Meeting the best organic farmer
Meeting the best organic farmer!!
On 22th June, we headed out to meet Mr. Nagaraj, the best organic farmer of Mayasandra village.
Mayasandra, a village comprising of 457 families is located 40 km from Bengaluru City, in the state of Karnataka. Farming is the primary occupation of villagers; some of the youths are
working in nearby industries as unskilled and semiskilled workers. The local agro-climatic conditions allow farmers to grow seasonal vegetables and millets yet depending on the monsoon’s caprice. Because of increasing cultivation cost and water scarcity profit margins are shrinking and many villagers seem to be losing interest in farming. Endeavoring organic farming of vegetables has encouraged farmers to stick to farming which has again become a
profitable livelihood.
Around five years ago, B Manohar Shonai of the Sahaja Samruddha Organic Producer Company supported by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) under the Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management (UPNRM) came to the village for the first time to discuss about organic farming. Like most others, M Nagaraja, a 65 year old third generation farmer, was sceptical. He thought organic farming was expensive, risky and low yielding. Yet with pursuance of Sahaja’s enthusiastic team, he reluctantly agreed to experiment it on a small patch of his land.
Sahaja staff also trained Nagaraja in organic input preparation. He learnt how to make organic pesticides using natural ingredients like jiggery, neem extract, cow dung etc. He also participated in exposure visits to farmers in neighbouring districts successfully practicing organic farming. “Talking to neighbours and seeing their impressive yields and profits thanks to organic farming convinced me after all”, says Nagaraja.
With support of Sahaja, he started growing seasonal vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots and beetroots organically, offering harvests throughout the year. To keep risk low, he started with a small patch only. Seeing the initial success, slowly his doubts over organic farming’s possible risks vanished and he pioneered as first organic farmer in his village. Nagaraja’s
income increased by almost 30 percent. This additional income allowed him to install a pump set in his fields to irrigate vegetables.
Nagaraja was also trained on intercropping techniques. Before, he would just grow millets, now with assured irrigation facilities, he grows cauliflower, coriander alongside the main crop of organic vegetables. Now, he is turning all of his land into organic farmland.
“Thanks to organic farming, I get three harvests a year. I don’t have to worry about marketing because Sahaja takes our produce to the city to sell it . I also get extra 15 percent premium just because it is organic. Sahaja’s marketing support saves me a lot of effort that I used to put in to sell my produce and it is more reliable than depending on changing middlemen”, says Nagaraja. "The fertility of my fields has improved. My family and I enjoy eating healthy and tasty vegetables”, he adds.
Nagaraja has become his village's spokesperson and resource person in the district advocating organic farming. His example and encouragement have mobilised additional 80 farmers out of
which 60 have adopted the new farming practices. Nagaraja along with these 60 farmers have applied for a group organic certification which is on its way to come.
But his greatest satisfaction is that he is feeding his family chemical free vegetables. "I have grandchildren and I only feed them products from my farm. I want them to be healthy and
strong. Organic farming has a bright future in India in the coming years", he says.
working in nearby industries as unskilled and semiskilled workers. The local agro-climatic conditions allow farmers to grow seasonal vegetables and millets yet depending on the monsoon’s caprice. Because of increasing cultivation cost and water scarcity profit margins are shrinking and many villagers seem to be losing interest in farming. Endeavoring organic farming of vegetables has encouraged farmers to stick to farming which has again become a
profitable livelihood.
 |
| Selfie with Nagaraja. |
Around five years ago, B Manohar Shonai of the Sahaja Samruddha Organic Producer Company supported by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) under the Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management (UPNRM) came to the village for the first time to discuss about organic farming. Like most others, M Nagaraja, a 65 year old third generation farmer, was sceptical. He thought organic farming was expensive, risky and low yielding. Yet with pursuance of Sahaja’s enthusiastic team, he reluctantly agreed to experiment it on a small patch of his land.
Sahaja staff also trained Nagaraja in organic input preparation. He learnt how to make organic pesticides using natural ingredients like jiggery, neem extract, cow dung etc. He also participated in exposure visits to farmers in neighbouring districts successfully practicing organic farming. “Talking to neighbours and seeing their impressive yields and profits thanks to organic farming convinced me after all”, says Nagaraja.
With support of Sahaja, he started growing seasonal vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots and beetroots organically, offering harvests throughout the year. To keep risk low, he started with a small patch only. Seeing the initial success, slowly his doubts over organic farming’s possible risks vanished and he pioneered as first organic farmer in his village. Nagaraja’s
income increased by almost 30 percent. This additional income allowed him to install a pump set in his fields to irrigate vegetables.
Nagaraja was also trained on intercropping techniques. Before, he would just grow millets, now with assured irrigation facilities, he grows cauliflower, coriander alongside the main crop of organic vegetables. Now, he is turning all of his land into organic farmland.
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| plucking beetroot.. |
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| Add caption |
Nagaraja has become his village's spokesperson and resource person in the district advocating organic farming. His example and encouragement have mobilised additional 80 farmers out of
which 60 have adopted the new farming practices. Nagaraja along with these 60 farmers have applied for a group organic certification which is on its way to come.
 |
| With his award. |
But his greatest satisfaction is that he is feeding his family chemical free vegetables. "I have grandchildren and I only feed them products from my farm. I want them to be healthy and
strong. Organic farming has a bright future in India in the coming years", he says.
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