Tag: Peas

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.

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.

Khushdeep Singh Bains

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HOW A 26-YEAR-OLD BOY DISCOVERED THE REAL JOY OF HIS LIFE IN VEGETABLE FARMING

India holds the second largest agricultural land in the world and its impact on Indian economy is huge. But still, today, if we ask the youngsters about their future plan, then very few, will be there who will say farming or agribusiness.

A 26-year-old boy from Harnampura, Ludhiana- Khushdeep Singh Bains, who after working for 2 years in two different companies decided to switch to farming, and today he is growing only vegetables in 28 acres of land.

Well, what made Khushdeep leave his good-earning comfortable job and start farming? It was Khushdeep’s interest towards agriculture.

Khushdeep Singh Bains comes from a family background where his father- Mr. Sukhwinder Singh, mainly used to do real estate work, and for home purpose wheat and paddy farming on a small scale. Khushdeep’s father always wanted his son to do a comfortable job where he will be given a chair and desk to work, he never thought of making his son work in the sun and soil. But when Khushdeep quit his job and started farming at that time his father was completely against his decision, because in his perception, farming is an occupation which needs huge labour and it is not a work that qualified and literate people should do.

But to change any negative opinion you just need a powerful positive result, and this is what Khushdeep came up with.

How it started…

When Khushdeep was working in Eastman at that time he used to prepare seedlings and this is when he was more attracted towards farming. After working for 1 year and 8 months he switched his job and started working with UPL Pesticides, but there also he only survived for 2-3 months. He was not satisfied with his work and he wanted to do something more. So, after working for 2 years in Eastman and UPL- Pesticide Company, Khushdeep decided of starting vegetable farming.

He started with pumpkin, ridge gourd and okra by planting it in half acre each, he used pesticides and the harvest was more than his imagination. Slowly he started expanding the farming area and vegetable types. He started growing every type of vegetable, whether it is in-season or out-of-season. He also signed the contract with Pagro Foods Ltd. for pea and sweetcorn farming and gained huge profit from them. Later on, in 2016, he planted paddy, beans, potato, onion, garlic, peas, capsicum, cauliflower, mung beans, and basmati turn wise on the same land.

Along with farming, Khushdeep also started preparing seeds and seedlings of garlic and many other crops and this side work benefited him a lot. From last three years, he is displaying his seed preparation work in PAU Ludhiana Kisan Mela and is getting an overwhelming response every time.

Today Khushdeep’s father and mother, both are proud of their son’s achievements. Khushdeep himself is very happy with his work and is also encouraging other farmers toward it. Currently, he is making a good profit from vegetable farming and his future plan is to start his own nursery and food processing business.

Message to farmers:
“Farmers shouldn’t be dependent on the third person for their marketing, they should do their work on their own. There is one more thing that farmers should keep in mind and that is they should never follow anything by seeing anyone, they should do what they feel from inside.
The farmer should also think about doing diversified farming and they should grow more than one crop because in case one crop gets damage then at least there is the second crop to support you. Consult one to two experts every time and after that start your new venture.”

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.”