Farmers hailing from Sancharga in the Kalahandi district of Odisha, Krishna Chandra Nag is growing mango, banana and seasonal vegetables on his farm as well as fish farming and poultry farming, earning him millions.
A 48-year-old Krishna Chandra Nag, a resident of Sanchargao in the Kalahandi district of Odisha, is a progressive farmer. Krishna Chandra has been continuously doing innovative experiments in farming since the year 2006. He started it by cultivating fruit vegetables instead of paddy cultivation as traditional methods. He explains that he made changes in farming methods one by one. Today he is doing ‘integrated farming’, in which he is doing seasonal vegetables, fruits as well as poultry and fisheries.
Krishna Chandra told that he had about seven acres of ancestral land. Apart from this, he bought four more acres of land. Krishna Chandra, who has studied up to 12th standard, lives in a joint family. He had taken up the responsibility of farming since school. Earlier, he too used to cultivate in the usual ways like his father and grandfather but could not earn anything special from it. Krishna Chandra always wondered how he could increase his earnings in agriculture and for this, he chose a different path.
He says, “I used the right farming methods, government schemes, water and organic manure at the right time and that was the reason for my success.”
Started fruit-vegetable farming:
Krishna Chandra received considerable help from the agriculture department of the district. On the advice of the department, he planted 100 mango trees on some of his lands in 2006 and the next year, he installed a drip irrigation system for his fields so that he could get more profit in less water. He told, “It was time to get fruits from mango trees. So I started cultivating vegetables like bitter gourd, gourd, chilli, tomato in mixed ways in the mango plantation itself. You get quick income from vegetables. In 2008, the cultivation of vegetables on only 1000 square meters of land had earned 2.5 lakh rupees. ”
After this success, Krishna Chandra paid more attention to the change in his farming methods. He started planting more vegetables and, at the same time, dug two ponds in his fields. He fishes in these ponds. He has also planted 2400 banana trees on four acres. He says, “Now mango trees have become dense and there is no sunshine under them, so I cannot grow vegetables. But this does not mean that I leave this land empty. I have arranged for the chickens to live in the mango orchard. I have more than 300 chickens, which are earning well. ”
Tankadhar Kalo, Assistant Director of Horticulture, Kalahandi District said, “Our department is providing support to farmers for horticulture and related technologies. The department is also giving subsidy to farmers for technologies like fruit plants to solar plants, cooling chambers, drip irrigation and polypropylene sheets. We have also helped Krishna Chandra and today his name is included in the successful farmers of the state. Apart from students studying in agricultural universities, farmers from other districts of Odisha also come to see their farm and learn from them. ”
He also makes organic manure for his crops. He collects about 60 trolley dung to make organic manure. This cow dung is used in making such things as general manure, earthworm manure and vertices. He explains that apart from cow dung, whatever organic waste comes out of his fields, he prepares manure from everything. He gives crops through drip irrigation to the prepared vertices on his fields. They say that plants should be given fertilizer or water according to need so that you get a good yield. Apart from giving some of the products to some shops, he also directly distributes them to the customers.
Other farmers are also being helped:
Krishna Chandra explains that farmers come from not only Odisha but also from Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan to see their fields. Many farmers, inspired by them, have started things like farming as well as fisheries and are earning good profits today. He is also called by the Department of Agriculture to train farmers.
One farmer who took training from him, Dhrub Chandra Jena, said, “Krishna Chandra ji is like a guru to me. They have taught me the nuances of farming. Everything has been learned from them, from preparing plants to poultry farming. I am constantly connected to them and try to learn something new. He has given us the way to success by guiding many farmers like me. ”
He says, “I am happy that other farmers are benefiting from my knowledge and experience.” Through WhatsApp, I am connected to a lot of farmers and I try to help anyone who contacts me for help. Also, I advise people to join the Agricultural Science Center or Horticulture Department of their areas as these departments prove to be very helpful for the farmers. There are various schemes being run by the administration for the farmers, all the farmers should try to understand and understand these schemes. ”
Krishna Chandra has also been honoured at the district level for his innovative methods. With his 11 acres of ‘integrated farming’, he is earning around Rs 18 lakhs a year. He says that this is his hard work of about 15 years, due to which he is earning millions of profits today. He also inspires other farmers to move towards change instead of getting frustrated. According to him, till the farmers do not change the methods of normal farming, till then they will not be able to earn a good income from farming.