Pioneering initiatives in agriculture and farming adopted by Rajasthan government have substantially aided Kota farmers.
Kota farmers like Om Prakash Patidar of Dhanwada village of Jhalawar district and Jai Prakash Mali of Arjunpura village have embraced the transformational farming techniques initiated by the Rajasthan government.
In May last year, Patidar was one of the members of progressive farmers’ group sent to Israel with state agriculture minister Prabhu Lal Saini.
After returning from Israel, Patidar first developed a greenhouse over an area of 4,000 square meters with 70% subsidy from the state government. In the first year, Patidar cultivated cucumber and the yield was 10 times more. He pocketed a profit of Rs 5 lakh from the yield.
“I cultivated cucumber and vegetables in 10 bigha land from which a profit was merely Rs 50,000,” he said. When he saw Israeli farmers making huge profits despite the scarcity of water, he also got inspired. “I made up mind to use the same techniques in my farmland,” he added.
He used mulching-sheet technology for cultivation of vegetables like lady finger, brinjal, and chili. The technique worked and his yield doubled. “Farming and horticulture schemes run by the state government proved a boon for me and my family,” Patidar said and added that all these have transformed his life.
“My profit has gone up manifold after applying new farming techniques,” he gladly said.
Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM) – 2016 held at JECC in Sitapura of Jaipur was a landmark event for many farmers including Patidar and Mali.
“I attended GRAM – 2016 with my MCA degree holder son who after examining the advanced techniques and methods in farming decided not to seek a job but take up farming as profession”, Patidar said.
Jai Prakash Mali, 35 years old is a farmer who hails from Arjunpura village of Kota district. Mali has deployed modern techniques like drip-sprinkle system for farming in his 24-bigha agricultural land. His production grew manifold. The production of groundnuts and soybean quadrupled due to the installment of the drip-sprinkle system.
