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.
