Tag: Bottle Gourd

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.

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.

Raja Ram Jakhar

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The Futuristic Farmer of Rajasthan Bringing Changing Tides in Conventional Farming Trend with Aloe Vera Farming

Even today also Rajasthan is known for its conventional farming methods, and the main crops that are grown there are Bajara, Guar, and Sorghum. Many farmers are progressing but still, many farmers are there who just don’t want to come out of their stereotypical conventional farming trend. One such a person who is trying to do something out of the box and bring a changing tide in agriculture field is Raja Ram Jakhar.

Born and brought up on the land of Rajasthan, Raja Ram Jakhar is a B.Sc. Agriculture Graduate who left his government job just to pursue his passion towards farming. He learned to take advantage of the opportunity and gain profit from it. And today he is a successful aloe-vera farmer in Rajasthan, who is not dependent on anyone for marketing because his produce is sold to the consumers from his farm only.

Rajaram Jakhar’s family was associated with agriculture from the beginning. And all his childhood, he had seen all his family members doing farming only. But after completing his B.Sc. Agriculture degree from the DAV College of Sangaria, Rajasthan in 1980, he got a chance to pursue a different profession (Supervisor at Central State Farm, Suratgarh). However, he wasn’t able to work there more than 3-4 months, because it doesn’t interest him and he chose to come back and continue his ancestral occupation, farming.

He started farming in the same way his ancestors were doing and there was no major profit that he achieved. Slowly it was getting difficult for him to manage his family livelihood, they were just living from hand to mouth. But then he heard about Patanjali brand and its aloe vera products, and to manufacture those products Patanjali needs aloe-vera produce in bulk. So he took advantage of this opportunity and started aloe-vera farming by making minimum Rs. 15000 of investment in 1 bigha of variety “Babie Densis”.

During all this, once his family also went against his decision of aloe-vera farming, because they were unsure of what he was doing, and at that time he was the first one to start aloe-vera farming in his area (Ganganagar District). But he never changed his mind, because he was confident of himself. After one year, when finally aloe-vera plants were ready, few buyers contacted him for buying his produce, and since then he is selling his produce without making any extra effort from his farm only and is earning 1 Lakh from 1 Bigha in 1 Year.

As there are many factories in Rajasthan for Aloe-Vera processing, so every after 50 days two trucks are sent to his farm by the buyers to purchase his produce and he just has to load the produce in the truck with the help of the workers. Now he has started inter-cropping and has planted moringa tree in the aloe-vera field to take advantage in a better way.

Currently, he is living happily with his family (wife, three daughters and one son) and is managing the whole farm on his own. He has one tube well and tractor for framing. He strictly follows organic farming in his farm for aloe-vera, moringa, and cotton. Along with aloe-vera, moringa and cotton he has also planted vegetables like okra, ridge gourd, cucumber, bottle gourd, guar beans and other seasonal vegetables for home use.

Rajaram Jakhar chose Moringa for inter-cropping because of its medicinal properties and it is easy to grow with little care. Now he has also started selling plants and giving free training to farmers who want to start aloe-vera farming. Rajaram Jakhar with his futuristic views is trying to bring a new revolution in the agriculture field. Till now he has taken no help from government or any other source, he has done everything on his own. His upcoming plans are to expand his work and make more farmers aware to start aloe-vera farming.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“Before starting any new thing, a farmer should search the market first and then start farming. There are many opportunities from which farmers can take advantage and they should never miss that.”

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.”