh and his cows…
Rajveer Singh is so much attached to his cows and dairy work that once he even refused a big businessman from Bangalore to sell his cow Lakshmi in 5 lakh rupees. Businessman visited Rajveer Singh’s farm to buy his cow and was ready to offer any amount of money in exchange of Lakshmi, but he was determined and rejected his proposal.

Care & Feed provided by Rajveer Singh to Lakshmi…
Lakshmi was born in the Rajveer Singh’s farm, due to which Rajveer was much attached to her. Lakshmi generally eats 50 kg of green fodder, 2 kg of dry and 14 kg grains every day. Almost 6 workers are engaged in the care of Lakshmi and other animals at the farm.

Message
“Cows should be cared for like a child. Cows are very reactive to the love and care that they receive. Dairy farmers should take care of every need of the cows, then only they can get good milk produce.”

Harjeet Singh Brar

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Despite Facing Many Problems, This Citrus Estate Owner Reinvented His Way to Stay Successful To Harvest the Sweetest Kinnows

Crop failure, insect/pest attack, rainfed land, financial condition are some of the problems that make the farmers helpless and handicapped sometimes, and these situations lead to suicide commits, starvation, and illiteracy. But some farmers do not accept their downfall so easily and they overcome these types of situations with their full determination and efforts. Harjeet Singh Brar, a residence of Deleanwali village (Faridkot), is one such a farmer whose quest of glory still echoes in the field of kinnow cultivation.

Mr. Brar got the inspiration of Kinnow farming after his visit to the orchard of Sardar Balwinder Singh Tikka situated at Abul Khurana village. Initially, he faced many problems like pest attacks of Citrus Psylla, Leaf Miner and disease like Phytophthora root rot, but he never stepped back or regretted his decision of Kinnow farming. But slowly with the time, he overcame all the problems and expanded his orchard from 6 acres to 70 acres.

To increase the orchard productiveness he implemented the High-Density farming technique. With his dedication and curiosity to learn more about Kinnow Farming, kept him afloat over all the problems and he started earning great profit from the business.

To polish his farming skills and give it a better professional touch, he undertook training from P.A.U, KVK Faridkot and Department of Horticulture.

The Passion for Conserving Natural Resources:
He is very passionate towards conserving the natural resources. He always tries to implement those farming technologies through which he can save the resources. With the guidance of PAU experts, he installed drip irrigation system and built a water storage tank of capacity 42 lakh litres, where he stores canal water. Along with this, he also invested in the solar panel to conserve solar energy and later use it to uplift water from storage tanks to his orchards. He also does mulching during peak summer months to conserve the soil moisture.

To improve the soil health he uses green manure and also recommends to other farmers. He prepares soil bed of around 20 m X 10 m and 20 m X 15 m for Kinnow cultivation.

How he deals with the pest…
To tackle the menace of citrus Psylla, White Fly, and Leaf Miner, he has especially implemented an indigenous aeroblast spray pump which ensures uniform spray of the pesticide and weedicide.

Adopting innovative trends…
Whenever he gets the opportunity to adopt any new trend or technology he never misses that. Once he borrowed an idea from Gurraj Singh Virk- an eminent horticulturist and designed a low-cost Kinnow cleaning cum grading machine (capacity of 2 tonnes per hour). And now this machine only cost him just Rs 125 to clean and grade 2 tonnes of fruit, but the biggest advantage is that he is saving Rs 1000 on manual cleaning. Today, he is making a great profit from his orchard business. He is an inspiration for other farmers.

MESSAGE
“All farmers, whether practicing organic or conventional farming should take immediate and stern measures to conserve the soil fertility. For Kinnow farming, the farmers should use green manure in the Kinnow plantations for improving the soil health.”

Ratti Ram

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A Ray of Hope Which Changed Ratti Ram’s Farming into a Profitable Venture

Ratti Ram is an ordinary vegetable farmer from Hinotia village of Madhya Pradesh. By wisely taking advantage of advanced techniques and government schemes, he established his own vegetable farm from which today he is earning profit in crores. But if we talk about a while ago, then Ratti Ram was a deprived farmer for whom even buying a footwear was also a very difficult errand. Today he owns a bike which he proudly runs in his village.

Although Ratti Ram had less land for cultivation, but scarcity of water resources acts as the major intervention between his efforts and the land. In the rainy season, when he tried to cultivate something at that time excess rain damaged his crops. All these climatic problems and other glitches were the main reason behind his poor farming conditions.

Whatever little income he used to earn from farming was all spent on fulfilling the family’s food demand, and these situations were also giving rise to many financial problems. But one day Ratti Ram came to know about Horticulture Department and he ran barefoot towards Collector Rajesh Jain’s Office District Head Quarter from his village Hinotia. When collector saw Ratti Ram, he felt his pain and the next step that he took changed the life of Ratti Ram.

Collector sent Ratti Ram to the officer of Horticulture Department, where Mr. Ratti came to know about various horticulture schemes. He got seeds of Guava, Amla, Hybrid Tomato, Okra, Potato, Garlic, Chilly etc., and with the help of horticulture schemes and subsidy, he also set up drip irrigation system, sprayer, power spray pump, power driller. Moreover, the collector also helped him in locating a pack house under subsidized rate.

His fate changed, as soon as Ratti Ram started vegetable farming by using new techniques, and in a year Ratti Ram earned a pure profit of one crore from which he bought Matador Van, two bikes, and two tractors. Other than investing in vehicles he also invested in other resources and made 3 new water wells, 12 tube well and 4 houses at different locations. He expanded his farming area by buying 20 acres land for cultivation purpose and took 100 acres land on lease. Today he is living happily with his family and a while ago he also arranged marriage ceremony for his two sons and a daughter.

Ratti Ram is a role model for all those farmers in India who are feeling helpless and abandoned, because even in his difficult times he never left his hope.

Gurdial Singh

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How A Farmer’s Hard Work & Passion Led the Yellow Revolution in the Gurdaspur District of Punjab

Punjab is a state where the dominance of wheat and paddy cultivation is greater as compared to the other crops because it generates a great level of profit to the cultivators. And generally, the farmer also prefer to invest in wheat and paddy farming because of the positive profit results. But there is a farmer who is different from the others, and he thought of initiating a change in the farming culture by starting the Yellow Revolution.

Mr. Gurdial Singh a turmeric farmer from Sallopur village in Gurdaspur district, has three roles by profession- a farmer, an entrepreneur and a turmeric cultivation trainer. Today he is cultivating turmeric, processing it, marketing his product himself and selling it in the market; he is not dependent on the third person to sell his produce. He chose a different path from the rest of the farmer to make his own identity in the society. At present, his yearly turmeric production is between 1500 to 2000 quintals and he is the king of Green Gold Spice Group.

Success is not achieved so easily, a person has to do hard work, face difficulties and hardships and sometimes losses also occurs. After facing all these adversities, with the spirit of not giving up and moving forward in the same direction, helps in achieving success. Gurdial Singh’s farming story is similar. After passing his matriculation he tried for government jobs, but getting failed after many attempts he decided to go hand in hand with his father to support him in farming. From the beginning, he was never satisfied with the conventional farming methods, because a farmer isn’t able to get the right worth of his crops grown from his hard work. So, in 2004 he experimented with turmeric cultivation on a small land with the guidance of Horticulture Department. And along with that he also started processing turmeric into turmeric powder but without using any machinery.

Processing turmeric into turmeric powder manually was very backbreaking. So, after the Horticulture Department suggestion, he installed mechanized processing unit for turmeric powder production. Further, he also invested in modern farming machinery, such as tractor, trolley, leveller, tiller etc. And all these steps taken by him has increased the production of raw turmeric from 60 Quintals to 110 Quintals today. By putting all these stepping stones together he started his own turmeric processing plant in 2007 and named it as Green Gold Haldi Processing Plant and Haldi Green Gold Spice is one of the products of this plant. His family including wife, two sons, one daughter, and everyone plays a major role in all the activities related to the processing of turmeric such as washing, boiling, polishing and grinding. He also has 4-5 labours working for him in the processing plant and all the packaging, sealing and stamping work is done by the equal contribution of family members in his home. After setting up all the machinery system there are still some minor problems that he is facing. Out of all the problems, not having enough space for drying up the boiled raw turmeric is the one.

The reasons behind why Gurdial Singh chose turmeric cultivation are:

• It needs less irrigation, in the time period between sowing to harvesting (8-10 months), irrigation is done only 10-12 times.

• Moreover, as turmeric is an antibiotic in nature, so the turmeric crop do not seem to catch any kind of disease from any other plants or crops, due to which less chemicals and sprays are used in turmeric farming.

• He invests around 35000 in one acre of land, and in one acre of land he sows 5 quintals of seeds and potato digger can also be used for turmeric harvesting.

• He sows turmeric in 6-7 acres of his total land, and after sometime, he rotates the crops, due which the land in which turmeric was cultivated becomes more fertile.

So, if a farmer is interested in turmeric farming then he can also start with it easily. The total machinery cost invested by Gurdial Singh in setting up the turmeric processing plant was 4.5 lakhs. He takes all the suggestion for training, types of turmeric seed from Punjab Agriculture University and also gets 25% subsidy on “Green Gold Processing Unit” as per NHM guidelines by the Horticulture Department of Punjab. For his revolutionary work and the different path he has achieved many awards and appreciations, some of them are listed below:

• Udmai Kissan Award 2014 from CM of Punjab

• Datawid Kissan Award 2015

• Awarded by P.A.U. Ludhiana and Horticulture Department Punjab at Chappar Chiri

The way he is rising and advancing his farming methods, these are just a few awards that he has received and in future, he is going to receive many more.

Apart from turmeric farming and processing it into powder, he is also helping other fellow farmers of his village by giving them the right guidelines for turmeric farming. Today, almost 60 farmers are associated with him and he gives free training to all of them. He helps other farmers by purchasing raw turmeric from them at the right price. Apart of sowing turmeric in his own land (6-7 acres), he also helps his other friends by sowing turmeric in their fields. To support all his work through marketing and promotion, NABARD supports them by giving them space in different exhibitions, events and Kisaan Mela under the Farmer Producers Organizations.

Other than turmeric cultivation and processing, Gurdial Singh has also invested in beekeeping business. He started it in 2000 from just 5 boxes and with the time and investment today he has 100 boxes. He has employed labours for beekeeping to manage it properly. In the rest of the land, he grows lentils (green mung beans), eggplant, ladyfinger, wheat and paddy for his own home use. His future plans for Green Gold Haldi Processing Plant is to advance the packaging process by using hi-tech machines.

According to his thinking, if a farmer wants to earn good profit from his farming and do something great from his harvested crops, then he has to eliminate the middle man. Farmer has to start process his crops himself and sell it himself in the market. All these things need great effort, energy, and enthusiasm. Otherwise, if the farmer feels ashamed of selling his produce himself directly in the market then he cannot earn the profit and will remain at the same level. Furthermore, if a farmer is interested in turmeric cultivation then he can refer the experts of PAU or other successful turmeric farmers because experts can tell better about the types of seeds, and types of land required, and other necessary conditions.

MESSAGE BY GURDIAL SINGH

“According to the current needs, conventional farming ways cannot help the farmer. The farmers need to diversify if they want to earn well from their harvested produce. From modern farming ways, even a small farmer can also achieve success. Today, food processing is the need of the hour, so every farmer should start thinking in a different way. Farmer has to understand that there is no need of middleman to sell their product in the market. They can also do it on their own.“

Manjula Sandesh Padvi

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How This Woman Single-handedly Proved Organic Farming Profitable For the Community and Her Family

Manjula Sandesh Padvi looks like an ordinary farmer, but her knowledge related to organic farming and her life struggle is way beyond that. Living in a small village Wagsepa, district Nandurbar of Maharashtra, she not only cultivate land organically but also fulfils her family needs and educate her daughter from the farm income.

Manjula’s husband left her 10 years back at that time, she had two options to do with her life, first one was to feel bad for her circumstances, gain sympathy and look for another person’s support; the second choice was to stand up on her own and become her own support. She chose the second option and today she is an independent organic farmer.

There was also a time in her life when her health was not responding well to her body needs. At that time, she was going through a heart-treatment, in which her heart valve was replaced, but she never lost her hope. After recovering from the surgery, she took a loan from the saving group and planted a motor pump in her field. To make the soil more fertile, she chose bio-fertilizer in place of chemical fertilizer and pesticides.

The money that she got from various government policies was a good amount for her and she spent it wisely by purchasing a pair of bulls. And now she uses the bulls to cultivate her land by hoeing it. She grew maize and sorghum and got good yield as well.

Manjula Says- “Yield of crops grown in the fields nearby is less than mine. Last year we grew maize but our yield was much better than them because I am using biofertilizers and others using chemical fertilizers. This year also I am growing maize and sorghum”

Public Service System located in Namburdar district has been a great help to Manjula in her farming venture. They have created 15 saving groups in her area, and through these groups, they collect money and provide loans to the farmers in need. They especially encourage non-chemical and organic farming. One more group of which Manjula is taking advantage is Indigenous Seed Banks, she takes seeds through these groups and practices diversified farming of vegetables, fruits, and cereals. Manjula’s daughter Manika is proud of her mother and she always supports her.

Today, women play a major role in the farming field, from sowing seeds to conservation and storage of crops. But when farming gets mechanized then women generally fall out of this category. But, Majula Sandesh Padvi never made herself handicapped and turn her weakness into strength. Single-handedly she took care of her farm, her daughter and her house needs. Today she has made her daughter well-educated and capable enough to earn and live a good life. Presently her daughter- Manika is working as a nurse in Jalgaon.

Women like Manjula Sandesh Padvi act as the powerhouse for rural India, women like her motivate other women to be strong and chose sustainable farming for better future. Today, we need more Manjula Sandesh Padvi, if we want our future generation to live healthy and without any scarcity.

Sustainable farming is the need of the hour because chemicals are decreasing the fertility of the land and making the underground life polluted, moreover chemical use also increases the cost of farming, which increases the debt and forces farmers to commit suicide.

We need to learn from Majula to protect our water, soil and environment by adopting organic farming.

Gurdeep Singh Nambardar

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Gurdeep Singh Script Success Story in Mushroom Cultivation

With the combined effort and support of the whole family based in Gurali village of Firozpur district (Punjab), Gurdeep Singh Nambardar has scripted his success in the field of mushroom farming. Pooling all his resources and determination, he started mushroom cultivation in 2003 and till now he has employed 60 families with his venture.

Starting from a small level and slowly expanding to a grander level, today Gurdeep Singh has earned an identity of a successful mushroom farmer and along with that, he has also built a large mushroom farm. Other than being a successful mushroom farmer he was also Sarpanch of his village for 20 years.

As per the suggestion by PAU he started this venture and in the beginning, it cost him about 20 quintals of straw. Today his farm is much bigger as compared to 2003, and now it cost him about 7 thousand quintals of straw annually.

Many farmers of his village are inspired by his initiative. For his success in mushroom farming, he was also honoured with district-level award for producing mushrooms through high-tech farming at Progressive Farmer Fair conducted in his village by Agriculture Department, Firozpur in collaboration with district administration.

Message:
“Mushroom farming is a profitable venture with low investment. Farmers should invest in mushroom farming if they want to earn well. ”

Sardar Gurmail Singh

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How Gurmail Singh Made Modern Techniques His Tool to Earn Profit Out Of Vegetable Farming

Gurmail Singh is another progressive farmer from Uchagaon village of Patiala, Punjab. Despite having less land, he is reaping great profit out of it from the last 23 years by doing vegetable cultivation. He has around 17.5 acres of land out of which 11 acres he owns and has taken 6.5 acres on the contract basis.

Modern farming techniques like drip irrigation, spray irrigation, and laser leveller are some of his power tools which help him to do efficient farming and water conservation. And when it comes to pesticides usage, then he is very smart. He uses pesticides only on the recommendation of Punjab Agriculture University. Mostly he tries to use green natural manure in his fields for better yield.

The other modern technique which he is using adeptly is the light tunnel in 6 acres to grow vegetables. And some of the crops that he especially grows every season are rice, wheat, clover, cabbage, melon, tomato, eggplant, cucumber, peas and bitter gourd. To give a powerful boost to his farming venture he also took training for the preparation of hybrid seeds soy operations and other allied activities like beekeeping and dairy farming etc., from Agriculture Science Centre, Patiala.

Marketing
His vast year of experience not only includes growing different crops advantageously but he also enhanced his marketing skills, and today he has his own sales outlet at “Atma Kisan Hut (Patiala)”. Quality of his processed produce has increased his sales day by day. He has also established a soy plant under the brand name “Smart” in 2012 and under this plant, he processes and sells products such as soy milk, cheese, flour, and nuts.

Achievements
He is an inspiration for the other farmers and soon he will be honoured with the CRI Pumps Award.

Message
“Farmers should use less pesticides and chemicals in their field if they want to live a healthy life and reap good yield out of their land in the present as well as in the future.”

Krishan Dutt Sharma

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HOW ORGANIC FARMING HELPED KRISHAN DUTT SHARMA SCRIPT HIS SUCCESS IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE

There are situations in life which make people realize the missing objective of their lives and inspire them to achieve it. The same thing happened with an ordinary farmer- Krishan Dutt Sharma, of village- Chikhar (Shimla) and motivated him to adopt organic farming.

Achievements of Krishan Dutt Sharma in organic farming has made him so popular that today his name is counted in the list of important people in the field of agriculture.

It all started when, Krishan Dutt Sharma got the opportunity to visit Hyderabad (November 11, 2002), with the help of Agriculture Department. During that visit, he got an overview of Organic Farming. He was curious to know more about it, as well as he wanted to implement it.

His passion and ideas came into action when he came in contact with Morarka Foundation (in 2004). Until that time, he got well aware of the adverse effects of increased use of chemicals in the agriculture field and this made him very distressed and anxious. As he knew that, he also has to face the consequences of fertilizers and pesticides in the coming future, so he decided to adopt organic farming completely.

He had total 20 bigha land out which 5 bighas was irrigated land and 15 bigha was rain-fed area. In the beginning, he purchased an apple mother plant (root-stock) from Horticulture Department, and from that plant, he established his whole garden with 400 plants of apples. He also grew pears tree (20), cherry trees (20), peach trees (10) and pomegranate tree (15). Along with fruits, he also started growing vegetables like cauliflower, peas, beans, capsicum, and broccoli.

Generally, broccoli crop grown with pesticides and chemicals gets easily spoil, but the broccoli grown by Krishan Dutt Sharma in an organic way, significantly has much life. Due to this reason now broccoli grown by farmers organically is being carried to Delhi market for marketing purpose. Moreover, broccoli grown organically is sold around Rs 100-150 / kg and these numbers are escalating the income reach of farmers up to 500000 rupees, and in the boost of this six-digit figure, half of the income is earned from the sale of broccoli only.

To inspire more farmers towards organic farming, Krishan Dutt Sharma has created a group in his village under his leadership. His initiative has inspired many farmers to adopt organic farming.

Krishan Dutt Sharma’s achievements in the field of organic farming are very huge and even Himachal Government has honoured him with Best Farmer Award in “Organic Fair and Food Festival” in June 2013. But because of his humbleness, he gives all the credit of his success to Morarka Foundation and the Department of Agriculture.

He uses cows (3), bullocks (1), and calves (2) dung in his fields and forest, and he also prepares Vermicompost for better yield. He has prepared a bed of 30x8x10 on his farm where he prepares Vermicompost from 250 earthworms every year. In place of pesticides, he uses herbal spray, aperture wash, Jivamrit, and NSDL. Using natural pesticides in place of artificial improves his land condition and also decreases his expense.

Message:

“He wants to inspire other farmers to adopt organic farming for better future and good income.”

Hartej Singh Mehta

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Hartej Singh Mehta- Laying Foundation For Better Future By Inspiring Others To Pursue Organic Farming

Earlier organic was a term which was very rarely used or practiced. There were very few farmers who use to do organic farming and that also for the home purpose. But with the time, people recognized that every shining vegetable or fruit looks good but is not good for health.

This is the story of a farmer – Hartej Singh Mehta, who took a wise decision 10 years back and is very grateful for it. For Hartej Singh Mehta continuing organic farming was the best decision he ever took in his life. And today he is the renowned personality for organic farming in his area (Mehta Village- Bathinda).

As being from the Malwa region of Punjab, where farmers use pesticides and chemicals at a very high rate to get good productivity, Hartej Singh Mehta chose to maintain harmony with nature. He is very dedicated towards his hereditary occupations from his childhood and for him living a simple life is more important than bragging about his achievements.

Despite being highly qualified (MA Punjabi, MA Political Science), he chose to pursue organic farming instead of running behind the city life and govt. job. Currently, he has 11 acres of land in which he grows Cotton, Wheat, Mustard, Sugarcane, Lentil, Spinach, Fenugreek, Carrot, Radish, Onions, Garlic and almost all the vegetables. He always prefers to prepare his fields by following natural ways which work well for cotton (F 1378), wheat (1482) and Bansi named seeds.

“Reasons like dissatisfaction, illiteracy, and desire of higher productivity of the farmers lead them to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, due to which, farmers who are known as the Savior are now serving toxin in the society.Nowadays farmers use pesticides and chemicals for pest management which harms the good worms and fertility of the soil. They are not aware that by using chemicals in their farm they are ultimately poisoning the whole food chain. Moreover, by using chemicals and pesticides they are not only worsening the environmental conditions but also facing major economic loss due to increasing debt.” – Said by Hartej Singh Mehta

Mr. Mehta always practices natural method and whenever he needs information related to natural farming he refers Pingalwara Society, Amritsar and Agricultural Heritage Mission. He generally uses cow urine and animal dung for preparing fertilizer, as this is good for the soil and is also very economical.

According to Mr. Mehta, consuming naturally grown food has kept him and his family perfectly healthy and away from diseases. Due to this reason also Mr. Mehta feels inspired towards organic farming and in future also he will continue doing it.

Message

“I want to give the same message to the farmers across the country that we should come out of the shackles of private companies and should pledge to make healthy society by serving them healthy food.”

Navroop Singh

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Journey of an Engineer Turned Farmer, Reaping Food Out Of Desert by Keeping Harmony with Nature

“With wrong farming methods, we turn fertile land into desert. Unless we go back to organic farming and save the soil, there is no future.” – Jaggi Vasudev

The soil is a wealth of living beings, and out of all the living beings, only human is capable of making changes or affecting the most precious asset of nature.

Very true said by Jaggi Vasudev that by practicing wrong farming method we are turning our fertile land into desert. But here we are going to share the story of a man- Navroop Singh Gill, who is reaping food naturally out of the desert to make soil more fertile and natural resources less poisonous.

Farming is a pursuit with which human race is blessed, and practicing it in harmony with nature can bring the treasure of wellness to the people. Navroop Singh Gill understood this fact very well, long ago and for the betterment of people and Mother Nature he decided to turn towards natural farming.

Navroop Singh Gill was doing pretty well in abroad, but then one day he decided to come back to India and help his elder brother Navdeep Singh Gill in his farming venture. Soon as he started connecting himself with the real-life issues, a sudden wave of determination and spiritual enlightenment struck him and transformed him into a new individual.

“My family was not into the farming field from the beginning. My father- Kamaljeet Singh Gill, was a businessman and he owned cotton spinning and weaving mill till 1998, but due to some financial losses and circumstantial conditions he has to shut down his mill. At that time we never thought that this unfortunate ending will lead us to a beautiful beginning…Later my father started farming (conventionally) and my elder brother also joined him after completing his studies. I joined them in 2010. ”

Earlier, Navdeep Singh Gill was doing natural farming, but not on large scale. With the support of younger brother (Navroop Singh), Navdeep expanded the farming horizon step by step. Every penny saved was a step towards expanding the natural farming practices.

Another field towards which Navroop Singh Gill was allured was dairy farming, it was his love for cows, because of which he started rearing cattle also. He started dairy farming with few cows in the beginning and slowly increased the number of animals in the farm.

In 2013, the idea of “Thar Naturals” came into the mind of both brothers, and then they decided to do everything naturally – from land preparation to harvesting. As a result, crop yield increased and it was far much better as compared to other farmers using chemicals and pesticides in their fields. Steadily Thar Natural became a renowned brand and Gill brothers added more crops in their product list.

It was Navroop Singh’s positivism and family support which turned the way of Gill family’s descending sun into rising one…

…and it was Navroop Singh Gill and his family’s effort which made their natural farming initiative recognized and honoured by Krishak Samman Puraskar in 2015.

Gill family was also nominated for 2016 – Krishak Samman Puraskar award.

In 2016, third and the youngest son (Ramandeep Singh Gill) of the Kamaljeet Singh Gill decided to come back from abroad and join his brother and this how the trinity was completed.

Navroop Singh Gill- “THAR NATURALS is a vision of Gill Family to promote natural farming on a large scale and make aware other farmers of Rajasthan and other states that high yield and quality can be easily be achieved through natural farming. And Thar Naturals would never have been possible without the whole family effort.”

Today, THAR NATURALS is producing different varieties of cereals, pulses, millet, fruits, and vegetables; basically, it can be classified into four categories, namely, Agriculture, Fertilizers, Dairy and Horticulture. They are also processing some crops like Green Mung Beans, Bengal gram, Fenugreek Seeds, Chickpeas, Aloe Vera, Flax Seeds, and Canola Oil. Some of their featured products to promote natural farming which they also use in their farms are Jeev Amrit, JIYAN, and Vermicompost. They also have dairy products like milk and desi ghee (clarified butter) of Sahiwal cow for selling purpose.

Currently, Navroop Singh Gill is residing with his family in 58-RB Village in Rai Singh Tehsil of Sri Ganganagar District in Rajasthan. Mrs. Sandeep Kaur Gill (w/o Navdeep Singh), Mrs. Gurpreet Kaur Gill (w/o Navroop Singh) and Mrs. Ramandeep Kaur Gill (w/o Ramandeep Singh) are the hidden supportive members behind Thar Natural and they perform the role of main functionary of the house.

FARM STATS

Farming Technique: Mulching for water management

Implements: Have all the necessary farming machinery like tractor, trolley, harrow, and disc.

Crops: Guar, Pearl Millet, Mung Beans, Bengal grams, Chickpeas, Fenugreek, Flax-seeds

Horticulture Crops: Kinnow, Seasonal Vegetables, Canola

Dairy Farming: Gill Family have more than 100 cows of Sahiwal Breed in their farm. Navroop Singh himself take care of them with the help of few workers.

Message
“Natural farming is the only key to success for farmers in long run.”

Navroop Singh Gill is a prime example for the young farmers who want to see themselves successful in the future in the field of agriculture. Thar Naturals is an idle case of how natural farming is equally profitable as compared to farming done by using genetically modified seeds and chemicals.

Chewang Norphel

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This Ladakhi Man Keeps the Hills Alive By Building Artificial Glaciers

CHEWANG NORPHEL – A 83-year-old man who after completing his diploma degree in civil engineering from Lucknow, served 36 years of his life in government service as a civil engineer in Jammu & Kashmir before he took an early retirement due to his bad health and settled down in his hometown Ladakh. But his work for the society continued even after his retirement…

Superheroes do exist in real life, and the superhero about whom we are going to talk about does not have any superpower; on the other hand, he has super-skill, super-knowledge, super-understanding and super-erudition, by using which he saved the agriculture from getting vanished in the cold desert of India.

One freezing morning, Mr. Norphel was sitting outside his house when he observed that water running from the tap was turning into its solid form, as soon as it touches the ground and a pit of frigid frosty ice was formed.

“In Ladakh, the taps are usually kept open to keep the flow of water, so that the pipes can be prevented from bursting.”

This was when, Mr. Norphel realized and founded the solution to ease the water problem in Ladakh.

From last few decades, the influence of global warming has made the snowline gone up by 100m and more, from its previous level, due to which it becomes very difficult for farmers to irrigate their land in the beginning of spring season.

In Ladakh, ideal sowing period extends from April to May, but due to lack of water in the past, farmers were unable to moisten their land properly. And how can one, delay even a day in the sowing season. Moreover, glacier water comes down the hills in June, which is too late for farmers.

But Civil Engineer- Chewang Norphel, worked on this issue to mitigate the climatic conditions to give relief to the people of Ladakh region.

Burning his midnight oil, he planned everything and discussed it with some of the farmers of his region. Later he joined Leh Nutrition Project in 1994, the oldest NGO serving the inhabitants of Ladakh since 1978. And this is how his proposal came into action.

Chewang Norphel – “When I discussed my ideas with the farmers, some of them even laughed on it, but some of them thought of giving it a try.”

Till now, Mr. Norphel has built 10 glaciers, out of which the smallest one is 500 feet long in Umla region and the longest one is 2 km long in Phutse region of Ladakh.

Norphel’s artificial glacier is based on the simple principle of channelling the runoff water from the mountains to create artificial glaciers. In the hilly area, the inclination of the water stream is very steep, so the water in the stream does not freeze and is diverted to shadowy areas where sun rays do not fall directly. When the water reaches the storage site, then it is distributed in small quantity to reduce its speed and then it is stored in ice retaining walls in the form of frozen water.

Artificial glaciers are constructed closer to the villages so that the water can reach the fields quickly, as soon as the spring hits the Ladakh region. In this way, plenty of water for more than a month reach the field in the early spring and gives villagers a breath of comfort.

Water is a necessity which is needed by the birds in the air to the worms in the soil, and with the initiative of Chewang Norphel, investment of Rs. 90, 000 in building natural reservoirs is today providing water for the village of 700 people.

Today, in Ladakh, there are many roads, irrigation systems and other structures built by Norphel. For the people of Ladakh, he is a superhero.

Some of the titles and names by which he is called, in the honour of his work are – Climate Hero, Iceman, Man Who Creates Artificial Glaciers…

“There are many ways to conserve water, such as, by making dams, diversions, check dams, but artificial glaciers is a unique way … so they made me Ice Man – Chewang Norphel said smilingly”

The safest heaven – Ladakh, has been saved from the high thinking of Norphel; and as it is said that when thinking is high, then trouble and problems become smaller.

Rajwinder Pal Singh Rana

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HOW A FARMER IS EMPOWERING FISH FARMING INDUSTRY WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Agricultural practices and farming trends differ globally, on the other hand, breed variety and location also plays a very important role. And living in a country like India, where both land and climatic conditions are in favour of agriculture, it’s a plus point for the farmers to reap benefit. But, the field in which the Indian farmers are lacking behind is the farming technology. One such a farmer who is bringing the modern farming technology from abroad to his motherland is Rajwinder Pal Singh Rana. He is a residence of Mandiani, Ludhiana, Punjab.

For Mr. Rana stepping into the field of fish farming was a totally new thing in 2000, but today by seeing his achievements nobody can say that. He started fish farming with 1.5 acres of land. But before this, he covered a long successful path as a marketing professional. As being an MBA graduate in Advertising and Sales Promotion he worked for a couple of years for many well-recognized brands like Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson.

But, maybe working as a marketing pro was not what he wanted to do in his life. He felt a something missing in his life and decided to return to his roots in Punjab. After taking the advice of a senior official from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), he decided to pursue a career in fish farming. He undertook training programs at PAU and Fish Farmer Development Agency, Ludhiana respectively, before venturing into commercial fish farming business.

In a span of 16 years, his farming venture has expanded to 70 acres. And in these years he has visited a new nation every year, to learn latest farming practices and technologies used in fish farming.

“People in Holland and Israel share the information while Russians are a bit secretive!” he says in a lighter vein.

His Inventions
From the beginning, Mr. Rana was always very curious and interested in knowing about new technologies. So after his foreign exploration, Mr. Rana invented new fishery products and machinery from his mastermind and implemented at his farm.

Machine to track the growth of fish in the pond
The first thing that he invented after his visit to Holland experience was a tag tracking machine for fishes. This machine helps in tagging and tracing every fish. Originally it’s a Dutch machine and is not affordable for an ordinary farmer, so Rajwinder created an Indian version of that machine. By using this machine a farmer can closely tag track a fish and can take the desired action in case of any risk to the other fishes.

Fish dung manure
The second thing he invented was fish dung manure. He invented a procedure in which fish waste is mixed with jaggery and decomposed for 45 days in a deep ditch and then it can be used directly. And this manure is very beneficial for horticulture purpose.

Device for carrying live fish for sale in the market
As we all know live and fresh fishes fetches better returns, so he developed a special water tank in which a 12 V DC motor will pump air through an air blower and will keep the fish alive and fresh, while the farmer carries it to the market.

Fashion accessories made from fish skin
Fish skin releases an acid like substance, due to which the fish skin remain shiny 24/7 in the water. So, Mr. Rana recognized its use and instead of discarding the fish skin, he used it for making mobile covers. Punjab Agriculture University helped him in making this project successful. The mobile covers made from the fish skin are very beneficial, as they prevent the emission of mobile radiations and safeguard humans from ill effects. He also understood that fish skin can also be used for making bags as a women accessory. Moreover, in the international market fish skin is valued at 600 Euros/inch. Mr. Rana has already applied for the patent on mobile covers and is waiting for government approval.

He also discussed the challenges faced in the fishery industry of India, –

“Banks in India don’t support fishery projects. There are other issues related to the availability of electricity and water. Lack of literacy among the farmers is another factor which has hampered the growth of fishery sector in India.”

He believes that Government of India should help in this regard by sponsoring trips of groups containing one scientist and nine farmers to foreign countries for training.

Currently, Rajwinder is raising rohu, catla and murak fish breeds at his Raj Aqua World farm for commercial purpose. Many other fellow farmers also benefited by using his techniques. He has developed successful fishing partnerships with other farmers and is selling large quantities of fish to other states. The fish-lets have been purchased from the government at subsidized rates. All thFrom the beginning, Mr. Rana was always very curious and interested in knowing about new technologies. So after his foreign exploration, Mr. Rana invented new fishery products and machinery from his mastermind and implemented at his farm.is success is the result of his ability to adopt new technology, innovations, and experimentation.

Future Plan
His plan is to focus on aquaponics in the future. He insists that expensive fish breed should be used in aquaponics for better results.

Awards & Achievements:

• Received award for Best Farmer of Punjab – 2004-05 from PAU Kisan Club (Regd.) for best utilization of waste water in aquaculture

• Best Fish Farmer of Punjab – 2005-06, Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development and Fishery from Mr. Jagmohan Kang

• Best Input Technology in Water Harvesting in Aquaculture – 2005, Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development and Fishery from Mr. Jagmohan Kang

• Best Production Award in low level water harvesting technology – Fish Farmers Development Agency, Moga (35 qt.) – 2005

• Best Farmer Award for water quality management – 2006-07

• Award for Storage of Aquaculture water and reusing agriculture resources – 2008-09

• Award for best utilization of sewage water in aquaculture – 2010-11

A Progressive Farmer from Haryana, manufactures 32 different types of organic products

Achievements

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