Tag: Rajasthan

Abdul Rehman

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Nothing can stop a hardworking person– Abdul Rehman 

Where there is a will, there is a way. A person living in an arid region is believed to be confiding in livestock practices and selective crops, but some people find their way to stand out and set an example for others.

In 2009, Government of Rajasthan tied up with Atul Ltd. a company based in Gujarat, and started working on the scope of cultivation of Dates in the western region of Rajasthan and the results were positive. The government then started encouraging farmers to take up this new practice of farming and about the high demand for this product. Furthermore, Date Palm plants were stocked in Jodhpur for the farmers. In addition to this, farmers were given a subsidy of up to 90% due to which the cost of one plant was cut down from ₹2500 to ₹225.

The team from Atul Company used to visit the area for inspection and encouraged farmers to cultivate Dates and create awareness on how they could enjoy the profit in the coming years. This is how they met Mr Abdul Rehman who is a progressive farmer from Tawariwala, a village in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. He has practised traditional farming since 1995 in which he grows castor, mustard, onion and wheat but opting for an entirely new practice wasn’t an easy task.

He was hesitant at first but they convinced him to take the risk and assured him that he had their full support. Then he was handed 465 plants to be cultivated in 3 hectares of land. The variety grown was Khunaizi. This variety has one of the best quality dates and is very authentic in taste. The first harvesting of this fruit is done after 5 years, he cultivated them 100% organically and sold the Dates at the raw stage. This plant also grows offshoot which generates additional income as the single offshoot retails at ₹800-900 and there are at least 10 offshoots in a single plant, annually he earns 8-9 Lakhs from selling offshoots. In 2016 the government send him to Israel to learn about new techniques in Date Farming. In the initial days, he faced quite a lot of struggles as there were fewer consumers because people weren’t aware of dates back then and had to travel to the nearest district Pokhran which was 125km away. Moreover, other crucial and basic resources like water and electricity were not accessible.

Mr Abdul also owns a farm where he practices livestock farming which includes Poultry, Goat and Dairy farming. All the animals are local breeds, there are 4-5 cows that produce 15-20 litres of milk, and there are 70-80 goats and 100 hens. Their biological waste is used as manure for crops which has proved to be very beneficial. This practice also generates 10-15 lakhs of income annually.

Achievements

  •  Awarded Innovative farmer at national level by ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
  • Best Agri. Entrepreneur Award in 2016 by the government of Rajasthan
  • Awarded at the state level in Gujarat along with a cheque of ₹ 51,000 in 2013.
  • Awarded at the district level in 2011-12

Future Plans

Mr Abdul wants to expand Dates farming and experiment by cultivating different varieties.

 Message

He wants other farmers to cultivate Dates as this farming requires less labour. The plant doesn’t get affected by changing weather conditions and the only requirement is roots dipped in water and sunlight on the plant.

Kishan Suman

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Rajasthan Based Farmer Developed a New Mango Variety through Grafting Which Is Available In All the Seasons 

When it comes to fruits then there would be hardly any person who doesn’t like mangoes. So this is the story of a Rajasthan based farmer – Kishan Suman, 52, who discovered a new variety of mango – Sadabahar, which is available in all the seasons. Well, this is a good news for all those fruit lovers who crave for the mangoes even in the off-season.

After completing his education, in 1995, Kishan Suman followed the footsteps of his father and started farming at his ancestral farm. In the beginning, he ventured in the agriculture field with cereals and grains, but for him, it was loss-making crops due to price exploitation from the merchants and impulsive weather. Therefore, Kishan Suman shifted to Jasmine cultivation. Besides this, having a crave to learn something different, made Kishan Suman learn about the grafting method in the rose plant from which he cultivated different coloured roses from the same plant. Well experimenting with the rose plant just boosted up the confidence of Kishan Suman and the next plant was mango on which grafting was performed.

The reason behind Kishan Suman choosing mango for grafting procedure was that usually mango fruit is only available in 2-3 months and he wanted it to be available in all the season so that the mango lovers can relish it when they want.

In 2000, Kishan Suman observed a mango tree with good growth trend and dark green coloured leaves in his orchard, so with consistent efforts of 15 years in Mango grafting, Kishan Suman finally created a new variety of dwarf mango and named it Sadabahar, which starts yielding fruit in just two years. Because of dwarf characteristics, Sadabahar mango variety is ideal for high-density farming and ultra-high density farming technique.

“I have put my full determination and efforts to develop this mango variety – Sadabahar. Although the plant starts giving fruit in the second year, it is recommended to let the plant grow till four years properly to enable it to gain proper strength. Moreover, Sadabahar is a disease resistant variety and is also unaffected by the climatic changes. After four years fruit can be harvested but till then let the plant grow well.” – Said, Kishan Suman

Some of the Salient features of Sadabahar Mango Variety are:
• Higher Yield (5-6 t/ha)
• Fruiting throughout the year
• Mango peel is deep orange with a sweeter taste

• Pulp has very less fibre

Presently, Kishan Suman has 22 mother plants and 300 grafted mango plants in his orchards. With the assistance of National Innovation Foundation, Mr. Kishan is selling the grafts and plants of Sadabahar Variety. Many farmers have visited his farm from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana region to buy his developed variety and have also appreciated him after seeing the results. Even the saplings of Sadabahar are also planted in the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

For all his efforts and innovation in developing a mango variety that can yield fruit throughout the year, he has been awarded in 9th National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge award function.

Although Sadabahar is resistant to all the major diseases still Kishan Suman believes that prevention is better than cure and that’s why he prepares natural pesticides from neem fruit, crown flower, and cow urine, it provides excellent protection to the plant from any kind of diseases and pest.

In future Kishan Suman is planning to experiment on Jack-fruit, as it takes longer to yield fruit so Kishan Suman is planning to reduce that time.

Message
“Horticulture is a very interesting field and farmers have various opportunities to experiment with their creativity on different plants and earn good profit.”

Narayan Lal Dhakad

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How This 19-Year-Old Boy Is Using YouTube & Facebook to Teach Farmers Sustainable Farming Practices

Young farmers are the future and this 19-year-old boy has proven it right by showing his passion towards farming. Narayan Lal Dhakad is a young boy from Rajasthan- the land of Kings, Legacy, Tourism, Heritage and Rich Culture, and his personality is also very distinctive like his homeland.

Nowadays, we are seeing many examples where educated people of India are choosing agriculture as their working place and are coming up as an independent agri-entrepreneur, same is the case with Narayan Lal Dhakad. Despite, lacking the basic facilities and enough resources, this boy chose the medium of YouTube and Facebook to disseminate knowledge to help the farming community. Currently, he has 60,000 YouTube subscribers and 30,000 Facebook followers. You will be shocked to know that this boy doesn’t have any laptop, personal computer system or any kind of video editing equipment for editing the videos. With the help of his smartphone, he is making informative farming videos.

“My father died some days before my birth and it was a very dreadful situation for my family. My family was facing a severe financial crisis, but even then my mother raised us well by doing farming and labour work. Perceiving the family conditions, I started farming at a very young age and also learned it well very soon.” – Narayan

Living a hand-to-mouth life, Narayan realized that utilizing the resources well and innovating new ideas with simple hacks to deal with daily common pest and farm issues, is the best thing. Narayan also recognized that the big part of the farming expense is just because of the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and this is the only reason which builds a big mountain of debt over the farmers.

“When it comes to adopting organic farming, then every farmer cannot successfully do it, because its productivity is low; and in distant locations, organic spray and products are not easily available.” – Narayan

Understanding the problem of his area, Narayan invented many easy techniques to control termite, Nilgai, pest and crop disease. All the techniques developed by Narayan were successful and were very cheap that any farmer can easily follow. And to make his techniques available to every farmer he makes videos with his phone, explain everything in it and share it on YouTube and Facebook.

Despite facing difficulties in making videos through his phone, he never dropped his idea of helping the farmers. Narayan has reached out to many farmers in his area and has solved their problem by reaching out to Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s and Agriculture Scientists.

Message:

“Farmers should adopt organic farming because using chemicals and pesticides on their farm not only harm the environment but also their own people. Moreover, by following organic farming farmer can take healthy yield without doing expenses on the pesticides and insecticides.”

 

Narayan Lal Dhakad has written a success story at just the age of 19. By seeing his passion and determination to work harmoniously towards sustainable agriculture practices, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has nominated him for Krishi Award in 2018.

Today, Narayan Lal Dhakad has become an emerging voice in India which has the capability to change worsening circumstances of farmers.
Do check his YouTube channel & Facebook page, for more inspiring stories of farmers download  Apni Kheti app from Google Play store.

Captain Lalit

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HOW A MAN REALIZED HIS TRUE CALLING AND CHOSE HORTICULTURE AS HIS RETIREMENT PLAN

Growing pomegranate on the dry sandy land of Rajasthan, sound like a funny, fruitless, idea but with strong determination, perseverance, and high-density farming technology, Captain Lalit has made it possible.

After mastering many fields and pursuing many careers in his life, at last, Captain Lalit chose horticulture as his retirement plan and came back to his native place- 11 Eea in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. Well, for many city-living-people, farming is not a good retirement plan, but Mr Lalit realized his true calling and thought of giving a chance to the very noble and basic profession of farming.

Earlier Life-

Mr Lalit was an active and enthusiastic man from the beginning, He started his professional career since he was studying in the college. After completing his graduation, he also obtained the license of a commercial pilot and pursued the profession of a pilot. Well, this is not all that he did. There was an era when computer education was just introduced in India everywhere, so by not missing the opportunity, he started a new venture and opened a computer education centre in Jaipur city. Soon after some time he also qualified the Oracle test and became an Oracle certified computer trainer. His computer education centre business went well for some years, but as the computer craze came down he had to wrap up his business because it wasn’t generating enough profit.

From his career choices, it was clear that from the beginning he was interested in choosing a unique profession which includes something new, whether it’s about the trend, technology or thing. And the next thing that he started was farming English vegetables and flowers for commercial purpose by taking a small piece of land on rent in Jaipur city, and many big five star hotels purchased his produce from him.

“When I was growing English vegetables like thyme, baby corn, broccoli, lettuce etc., at that time the localities use to make fun of me because for them these English vegetables were new. And they were amazed to see the smaller version of corn and greener version of cauliflower. But today they are eating those vegetables in pizza, burger, and salad.”

When the idea came into existence-

When he was farming English vegetables, during that time he realized that farming is the best investment and he should start it on a large scale. As he already had an ancestral property (12 bighas land) in his native place, so he decided to start Kinnow Farming on it. He came to his village with the idea of starting kinnow farming, but after discussing with many farmers he realized that everyone is doing the same and he should do something different.

And this was the time when his research on different fruit started and he visited many different farms in different cities. From his research, he made out a conclusion of growing an elite fruit and a common fruit. He consulted CISH (Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow) and decided to start pomegranate and guava farming in 2015. He grew pomegranate (sindoori variety) on 6 Bigha and Guava on the other 6 Bigha. Made mobile and the internet his book and teacher for research and help.

“In the beginning, I also consulted Rajasthan Agriculture University but they said that pomegranate farming is not possible in Rajasthan and they made fun of me.”

Farming Methods & Technology-
He followed high-density farming technology for pomegranate to generate high quality and good quantity produce. In this farming technology, he followed canopy management and planted 7 pomegranate plants in 20 m x 20 m area. By doing this, 1 plant is gives 20 kg fruit in a season and 7 plants gives 140 kg. In this way, he has planted more trees in less area and will generate good profit from it in the future. Moreover, due to high-density farming, trees height and width are less, due to which fewer labours are needed to maintain the whole farm.

Captain Lalit is much mechanized with his farming methods. For better yield and effective results, he has customized a tank-cum-machine with an attached mud pump, inside which he has installed a shaft to rotate and spread the slurry and jivamrit in the farm easily. To move the tank around the farm he uses a small tractor. When it comes to being economical then he prepares all the manure, fish amino acid fertilizer, bacteria and fungus for his whole farm himself, by buying just a bottle of NPK Bio-fertilizer from the market. He multiplies the bio-cultures by preparing the spray.

He has also adopted two cows of Rathi breed, which were roaming free on the road and now he is utilizing those cows for making jivamrit and manure. One of the important thing that he uses in the manure is “Agnihotr bhabhooti”- ashes obtained by offering prayers to God in front of the fire.

“The reason I am using Agnihotr Bhabhooti is that it helps in purifying the environment and it is a way of Adhyatmik Kheti. Adhyatmik means spiritual, a way of farming which is related to God.”

He has also built up a water reservoir in 50 m x 50 m area to save rain water and irrigate his farm with it. Earlier his farm was totally Eco-friendly because he was using solar electricity to manage everything. But now he is getting electricity from the government.

Role of Government-

His whole project of Pomegranate and Guava farming has been approved by the National Horticulture Board, and he gets the subsidy from them.

Achievements-
His farming effort is appreciated by many people. The university which made fun of him now invite him as the guest in their events and also consults him for high-density farming and pruning techniques.

Current Scenario-

Today he has 5000 plants in 12 Bigha of area and the age of the plants is 2 year and 4 months. By following high-density farming, pomegranate trees has already started bearing the fruit, but he is expecting the real commercial yield next year.

“During my research, I also visited some south Indian States and High Density Farming is already being done there. Farmers in North India should also follow this technique because it is very beneficial, in all the aspects.”

Before starting all this, he had the theoretical knowledge about high-density farming but he lacked the practical experience, but slowly with the time, he is gaining that too. He has 2 workers and with the help of them, he manages his farm.

His Views-

When a farmer starts farming he should start investing like an industry, then only he can gain profit. Moreover, today every farmer needs to be mechanized if they want to be efficient in farming.

Message to farmers-
“
Until farmers don’t stop practicing conventional farming they cannot become empowered and independent. Especially those farmers who have less land, have to take initiative themselves and they should invest in horticulture. They should just follow the right direction.
”

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.”

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.”

Rajnish Lambha

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Man Achieving Success through Organic Farming by Following His Grandfather’s Footsteps

There are very few children who take their ancestor’s occupation ahead in their life with the motive of making their father and grandfather proud of it. One such a person who after getting inspired from his grandfather, started organic farming is Rajnish Lambha.

Rajnish Lambha is a successful horticulturist based in Village Chelasi of JhunJhunu District of Rajasthan. He has a 4 acres orchard farm named after his grandfather as – Hardev Bagh and Udhyan Nursery and it has more than 3000 fruit trees of lemon, pomegranate, Bel Patra, Kinnow, Mousami etc. in it.

Choosing farming as his profession was Rajnish Lambha’s own interest. Rajnish Lambha’s father- Mr. Hari Singh Lambha was a Patwari and he had a full opportunity of choosing a different profession. And the education (double MA) that he received, from it he could have found any good job in his field, but he chose farming. Before organic farming he was into conventional farming and was growing crops like Bajra, wheat, Sorghum, Chickpea, mustard, fenugreek, onion, and garlic. But when he came to know about his grandfather’s organic farming experience he thought of taking his ancestral occupation ahead and make that work more profitable.

It all started in 1996, by planting 25 trees of Bel Patra in 1 Bigha area and implemented organic farming and no chemicals. Along with that he also started preparing nursery himself. After 8 years of hard work and efforts, in 2004-2005 finally the Bel Patra trees started bearing fruits and he earned huge profit of 50,000 from it.

This increase in profit made his belief stronger that orchard business has good yield and returns, so he decided of expanding the orchards in his whole area. In 2004, he planted 600 more trees of Bel Patra. And in 2005 along with the Bel Patra, he planted 150 trees of Kinnows and 150 trees of Mosambi in the orchards. As it is said that fruit of hard work is sweet, the results were the same; in 2013 he earned a good profit from Mosambi and Kinnows produce. And by getting inspired with that he planted 600 trees of pomegranate of sinduri variety and 250 trees of lemon. In 2012 he also planted 5 trees of mango (amrapali variety) and 5 trees of guava.

Currently he has total 3000 fruit trees in his orchard and he is gaining good profit from all the trees till date. Now even his younger brother (Vikrant Lambha) and his father (Hari Singh Lambha) are also helping in his orchard business. Other than orchard farming he also gave a try to dairy farming in 2006 with 25 cows, but he didn’t gain much profit from it and ended it in 2013. Now he has only 4 cows for domestic work.

To maintain the healthy yield and quality he prepares manure himself by using cow dung, Gau Mutr (Cow Urine), Neem water, Datura (Herb – Angel’s Trumpets), and vermicompost. And sometimes he also purchases cow dung from the market if they need it.

The main motive of Rajnish Lambha behind adopting horticulture as the main profession is that, it provides 10 times more profit as compared to conventional farming and can be easily done in an eco-friendly way. Moreover, there is very less need labour, he hires labours only when he needs to pick the fruits. Otherwise he has 2 permanent labours working for him every time. Now he also started preparing nursery for commercial purpose and is gaining good profit from it. And whenever he needs information regarding orchard farming then he consult agriculture related magazines, print media, internet etc.

To make his organic farming more updated and advanced he joined Morarka Foundation in 2009. Many farmers visit his farm regularly to learn something new from Rajnish Lambha, and he also provide them information and training without and cost. Sometimes, even agriculture officers also visit his orchard farm with group of farmers for events and training session.

From the beginning his dream was always to make his grandfather (Hardev Lambha) proud, although he is no more now, but he want to take his teachings ahead and inspire other farmers to start nursery preparation and orchard farming like him. For his great effort in the field of horticulture he is awarded by Agriculture Minister- Harji Ram Burdak in 2011 and also appreciated by Governor of Rajasthan – Kalyan Singh and many articles on him has also been published in the newspaper and magazines.

MESSAGE TO FARMERS
“He wants other farmers to adopt organic farming because organic farming has many health benefits as well as it is eco-friendly. Farmers should also reduce the use of chemicals. One thing they should remember that, regardless how much profit they are earning, profit can only be earned by doing something different like orchard farming.“

Altaf

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Story of A Man Whose Love for Goat Rearing Turned Him into A Successful Farmer of Goatery

Most of the people think that the college education is crucial for success in today’s working world. Yes, it is true that college education is necessary because education helps in keeping the person updated. But there is one more driving force behind the success and that is the passion; passion leads to financial freedom. And passion only comes with the interest of the person in a particular thing.

One such man, who despite not pursuing his education is still running a successful commercial goat farming business is Altaf. It was his childhood interest which led Altaf to follow and pursue goat farming as his profession, and it was his passion which made him successful in his work.

Altaf was born in Fatehpur Sikri city of Rajasthan in a very humble family. Altaf’s father, Mr. Ayyub Khokar was a labour, and he also used to do little farming to run his house. They also had four goats for milk and meat purpose. As a kid, Altaf was very fond of goats and he always used to care for them too. But as the Altaf’s father had no insured job, so there was no regular income, the financial condition of the family was not that good, due to which Altaf had to quit his studies after 7th class. But his love towards goat rearing never reduced and in 2013 he turned his goat rearing into goat farming.

In the beginning, Altaf started his goat farming commercial business from just 20 goats and gradually with the time, he expanded his business to 300 goats. He never took any type of training for goat farming, he just learned by watching his father all his childhood. Over the years, he has understood how to take care of them. His collection has different variety and breeds of goat in his farm mainly beetal and mix breed. Today, the meat produced in his farm is known for its best quality.

He never gives any medicine or any type of artificial feed to his goats. He always prefers to provide natural fodder to the goats and also take care that all his goats are disease free. Till now he has covered a huge market, he sells his farm meat in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Mumbai. The quality of the meat produced in his farm is so good that special demand comes from Mumbai. Moreover, he manages all the farm work himself, and whenever he needs the extra hands, he hires workers on the spot.

Today, at a very young age of 24, Altaf has established his own commercial goat farming business and is managing it very smoothly. And as we know that, goats are among the main meat producing animals in India, so economic prospects of goat rearing is pretty good. But reaching this stage in the life was not so easy for Altaf. After great hardship and efforts, he has maintained the collection of 300 goats and in future, he is planning to expand his business more. He is also developing and strengthening the linkages with customers present in different cities and is also trying to include different breeds of goat in his collection.

Message by Altaf
“According to Altaf, a farmer should never give up. Because God always gives opportunity to everyone, you just have to grab it. Use your passion as driving force and startup on your own. Your skill can help you in deciding what you want to do in the future.”

Navroop Singh

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Journey of an Engineer Turned Farmer,  Reaping Food Out Of Desert by Keeping Harmony with Nature

“With wrong farming methods, we turn fertile land into desert. Unless we go back to organic farming and save the soil, there is no future.” – Jaggi Vasudev

The soil is a wealth of living beings, and out of all the living beings, only human is capable of making changes or affecting the most precious asset of nature.

Very true said by Jaggi Vasudev that by practicing wrong farming method we are turning our fertile land into desert. But here we are going to share the story of a man- Navroop Singh Gill, who is reaping food naturally out of the desert to make soil more fertile and natural resources less poisonous.

Farming is a pursuit with which human race is blessed, and practicing it in harmony with nature can bring the treasure of wellness to the people. Navroop Singh Gill understood this fact very well, long ago and for the betterment of people and Mother Nature he decided to turn towards natural farming.

Navroop Singh Gill was doing pretty well in abroad, but then one day he decided to come back to India and help his elder brother Navdeep Singh Gill in his farming venture. Soon as he started connecting himself with the real-life issues, a sudden wave of determination and spiritual enlightenment struck him and transformed him into a new individual.

“My family was not into the farming field from the beginning. My father- Kamaljeet Singh Gill, was a businessman and he owned cotton spinning and weaving mill till 1998, but due to some financial losses and circumstantial conditions he has to shut down his mill. At that time we never thought that this unfortunate ending will lead us to a beautiful beginning…Later my father started farming (conventionally) and my elder brother also joined him after completing his studies. I joined them in 2010. ”

Earlier, Navdeep Singh Gill was doing natural farming, but not on large scale. With the support of younger brother (Navroop Singh), Navdeep expanded the farming horizon step by step. Every penny saved was a step towards expanding the natural farming practices.

Another field towards which Navroop Singh Gill was allured was dairy farming, it was his love for cows, because of which he started rearing cattle also. He started dairy farming with few cows in the beginning and slowly increased the number of animals in the farm.

In 2013, the idea of “Thar Naturals” came into the mind of both brothers, and then they decided to do everything naturally – from land preparation to harvesting. As a result, crop yield increased and it was far much better as compared to other farmers using chemicals and pesticides in their fields. Steadily Thar Natural became a renowned brand and Gill brothers added more crops in their product list.

It was Navroop Singh’s positivism and family support which turned the way of Gill family’s descending sun into rising one…

…and it was Navroop Singh Gill and his family’s effort which made their natural farming initiative recognized and honoured by Krishak Samman Puraskar in 2015.

Gill family was also nominated for 2016 – Krishak Samman Puraskar award.

In 2016, third and the youngest son (Ramandeep Singh Gill) of the Kamaljeet Singh Gill decided to come back from abroad and join his brother and this how the trinity was completed.

Navroop Singh Gill- “THAR NATURALS is a vision of Gill Family to promote natural farming on a large scale and make aware other farmers of Rajasthan and other states that high yield and quality can be easily be achieved through natural farming. And Thar Naturals would never have been possible without the whole family effort.”

Today, THAR NATURALS is producing different varieties of cereals, pulses, millet, fruits, and vegetables; basically, it can be classified into four categories, namely, Agriculture, Fertilizers, Dairy and Horticulture. They are also processing some crops like Green Mung Beans, Bengal gram, Fenugreek Seeds, Chickpeas, Aloe Vera, Flax Seeds, and Canola Oil. Some of their featured products to promote natural farming which they also use in their farms are Jeev Amrit, JIYAN, and Vermicompost. They also have dairy products like milk and desi ghee (clarified butter) of Sahiwal cow for selling purpose.

Currently, Navroop Singh Gill is residing with his family in 58-RB Village in Rai Singh Tehsil of Sri Ganganagar District in Rajasthan. Mrs. Sandeep Kaur Gill (w/o Navdeep Singh), Mrs. Gurpreet Kaur Gill (w/o Navroop Singh) and Mrs. Ramandeep Kaur Gill (w/o Ramandeep Singh) are the hidden supportive members behind Thar Natural and they perform the role of main functionary of the house.

FARM STATS
Farming Technique: Mulching for water management
Implements: Have all the necessary farming machinery like tractor, trolley, harrow, and disc.
Crops: Guar, Pearl Millet, Mung Beans, Bengal grams, Chickpeas, Fenugreek, Flax-seeds
Horticulture Crops: Kinnow, Seasonal Vegetables, Canola

Dairy Farming: Gill Family have more than 100 cows of Sahiwal Breed in their farm. Navroop Singh himself take care of them with the help of few workers.


Message
“Natural farming is the only key to success for farmers in long run.”

Navroop Singh Gill is a prime example for the young farmers who want to see themselves successful in the future in the field of agriculture. Thar Naturals is an idle case of how natural farming is equally profitable as compared to farming done by using genetically modified seeds and chemicals.