Tag: Progressive

Japinder Wadhawan

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Japinder Wadhawan, a young engineer, engrossed in Farm machinery

It is said that if you are determined to do something, then success runs back and forth and this truth is shown by a young engineer named Japinder Wadhawan.

Japinder connected his engineering studies with the field of farming because the farmer and farming have a huge contribution to society. The need for farm machinery also changes from time to time. With the help of latest technology, the work from sowing to processing can be done easily within a short span of time. But not every farmer is investing in these expensive machines. This problem was easily understandable to engineer Japinder Wadhawan, also known as ” Raftaar engineer. This young engineer is famous in Mohali for creating farm machinery at a low price. Japinder Wadhawan, who studied mechanical engineering, was completely unaware of the field of farming at first. He first worked as an assistant professor and maintenance engineer. Fortunately, he got an opportunity to attend the “Make in India” event in Delhi.

In this event he met a farmer, Sardar Harpal Singh Grewal, who had come there for rotavator. Japinder, realized Harpal’s need, and promised him to make a 10 foot rotavator. Harpal also got 40,000 rupees deposited in Japinder’s bank account for the preparation of machine. But Japinder had never designed any such machine, but at the same time he did not want to break his promise. So, realizing his responsibility, he started preparing the rotavator. With great hard work along with his colleagues, he prepared the rotavator in a month. This new attempt made by Japinder was successful and he got a lot of encouragement from the farmers. After this, Japinder started meeting the farmers in his spare time and came to know about the difficulties related to the machinery used by farmers in farming. During this time, Japinder met Dr. Ramandeep Singh, an expert and professor of farming business, Punjab Agricultural University and Mr. Sukhi Longia, a progressive farmer. With such personalities around him, Mr. Japinder encouraged himself to know more about the difficulties faced by farmers in farm machinery.

“Today, a number of farmers are committing suicide in our country, which is a shameful thing for our country. The major cause of farmer suicide is the pulsesost of farming machines. Very few farmers buy these expensive machines. Therefore, we understand the need of the farmer and try to manufacture machines at low prices” – Japinder Wadhawan

He got another project for a turmeric boiling machine. He got this project too by luck. In a bus, he met a farmer who wanted to make turmeric boiler machine. Within a month, Mr Japinder prepared turmeric boiler. After this, Japinder decided not to look back. Whatever projects he got from the farmers, he tried his best to meet the expectations of the farmers with his hard work, in which he was successful. After the success of these Projects, Mr. Japinder formed a team with his fellow colleagues and this team was named – Raftar Engineering Professional Company. Their team consists of engineers and college students from about 15 different disciplines, who have done a master in their respective fields. To make his skills accessible to other farmers and people, Japinder shares videos of machines prepared by his team with other farmers through social media.

This platform of social media has been very helpful for them to join more people. “If we put it in simple words, we understand the difficulties of the farmers. We make machines as per the requirement of the farmer, so that they can adopt new technology and increase their earnings” – Japinder Wadhawan
Out of about 300 farmers associated with the Raftar Engineering Team, 120 farmers practice organic farming and Japinder himself motivates farmers to adopt for organic farming. Not only from Punjab but farmers from many areas including Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh comes to Japinder to get the machinery ready. It is said that in human life, success comes along with failure. The Raftar Engineering Team has so far worked on 20 projects, out of which 17 projects got success and 3 projects failed. But this failure did not break their courage and made them to work more efficiently. He has a team of 15 associates with him, who helps him in everything.

Machines made by Japinder:
  • Rotavator
  • Garlic Onion Peeler
  • Jagery processing frame
  • Turmeric steam boiler
  • Turmeric pulverizer
  • Turmeric polisher
  • Power weeder
  • Pulses mill
  • Pulverizer Irrigation scheduler
Along with preparing machines for the farmers, Japinder also helps the students studying engineering to complete their projects, which will prove beneficial for the farmers in the coming time. In order to motivate the farmers to go for organic farming, Japinder also gives huge discounts to the organic farming farmers for machinery.

Future
In the future, Japinder wants to take his company to a larger level, set up his own industry and start working for import and export of his own made machinery.

Message for farmers
“Farmers need to focus on organic farming instead of going for chemical/pesticide farming. Farmers should invest thoughtfully. No decision should be taken under the influence of others rather always invest the money wisely.” – Japinder

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.
”

Prabhjot, Shaminder and Sourav

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Story of Three Microbiologists Who Are Emerging as a Group of Entrepreneurs to Deliver the Best Food Experience to the Society

We all know that every successful business starts with a struggle to reach the pinnacle and nothing can be achieved easily. Behind every start-up business, there are sparkling ideas, late night discussions, arguments with close ones, thought processing, and much more. If we say that he is intelligent or he is financially sound, that’s why he is able to start a good business, then it is not true. We all have the same opportunities and we all are surrounded by great business ideas, we just have to open ourselves and let the possibilities come near us. Today, we are going to talk about three young men who discovered opportunities from their surrounding and are coming as a group of emerging entrepreneurs.

Three young students of PAU who came up with a belief of delivering the best food experience not as businessmen but as microbiologists are – Prabhjot Singh Khanna, Shaminderjeet Singh Brar, and Sourav Singla. And to give their idea a face and direction, they founded their company by the name MICRO FOODS in 2015 in Ludhiana, Punjab.

Well, yes it was a group effort by three of them, but the main inspiration behind their start-up were their professors – Dr. Sanjeev Kapoor and Dr. Ramandeep Singh. After completing their studies and research work in the field of fermented vinegar, all the three founders (Prabhjot, Shaminderjeet and Sourav) finally begin with their venture. They all three decided the company name and designed the logo.

While doing their research work, they already had a lot of work experience and knowledge of many leading fermentation and vinegar industries. So they started with the process of making organic vinegar by using natural fermentation techniques from natural fruits; that too without using synthetic acid or artificial ingredients. They set up their business manufacturing unit in 500 yards of area in Prabhjot’s home premises. And one thing that they are especially taking care of is the hygiene level of their manufacturing unit and aseptic conditions.

They started producing 4 types of vinegar made up of Apple, Java Plum (Jamun), Sugarcane, and White Grapes, under the brand name FRUIGAR. The idea behind choosing FRUIGAR as their vinegar name is that FRUI comes from Fruit and GAR come from Vinegar. They ordered raw material (fruits) from South India. The reason behind choosing these fruits for making vinegar is that all these have major health benefits and have very high demand in the market. Moreover, they are organic, so they are not going to hurt human body internally.

After making their product, they came up with the marketing plan. They started marketing their product on the basis of data that they used in their research. They also tried to cover all the doctors and introduce them with their organic fruit vinegar health benefits. Their main motive behind making fruit vinegar was to provide healthy produce to the community without any artificial ingredients.

These young entrepreneurs didn’t stop there, they also came up with two new products, known as Gluten Free Flour and Flour for the Diabetic Patient, which is very in demand nowadays. Coming from a farming background, Shaminderjeet Singh (one of the founders) cultivates wheat and paddy and also provides the raw material for their new product.

They are doing this work from past two years and slowly they are trying to establish their product in the market. Currently, they are making no profit, nor are they having loss, but in this short span of time, they have made a good number of loyal customers, which are aware of their product’s health benefits and want to invest in their product.

For them, this is just the beginning. They want to come up with more healthy and organic products for the community. Their future plan is to cover market and factories to a larger extent. Till now they are partially dependent on others for their packaging, processing, and marketing, but after 2017 they are planning to process, pack and market their product themselves. And they are also looking forward to tying up with MARKFED to sell their products.

Message by Prabhjot, Shaminderjeet, & Sourav
“Today youngsters who are in the field of Microbiology should think towards making their education a boon for the society. There are many different fields in Microbiology, in which student can do wonders. And before starting, they should discuss with the people, learned men, professionals, and their professors, as much as they can.”

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.”

 

 

“

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.”

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.”

Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal

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Story of a Man Achieving Sweet Taste of Success with Beekeeping

Beekeeping is a long-standing practice in India and after the independence, it is being promoted through various rural development programs. But when it comes to taking the beekeeping to the next level through commercializing the bee products, then even today also most of the people are lacking these types of skills. But there are many people who have achieved great revenue and success from it. One such person who is practicing beekeeping from last 20 years and is generating good profit from it is Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal.

It is said that we don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges, and Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal is one of those people who has achieved this success in his life by doing great hard work and facing many failures. Today Mr. Dhaliwal is the owner of Dhaliwal Honey Bee Farm having around 1000 bee boxes, which is situated in his own native place- Chuharchak Village of district Moga (Punjab).

Before starting beekeeping, Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal was almost unemployed and was working at a measly salary of 1500 and it was very difficult for him to meet his needs. His low qualification was also a downside for him. So he decided to take over his father’s work and help him in beekeeping. His father was an ex-army man and he started beekeeping with 5 boxes in 1997. He was the first one who started beekeeping on a commercial level.

Mr. Narpinder did everything himself from the beginning to setup his business and also faced many difficulties in it. Due to fewer resources and less money, he also faced many failures, but he never gave up. He took 5 days training from Horticulture Department of PAU to give beekeeping business a perfect direction. He took help from friends, money from the bank, and from the joint effort of his family and some helpers he finally setup his bee farm in his village.

He started with 5 boxes and today he has around 1000 boxes, he keeps on migrating those boxes from places to places to get the good yield of honey. He has mainly western bees on his farm and that is European and Italian. He does not give any artificial or supplemental feed to bee colonies, he prefers only natural feed. Moreover, he doesn’t use any type of pesticide or chemical spray for pest control, he prefers natural method for controlling or preventing the pests. Because he believes in doing everything in a natural way.

The problems that he generally faces are Varroa Mites and Hornets attack during the rainy season and to cope up it, he uses natural preventive methods. And even after following the natural method he gets good ROI (return on investment) over his investment in one year. Well, many people practice beekeeping, the thing that makes him a smart beekeeper is that he directly make contact with his customers and market his product himself. From honey processing to packaging to branding, he does everything himself with the help of 6 helpers, he is not dependent on anyone for anything. Currently, he is also getting the subsidy for his beekeeping business from the government.

In the beginning, many people were there who criticized his work and honey quality also, but then also he never got demotivated and continued with beekeeping. Other than beekeeping he also does organic farming, dairy farming, fruit farming, poultry farming and conventional farming but the produce generated from all these farming is mainly to fulfil his own family needs.

Narpinder Singh also discussed his views on how to confirm about the honey pureness and the different colour of honey samples. According to him –
“The good quality of honey is not checked with its colour or liquidity. Because honey obtained from different flowers of different plants have different properties. And the best type of honey is obtained from mustard flowers and it is very thick in consistency. Thick honey is also known as frozen honey which is mainly obtained from mustard flowers; it is a very high in demand bee product in the international market because of its health benefits. Good identity and pureness of honey can only be known by the experts present in labs or agriculture universities. So if a person is in doubt about the honey quality then they should get it confirmed from the experts or buy it from a certified person, rather than believing on someone’s sayings.

Mr. Narpinder Singh himself is doing apiculture and is producing honey of multi-flower, litchi, and mustard, and is also exporting most of the mustard honey to Europe. He is also a Member of Progressive Beekeeper Association in PAU. Other than producing honey, he is also planning to launch some other bee and turmeric products like “Bee Pollen, Bee Pollen Capsule, Turmeric Capsule and Royal Jelly” in the market. And he has also taken advanced training to make Bee Pollen Capsule from PAU especially.

Bee Pollen has the important nutrients required by humans and Royal jelly has multiple health benefits- both are the most in demand product in the international market and very soon its demand will also increase in India. Currently, his main focus is on marketing Bee Pollen Capsule and Turmeric Capsule and making aware the people of its health benefits and uses.

His work has made him achieved many awards and prizes in different Kisan Melas. He also won Jatt Expo Award in Paragpur. He was also honoured by Agricultural Department of Moga in 2014 and in 2016, he was also honoured on World Honey Day.

Message by Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal
“Today farming has a lot of potentials and if a farmer is ready to diversify the field of agriculture. I diversified my farm and today I’m reaping benefits from it. I want to give this message to my farmer friends that in order to be successful, you have to diversify. Beekeeping is one practice which has been ignored by farmers for too long. One can achieve a lot of success in this field as it is very profitable. And nowadays government is also giving subsidy on 5-10 boxes to the person who want to start beekeeping. ”

Dr.Ramandeep Singh

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THE MAN BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF MANY AGRIPRENEURS ACROSS INDIA

In the absence of right information, sound agri-marketing facilities and proper counselings, the farmer of today has to depend upon local traders and middlemen for the disposal of his farm produce, which is sold at throw-away price. To put an end to this overbearing agony of the Indian farmer, Dr. Ramandeep, Professor of Business Management at Punjab Agricultural University along with his team decided to help the farmers in developing new agri-based products and concepts that have greater acceptability amongst the consumers, and in the process helped them to supplement their incomes and also enter into the global markets. Dr. Ramandeep Singh firmly believes that the farmer of today should pursue the path of ‘product development and marketing’ in order to seek an assured market, higher returns, low risk factors and a continuous parallel source of income.

Realizing the power of Social Media, Dr. Ramandeep has been successful in connecting farmers in more than 12000 agri-households to come on a common platform and share information with one another, regarding innovative farming techniques, pricing of products, branding and packaging, studying consumer needs and tastes, and direct marketing of products through the online and offline modes so as to make the concept of farm to table a vibrant reality. Dr. Ramandeep Singh has pioneered the use of WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube as the media for extension education by encouraging more and more farmers across the globe to join these groups.

His social media groups play a very crucial role in the dissemination of latest and useful agricultural information. They are reaching a wide range of audience at a very fast rate; they serve as a veritable instrument not only for information dissemination but also for stimulating farmers’ interest in new ideas and practices in agriculture.

As a result of these record-breaking initiatives by Dr. Ramandeep and his team, a large number of farmers have learnt about the concept of ‘product development’ and started implementing the same. This has not just made them realise the importance and potential of their own produce, but has also helped them become self-sufficient. From encouraging farmers that own a dairy farm to create end-products like cheese, ice cream and so on from the milk to helping beekeepers to sell honey under their own brand name, Dr. Ramandeep’s success stories are endless. Believing in the fact that the youth of today can contribute a lot in the agricultural sector if guided properly, Dr. Ramandeep makes himself available for interaction with the students and youth at the formal platforms during Guest Lectures, Seminars and Conferences and also for guidance and consulting on an informal basis.

You too can be a part of Dr. Ramandeep Singh’s enthusiasm for ushering change by joining his WhatsApp Groups, by the name of Punjab Agri Brand, Punjab Honey, Punjab Poly House, Punjab Innovative, Punjab Horticulture, Punjab Young Farmers, Young Innovative Farmers, Punjab Global, Punjab Farm Tourism, Punjab Tomato, Punjab on Farm markets, Punjab Mushrooms, Punjab YFC Sathiala, Progressive Farmers Punjab, Young Innovative Farmers, NFA Sri Mukatsar Sahib, PB, Horticulture Farmers NFA, Potato Growers, Punjab PHC PAU. Dr. Singh is also administering the following Facebook groups: Foundation for Agri Businesss Awareness and Education, Punjabi Young Innovative farmers and Agri preneurs, Progressive Bee Keepers Association.

A lot of Indian television and radio channels have invited Dr. Ramandeep Singh on their shows to gain insight on his deep knowledge of agriculture research, marketing and management practices, networking for social change and transformation in the agrarian society. Today, almost every household in Punjab is thankful to Dr. Ramandeep for his remarkable contribution towards the concept of agri preneurship in the state.

Hariman Sharma

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Story of a Farmer Who Did His Karma and Achieved Sweet Taste of Success through His Hard Work

It is said that nothing can withstand the power of human will. With the same will and consistency there came a man who with his continuous effort developed a new variety of apple on a land where it was almost impossible.

Mr. Hariman Sharma is a successful farmer having orchards of Apple, Mangoes, Peach, Coffee, Litchi, and Pomegranate. Coming from a subtropical place (Village Paniyala Kothi, district Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh) where temperature goes up to 45 degrees and land consist of 80% rock and 20% soil, growing apple there was almost impossible, but the consistent effort of Hariman Sharma’s made it happen.

Earlier Hariman Sharma was not a farmer and the success that he has achieved today, for that he has faced many challenges and difficulties in his life. From 1971 to 1982 he was a labourer; from 1983 to 1990, he did rock breaking and vegetable cultivation; from 1991 to 1998, he also started nurturing mango orchard along with vegetable cultivation.

In 1999 came a turning point when he observed an apple seedling sprouted in his courtyard. He preserved that seedling and started nurturing it with the knowledge that he gained during his farming experience. To improve the quality he grafted the branch of the apple tree on the stem of the plum tree and the results were exceptionally good. After two years the apple tree started giving fruits. Ultimately, he developed a different variety of apple which can be grown commercially at very low hills with a warm climate.

Slowly with the time words got spread about the discovery of a new variety of apple by Hariman Sharma. Most people rubbished these reports and some were surprised. But on 7 July 2007, he went to Shimla and offered a basket of apples grown by him to the Himachal CM. The CM immediately gathered his cabinet colleagues and all of them tasted those apples. And soon the CM named this apple as “Hariman”. Many experts from Horticulture University and department especially visited his orchards and were truly amazed and convinced by his work.

He has grown 8 apple trees of the same variety and they are growing alongside the mango trees in his orchard and are also giving good yield till date. The apple variety that Hariman Sharma has invented is named after him – HRMN-99. So far, he has distributed more than 3 lakh of saplings to farmers, gardeners, entrepreneurs and government organization across the country and 55 apple saplings of HRMN-99 is also planted in Rashtrapati Bhavan.  He also has fruit orchards of Mango, Litchi, Pomegranate, Coffee and Peach trees.

The apple variety that Hariman Sharma has created, requires low chilling and produces flowers and fruits under subtropical plains experiencing high temperatures. His achievement is a huge thing in the field of horticulture. Today, Hariman Sharma’s contribution towards the society is simply great and he is like an inspiration for others farmers.

Today Hariman apple are being grown and nurtured in almost every state of India. His hard work has proved that apple can be grown commercially at very low hills with a warm climate. Mr. Sharma has been sharing and spreading improved technologies and his innovation among the fellow farmers of his area.

Hariman Sharma’s work dedication in the field of agriculture has made him achieve many awards and accolades, some of them are listed below-

• Awarded as progressive farmer at Indian Agricultural Research institute (IARI), Delhi.

• Received an award for his innovation from the President of India by National Innovation Foundation for the ‘In-Residence’ programme at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

• Best Himachali Kisan Title 2010

• Prerna Srot Samman Puruskar, August 15, 2009

• State Level Best Farmers Award, August 15, 2008

• Successful Apple Production Award in Una (2011)

• Board Level and District Level Award 2007 & 2008

• Krishi Pandit Award on 19th January 2017

• Best Farmer Award 29.4.2017 on the auspicious occasion of IFFCO’s Golden Jubilee.

• IARI Fellow Farmer Award by Union Agriculture Minister of State – Pusa Bhawan – 17.3.2010

• National Innovative Farmer Award by Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministery, Government of India – Given by Radha Mohan Singh on 21 March, 2016

• Awarded for the apple production by Governor of Himachal Pradesh on 3 February, 2016

• National 2nd Award by President on 4 March, 2017, Sponsored by National Innovation Foundation, India.

• Received Farmer Scientist Award by Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner on 9 March, 2017

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“Karma is the right of human beings. Karma is not done for achieving the fruits. In a field, farmer’s work is to sow the seeds, but growing grains is not in the hands of the farmer. The farmer should never leave his work incomplete and should try everything to make his best effort. I tried to nurture that apple seedling and do something innovative with it, that’s why I’m here and that’s why an apple variety is named after me. Every farmer should try his best and do his karma.”