Raipur: Chhattisgarh is changing now, along with it the picture of common life is also changing. Earlier in Chhattisgarh, where farmers used to think only about traditional agriculture, now even farmers from remote areas are trying to innovate in agriculture. Alam has become such that farmers of remote areas of Bastar have also started hi-tech farming, as well as exploring possibilities in other areas related to agriculture including horticulture and horticulture apart from traditional farming. One such pattern is being seen in areas like Dantewada and Kanker of Bastar. Here, apart from traditional agriculture, farmers Mahadev and Mahendra are now engaged in changing their lives by producing vegetables. This innovation has brought a positive change in his life. By producing vegetables with hi-tech farming, the income of these farmers has increased many times, due to which they have got economic strength.
innovation in agriculture
Mahadev, a resident of village Samalur of South Bastar Dantewada and Mahendra of Durgukondal village of North Bastar Kanker, Vananchal area, got information about advanced techniques of horticulture and got engaged in vegetable production under horticulture. Mahadev, who has been doing traditional farming for a long time, says that he has also seen such days in his life when he had to struggle a lot to feed his family. Then the officials of Horticulture Department advised to do farming with advanced technology. He was told about drip irrigation method and establishment of shednet house, after which the life of farmer Mahadev changed. Establishment of shednet house and drip in the year 2021-22 on grant from Horticulture Department. Mahadev planted grafted tomato by drip method on half an acre of land inside the shednet. This has increased the production of fruits. He says that seeing the good crop, he decided to continue this technique even further. With this technique, Mahadev has so far sold tomatoes worth Rs 12,000. After selling the entire crop, he has the possibility of earning 1 lakh 30 thousand to 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees. This story does not end here. The officers of the Horticulture Department keep giving technical advice from time to time, due to which the farmers of the nearby areas are also reaching there to see the cultivation of these advanced techniques. It can be expected that this technology will benefit more farmers in the same way, where today Mahadev’s advanced technology farming is becoming a source of inspiration for other farmers. It can be hoped that this story will not be limited to here but will emerge as a success story of other farmers.
Mahadev, a resident of village Samalur in Vananchal region, South Bastar, Dantewada.
The farmers of Durgukondal are being benefited by the Department of Horticulture (Champs Seeds Corporation) and drip irrigation by encouraging them to grow vegetables and other commercial crops instead of paddy. Farmer Mahendra of village Seoni, Amapara, located about 70 kilometers from the district headquarters Kanker, established drip irrigation in his 22 acres of land by taking advantage of drip irrigation under the guidance of Agriculture Engineering Kanker in the year 2021-22 and at present Cultivating vegetables in the entire 22 acres area. Using organic methods as well as chemical drugs for pest and disease control, they are getting about four times more income from commercial cultivation of vegetables as compared to traditional paddy cultivation. They are providing employment to 15 to 20 people throughout the year. Farmer Mahendra became a source of inspiration for other farmers of the area, following him, other farmers are also coming forward to adopt drip irrigation and do farming with drip irrigation. Mahendra told that earlier he used to cultivate paddy in the traditional way, in which there was an income of about two and a half lakh rupees every year. At present vegetable cultivation is being done by drip irrigation, in which bitter gourd, cucumber, gourd, chili, tomato crop is being grown, due to which a net profit of about 09 lakh 60 thousand rupees has been obtained and vegetable production is continuing.
The district administration is promoting the farmers of the district to adopt cultivation of other profitable crops instead of paddy as well as drip irrigation, so that the income of the farmers will increase and they will become self-sufficient. Drip irrigation can irrigate maximum area with less water, farmers can double to triple their income by producing maximum crops by cultivating vegetables and other beneficial crops.
