Tag: Sri Muktsar Sahib

Jaskaran Singh

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This farmer has proved that even a common farmer can do something innovative, something new

Walking in a crowd never creates an identity for an individual, something new has to be done to create an identity. Where everyone was working on some old things, a farmer took the decision to do something different. This farmer, Jaskaran Singh, son of Baldev Singh, is a resident of village Kauni, Tehsil Gidderbaha.

Baldev Singh used to practice conventional farming in 27 acres. Due to the family farming business, Jaskaran Singh started working with his father at a very young age, due to which he was unable to look after his studies and for that reason he dropped his studies. The moment when he stepped up in the field, an invaluable relationship was built up with soil. From the very beginning, his father used to cultivate wheat and rice, but Jaskaran Singh had something else in his mind.

When I saw people growing crops other than rice and wheat, it was struck in my mind to do something unique- Jaskaran Singh

Keeping this thing in mind of doing something different, he decided to cultivate strawberries. This decision of Jaskaran disappointed his father very much. His disappointment was natural because planting a crop that is not familiar is a big step. But after assuring his father, he along with his 2 friends set up a strawberry farm in 8 acres. Due to insufficient information and lack of studies, there was a fear of getting failed but passion was on the top of head and a belief that hard work never goes in vain. Hence, he took a training of horticulture and started his business.

He did not face much hindrance in starting strawberry cultivation. Initially he bought seeds from Delhi with his friends’ advice. Farmers avoid strawberry cultivation as it is labour extensive and demands a hard work. Meanwhile, his friends decided to drop this business after realizing that knowledge about strawberry cultivation is not enough. One of them started doing business to secure his future and another is still in hardship for going abroad. But, this enthusiastic person was not going to drop this idea at any cost.

Young blood is coming in trap of colourful lifestyle of abroad and no doubt they are moving there for securing their future. Instead of moving out of country, I wanted to do something innovative in Punjab so that new generation would get motivated and they could secure their future here – Jaskaran Singh

The fruit of his hard work was even more than his expectation, due to which he turned his full attention towards this farming. After this, he planted Himachali variety of strawberry and now he buy seeds from the ‘Hub of Strawberries’ Pune. Jaskaran Singh sells his strawberries at the Mandis of Bathinda, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Malout.

Along with strawberries, Jaskaran also practice farming of muskmelon and cucumbers. He has made a good profit in just 4 to 5 years. Jaskaran Singh has developed his own vegetable nursery and is planning to make his own strawberry nursery.

The Water level is falling drastically so farmers should move towards drip irrigation system – Jaskaran Singh

Future plan

Jaskaran wants to do processing of strawberries and marketing of self-processed products in the future and to inspire other farmers for doing the same.

Message
“I want to say that the expenses of the farmers are increasing but there is not much difference in the price of wheat and paddy, so the farmers will have to do something different along with the conventional farming. In today’s time, we need to bring crop diversification in Punjab.”

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu

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Punjab – Malwa Region Based Farmer Paired Agriculture With Mechanized Technology, Have You Tried It…

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu, 44, keeping in mind about the Mother Nature, implements the best Eco-friendly farming practices through which time and money, both can be saved. And this thought of working in harmony with nature comes in his mind while he was far away in a foreign land.
Farming, as we know, is an age-old practice, which was followed by our ancestors and their ancestors… to cultivate food and sustain life. But, with the revolution and change in demands, today, agriculture has come a long way creating a vast history behind. Yes, there are some negative impacts of modern agriculture practices, but now not only the farming community but a lot of individuals from the city are also taking initiative towards sustainable agriculture practices.

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu is also one of those individuals who realized while living in abroad that he has done nothing for the land which provided him everything since his childhood. Although he was very successful living in abroad, learning about new farming technology, machinery and serving the community, he felt very despondent. And that was when he decided to take a long respite from his life in abroad and came back to his motherland, Punjab (India).

“After completing my graduation from Punjab University, I went to Canada to pursue higher studies and later on I got settled there. But after 5-6 years I felt a strong urge from the bottom of my heart that I need to go back to where I belong.”

Already aware of the foreign agriculture practices, Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu decided to mechanize his own way of farming and then he paired commercial farming and agriculture technology together. Moreover, he decided to start Kinnow farming rather than wheat and paddy.

“Wheat and paddy are the conventional crops of Punjab which needs only 4-5 months of labour in the field. Instead of getting stuck in the cycle of wheat and paddy, farmers should focus on horticulture crops and other agri-allied activities which can be done around the year.”

Mr. Singh designed a machine which can be taken in the orchards by attaching it with a tractor and that machine can grade the Kinnows in 6 different sizes. The machine has inbuilt 9 cleaning brushes and 4 drying brushes; mechanization of the machine up to this level has reduced the cost of labour to almost zero.

“Machine designed by me can grades around 1-1 ½ tons of Kinnow in an hour and the running cost of this machine is 10-litre diesel per day.”

According to Mr. Singh – Earlier, the main obstacle faced was during the marketing of Kinnow, labour cost of harvesting Kinnows from the orchard and then taking care of it was very time and labour consuming and also was not economical. Since the grading machine is developed by Mr. Singh, half of the problem of harvesting and grading is already solved.
This mechanized way of grading Kinnows in six different sizes has created a valuable place for Mr. Singh’s harvest in the market, as it gets more pre-eminence and better return on investment. Using this mechanized way for grading the Kinnows is a valuable addition to the “Sidhu Model Farm”, and from the last 2 years, fruits produced by Mr. Singh is achieving first and second prizes at the State Level in Citrus Shows.

This is not the only approach that Mr. Singh is following; drip irrigation, crop waste management, green manuring, bio-gas plant, vermicomposting, organic production of vegetables, cereals, fruits, and wheat, are other means through which he is trying reduce the harmful footprints of conventional farming practices on his behalf.

Sirbeerinder Singh Sidhu’s contribution in the agriculture field has bagged him many awards and honour at state and national level, out of which these two are the main:

• Won State Level Citrus Show at Abohar, Punjab
• Received award form PUSA Delhi for Innovative Farming
Along with farming, Mr. Singh is also master of other animal husbandry and agri-allied activities, just because of his hobby. He rears dairy animals, poultry birds, kennel dogs, goats, and Marwari horses. He has also maintained a fish pond in half acre and forestry which includes 7000 Eucalyptus trees and 25 Bush Bamboos.
With his 12 years of experience in the agriculture field, Mr. Singh has focused his attention on some important matters and want to give the message to the society through these issues, which are the major concerns in Punjab ….

Subsidy and agriculture schemes:
Farmer assumes that Government is helping us by giving subsidy and making different agricultural schemes, but this is not true; this is a way of making farmers handicapped and grabbing their land. Farmers have to understand their good and bad themselves because agriculture is such a wide field that if it is done properly with determination then it can make anyone rich.

Mind Set of Young Generation:
Nowadays, the young generation is all set to go abroad or get settled in the city, they don’t care what kind of work they have to do in there; for them farming is a dirty job. What’s the sake of investing in the education and employment, if ultimately it will result in brain drain! Youth is unaware of the fact that agriculture is such a prosperous and diverse field that it can provide more advantages, profit, and happiness than the life in abroad.

Marketing in agriculture field:
Today, the farmer also has to become the seller by eliminating the middlemen and this is the only way by which farmer can clinch their forgotten position from the society. Farmer has to adopt modern eco-friendly practices which will lead them towards sustainable agriculture results.

Everyone should remember that-
” once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.”

Balwinder Singh Sandhu

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STORY OF A FARMER BREAKING THE OLD CONSERVATIVE CUSTOMS OF FARMING TO ADOPT NATURAL PRACTICES

Today, farmers are the only person who can inspire other farmers towards organic practices of agriculture; and Balwinder Singh is one of those farmers who has adopted organic farming in the recent years to bring a positive change in the environment, by getting inspired by a fellow progressive farmer.

Well, turning towards organic is not that easy for those farmers who are used to conventional farming practices and high yield. But Balwinder Singh Sandhu overcame this hurdle with his strong determination and persistence hard work.

Earlier, in 1982 to 1983, he used to cultivate Cotton, Mustard and Guar crop, but from 1997 he started encountering pest attack of boll-worm on cotton crop, due to which he faced a major loss repeatedly. So, after that, he decided to start with paddy but still did not achieved the level of satisfaction with which he was farming earlier. His journey towards organic farming started in 2011 when he visited the organic vegetable farm of Manmohan Singh.

Visit to the organic farm, opened multiple insights of Balwinder Singh and then he decided to start vegetable farming; he initiated with chilli. To improve his earlier farming mistakes he even visited Gujarat to buy the good variety of cotton seeds and there he discovered information about the farming of seedless cucumber, strawberry, and melon. For continuously 3 years he keeps on reducing the use of pesticides on his land.

That year, Chilli crop yield was very good and it made him a profit of Rs 500000 just from 2 acres. Balwinder Singh also took advantage of his farm location. His farm location was on the road, so he put up a small shop at the roadside where he started selling vegetables. He also started processing chilli into chilli powder.

“When I started processing chilli powder then many people used to complain about it that your chilli powder is not red in color. Then I explained to them that chilli powder is never blood red in color. The powder which people generally purchase from the market has impurities and color adulteration.”

In 2013, Balwinder Singh started cultivating more veggies like Cucumber, Tomato, Pumpkin, and Capsicum.

“More crops needed more area, so to increase the farming area I took 40 acres land on lease from cousins and brothers. In the beginning, marketing was an issue for vegetables, but by the time this problem was also resolved.”

Currently, Balwinder Singh is cultivating vegetables on 8-9 acres, strawberry on 1 acre and paddy and wheat on the rest of the land. Moreover, to increase the productivity he has adopted all the modern farming implements, technology and environment-friendly practices like tractor, bed planter, rotavator, cultivator, leveller, seeder, drip irrigation, mulching, home-prepared organic compost and buttermilk spray in place of insecticides.

From the last four years, he is practicing complete organic methods on 2 acres of land and has reduced the use of pesticides and insecticides on rest of the land mass. Balwinder Singh’s hard work has impressed many people, even the DC of his area visited his farm; many articles have been published about his work in different print media and with the speed with which he is progressing, he will be recognized in the future also…

Message:
“Now farmers have to hold the weighing machine in their own hands to sell their produce to earn the profit. Because if they will continue their dependence on the middlemen or dealers for selling their harvest then they will not progress and will be cheated by the thugs again and again. Mediators take away all the profit that is farmer’s right.”

Angrez Singh Bhullar

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How the deteriorating health of this farmer enlighten him to recognize his mistake and switch to organic farming

Angrez Singh Bhullar, this 53 old year farmer from Giddarbaha, after recognizing what mistakes he has made and how it is affecting his health, made the most enlightened decision of his life.

In the young age of 4, Angrez Singh Bhullar lost his father. His family conditions were deteriorating day by day, as there was no bread earner. They were surviving on the money they were getting from their land rented to the relatives. There were two elder sisters in his family and fulfilling the family needs was becoming very difficult for his mother day-by-day. Due to worsening financial conditions, Angrez Singh received academic qualification until 9th class only and his sisters never went to school.

After dropping off from the school, Angrez Singh used to spend time with his uncles on their farm and learn some farming techniques from them. Until 1989 the land was rented to relatives, but after that Angrez Singh was big enough to take the responsibility of the family, so, he decided of taking his land back, and start farming on it.

On the behalf of whatever he learned from his uncle and by seeing other farmers of his village, he also started chemical farming. He started earning well and financial conditions of his family were improved. Soon after some time he got married and was living a happy family life.

But in 2006, he got sick and suffered from major health issues. Earlier he used to take this problem lightly but later after getting diagnosed, he came to know that his intestine are swelled up which can lead to serious problem in the future. At that time, many people use to visit him to ask him about his well-being, and someone told him that using chemical in farming is the reason behind your health issues and you should start organic.

Although many people told him many things to do, to get cure, but the one thing that knocked his mind hardly was switching to organic. He took this matter very seriously and started organic farming in 2006 with 2.5 acres of land. He grew wheat, vegetables, fruits, lemon, guava, sugarcane and paddy and earned good profit from it. To multiply his profit, he thought of processing his produce on his own and then he started making jaggery out of sugarcane. He adopted manual jaggery processing method as he was starting this venture on his own. In the beginning, he was unsure that how it is going to benefit him, but slowly his village people started liking his jaggery. Slowly the jaggery demand rose up to a level that he started making jaggery on advance booking. After sometime he also established vermicomposting plant at his farm to reap good harvest from homemade manure.

He has received many awards, achievements and attended many training camps, and some of them are listed below:

• Participated in District Muktsar Science Fair held between 15 to 18 November in 1979.

• Participated in 90 days training of Artificial Insemination organized by Verka Plant Bathinda in 1985.

• Attended 3-days-training of Hybrid Seeds Preparation organized by PAU, Ludhiana in 1988.

• Received Yog Teacher’s Training Certificate for participating in Patanjali Yog Samiti from 9 July to 14 July of 2009.

• Appreciation from the Director of Kheti Baadi Vibhag, Punjab, 28 Sep, 2012.

• Participated in Vibrant Gujarat Global Agricultural Summit held at 9 & 10 Sep on 2013.

• Appreciation Letter for Natural Farming & Environmental Fair which was help on 26 July, 2013 by Kheti Virasat Mission.

• Received appreciation for attending Rabi Crops Farmer Training Camp at state Level- by Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) on 21st Sep, 2014, Organized by Kheti Baadi Vibhag, Dist. Shri Muktsar Sahib, Punjab.

• Appreciation Letter by Kheti Baadi Vibhag at shri Muktsar sahib on 21st Sep, 2014 for State Level Farmer Training Camp.

• Participated in Advance training course of Bee Breeding 7 Mass Bee Rearing Technique organized by PAU on 12-14 Oct, 2014.

• Attended Poultry Farming Training of 2 weeks organized by Department of Animal Husbandry, Punjab at Sarkari Murgi Sewa Kendra, Kotkapura.

• Registered as a Beekeeper by National Bee Board

• Received CRI Award.

• Attended Kharif Crop Farming 1-day-Training camp organized by KVK, Goniana.

• Attended 10 days beekeeping training organized by PAU Ludhiana.

• Attended 1-day-Training Pest Control in Grains stored in Storehouse organized by KVK, Goniana.

• Participated in Organic & Herbal Products Mela organized by department of Rural Development, NITTTR, Chandigarh.

• Participated in workshop training programme- “MARKET LED EXTENSION” conducted by PAMETI (Punjab Agriculture Management & Extension Training Institute), PAU.

Angrez Singh Bhullar is a futuristic farmer of Punjab who understands the importance of going organic. Today, we need more farmers like him to deal with the worsening environment conditions.

Message for Farmers:
“If we don’t start organic farming now then our future generation will be in a big problem.”