Agriculture

Today, this resident of Pune has successfully converted a 3,500 square feet plot into a beautiful garden where she grows various fruits and vegetables, and she does it without using a drop of chemical pesticides or fertilisers.

Once a barren piece of ancestral land that was wasting away, the Rangamalai Organic Farm established in 2015, is a fully integrated organic farm today, thanks to the vision of 34-year-old Pradeep Kumar and his pillar of support, his wife, Mangai.

However, as most organic farmers would agree, in the natural technique of farming, pest management is a lot more important than the eliminating pests completely. Here is a list of innovative pest management techniques being adopted by farmers across the country and globe.

After attending a five-day training programme at Devalpara, Nagpur and two-day training programme held at Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu University, Rohit Ram Sahu decided to go against the tide and started practising the method himself.

He has earned ₹ 7 lakh from farming on a square piece of land that measures only 1 acre.

Apart from this he also keeps researching on herbs which can cure various diseases and spreads his knowledge for free.

A student of Pulamanthole Government Higher Secondary School, Abhilal dedicates few hours in morning and evening on the field during regular school days and the entire day during holidays.

Falling under a zone that perpetually grapples with various agrarian crises, not a single farmer in the village has committed suicide owing to droughts and crop failure.

During summers, Kunjiraman and Pushpa live on the hill to lend undivided attention towards the crops and since there is no provision for irrigation, they have to carry water from a km away and then trudge all the way to the top to water the plants.

Yielding a large variety of vegetables, the produce from Mehboob's garden includes bitter gourd, ladies finger, tomato, green chilli, capsicum, snake gourd, carrot, brinjal, pumpkin and ivy gourd.