Tag: Guar

Amarnath Singh

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How organic farming left a positive impact on the life of Amarnath Singh and is cheering him to never stop!

The desire to eat healthy and live chemical free life is leading many farmers towards organic farming. One such farmer, Amarnath Singh from Bathinda has also turned towards organic farming and is successfully reaping profit out of his farm.

Before stepping into the agriculture field, Amarnath was an ICICI life adviser for 5 years (2005-2010), and the land which comes from ancestors in inheritance to him was given on rent to other farmers earlier. Well, this is not the only background story of this land. Everything was going smooth, his father – Nirbhai Singh used to cultivate the land until 1984. In 1984 conditions got worse and matters got escalated in many regions of Punjab. At that time Amarnath’s father decided to leave Rampura Phul – a city in Bathinda district, and they shifted to Tapa Mandi – a town in Barnala district and also the maternal home of Amarnath’s father.

Nirbhai Singh was very attached to his land, so even after leaving the Rampura Phul, he used to daily visit his farm from Tapa Mandi. But, one day, when Nirbhai Singh was coming back from his farm, he met with an accident and he died (2000). Since then, Amarnath has been taking care of that land and other family responsibilities.In 2010, income source from the rented land reduced, as he got no fair deal that could offer him the land’s right price. So, he decided to switch to farming. Moreover, in 2007 one of his friends, Nirmal Singh Ghootna told him about many progressive farmers in the field of organic, in case if he thinks of switching to farming.

Rajiv Dixit is the person who inspired Amarnath Singh towards farming. To get more help Amarnath also joined Kheti Virasat Mission in 2012 and started attending their camps from where he extracted the most knowledgeable information required for farming.

Cotton & Paddy were the first commercial crops reaped by Amarnath Singh and some veggies for home purpose too. In 2012. He grew Kharif crop Guar in 11 acres from which he didn’t earn much profit, but income was enough to satisfy his home and other farming expenditures. Gradually with the time, Amarnath reduced pesticides use and in 2013 he completely stopped it. In 2015, he also started reducing fertilizer in his fields. Out of total land (36 acres), he is doing farming on 26 acres and has given rest of the land on rent.

Amarnath – I can myself feel the positive change in me and my family’s life after boycotting the use of fertilizer and pesticides.

Eventually, Amarnath decided to shift to his native village in 2017 and today he is leading a happy life with his family. He has named the farm on the name of his father – Nirbhai Farm so that he could be remembered always through it.

To promote organic farming, Amarnath himself prepares decomposer and natural pesticides at home and also distribute it among the farmers free of cost. Today, whatever Amarnath Singh has achieved, it’s all because of his own hard work and determination.

Future Plan:
In the coming time, I am planning to encourage my children towards adopting farming. I want them to stand by me and help me in the fields.

Message
My message is for the younger generation, nowadays younger generation is very much influenced by the social media sites and apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Whats App, so they should take useful information related to agriculture from it, instead of wasting time.

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.

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.”

Rajinder Pal Singh

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Story of a Man Who Learned From His Mistakes and Turned Towards the Wisest Pursuit: Organic Farming

Mother Nature is one of our greatest teachers and she never stopped from the earliest times in teaching us what we need to know. Today we are living on Earth in a way as if we had another one to go to. We are not aware that how we are disturbing the nature’s balance and how it can affect us in reverse. Nowadays, we are seeing many cases of diseases, abnormalities, and deficiencies, in humans and animals, but still, most of the people are not able to identify the slips, they are just sitting with the blindfolds as if nothing is going on. But there are still few people, who have learned from their mistakes and are trying to bring a change in the society.

It is said that mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before. And one such person who turned his path towards something better is Rajinder Pal Singh and today he is a successful personality in the field of organic farming. His products are not only praised and have high demand in Punjab, but also in America, Canada and even the royal family of London is also aware of it.

Well, there is always a story behind a successful journey. Rajinder Pal Singh a resident of Kalalwala Village of District- Bathinda, was once a farmer who used to do conventional farming, but after facing the adverse effects of chemicals and pesticides himself, he realized that, with which intensity he is affecting his environment and his health by using the chemicals. He used to spray pesticides on his crops, but one day, that spray affected his nervous system and same was the case with one of his relatives. From that day he decided to quit the use of chemicals and adopt natural ways for farming.

In the beginning, he and his uncle started organic farming on 4 acres of land and slowly expanded the area. In 2001, he bought rose saplings from Uttar Pradesh and since then he is doing rose farming also along with cultivating other crops. He has taken no training for organic farming. His uncle helped him in organic farming by gathering all information from the books. Currently, he is living in a joint family, with his wife, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins, and he gives all the credit of his success to his family for their endless support.

He was the first farmer in Malwa region of Bathinda who chose organic farming over conventional farming. When he started organic farming, at that time, he faced many difficulties and many people discouraged him also by saying that he is just wasting money, but today his products are sold in advance booking. And he is also the first farmer of Punjab who gifted Rose Oil made by him on his farm to Prince Charles and his wife in 2010 in an event in Fatehgarh Sahib.

The title of “King of Flowers” is also given to him for the work he is doing. He has the best variety of rose called Damascus and you can smell the fragrance of roses by standing at a far distance from his rose fields which is spread over 6 acres of land. He has also set up an oil extraction project on his own farm where he makes rose oil by using his farm roses. Other than rose farming he is also growing Green Grams, Lentil, Maize, Soy Bean, Peanut, Bengal Gram, Wheat, Basmati, Chick Pea, Guar and other seasonal vegetables. In 12 acres he grows basmati and in the rest of the land, he grows other above-mentioned crops.

The roses which Rajinder Pal Singh is farming blooms once in a year in December and its harvesting is completed till the month of March and April. From one acre of land he is growing 12 to 18 quintals of roses and today his annual profit from one acre of rose farming land is 1.25 Lakhs. His products demand come from America, Canada, and other countries. Even the rose oil made by him is purchased at a good price in advance by the exporters, just because he makes it from pure organic roses. In the off-season, he grows other varieties of roses and make Gulkand from it and sell it in the nearby grocery stores. Other than rose oil, rose water, and gulkand, he also sells organic lentils, wheat, maize, rice and other crops that he grows. All the products made by him are sold under his brand name Bhakar Organic Farm.

Today, Rajinder Pal Singh is very much satisfied with organic farming. Yes, he is getting low yield but the price of his products is just two times than the price of other crops grown using conventional farming. He only uses cow dung manure and river water in his fields and does not buy any type of manure or compost from the market. By doing organic farming he is also able to maintain the nutrient and fertility level of the soil. In the beginning, he faced a little problem in marketing his products but as soon the people recognized the quality level of his products, he started gaining momentum in his work. And he is also facing very fewer diseases in his crops by doing organic farming.

Now coming to his awards and achievements- He is appreciated by the Central Government under the ATMA SCHEME and is presented as a role model to inspire other farmers in the country. He is also a member of Bhumi Vardaan Foundation which is led by the Royal Prince of Wales, Britain, and all his products are organically certified by this foundation. He has also received Appreciation letter from Punjab Agriculture Department, Patiala and even Ex-Agriculture Minister of Punjab – Mr. Tota Singh also awarded him as a Progressive Farmer.

Future Plans:

His future plan is to continue his work in the field of organic farming and make aware more and more farmers about organic farming and inspire them to do it.

Message Given by Rajinder Pal Singh
“Today our earth need us and we as a farmer are the most responsible person in saving the earth from pollution. Yes, by doing organic farming there is less yield, but in the coming times, there will be high demand for organic products, not just because it is healthy, but also because it will become the need of the hour. Moreover, organic farming is sustainable and requires less finance, it only requires labour, and if a farmer is interested in switching to organic farming then he can do it very easily.”

 

 

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Baldev Singh Brar

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Baldev Singh Brar- A Progressive Farmer with 80-Year-Old Body but 25 Year Young Mind and Soul

1960 was the year when Baldev Singh Brar S/o Arjan Singh started farming and it was same year when Green Revolution was at its peak time. Ever since then, neither his enthusiasm nor his passion has diminished for farming.

Born and brought up on the land of Punjab – village Singhawala, district Moga, Baldev Singh Brar has made considerable achievements in the agriculture sector and won several awards from Agriculture Department, Firozpur.

He chose to do farming priority wise by taking advice from agriculture scientist of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Moga (Punjab). His main attention was especially towards the cultivation of Wheat and Guar. And after some time, he shifted his interest towards the cultivation of poplar and papaya by replacing paddy. In 1985 he also turned his way towards horticulture by planting Kinnow in 9 acres and vineyard in 3 acres to earn more profit. For the domestic purpose, he grows fruits and vegetables separately. In total, he has 37 acres of land out of which 27 acres is his own and 10 acres on the contract basis.

His Achievements:

Baldev Singh Brar was not only interested towards farming but also towards farm mechanization to make agriculture practices easier. Once he gave a technical advice to an industrial unit of Moga to develop a machine for puddling of paddy at a low cost and that machine has become very famous now.

He has also developed a powerful spring cultivator that is capable of breaking the hard layer of the paddy fields after harvesting.

One of his smart implementations through which he is earning good, is the advice given by agriculture scientist. He always keeps a full documentation of his income and expenditure. And in order to never let down the curiosity worm of agriculture inside him, he always attends “Farmer Fairs” to become aware of new inventions and trends in the field of agriculture. He also motivates other farmers towards scientific farming methods for better results.

Message:
“A farmer is a nation builder, so he should never feel down and hopeless in the time of difficulties. A farmer should be versatile in adapting the modern eco-friendly agriculture trends, then only he can progress and take good yield out of the land.”