Profitable Venture:Innovative drive and constant experimentation with multi-cropping methods have helped H. Sadananda of Tapasihalli in Doddaballapur taluk to reap a rich harvest.

BANGALORE: At a time when there is a strong perception that farming is not a profitable venture, this farmer from Tapasihalli in Doddaballapur taluk has created waves by earning a profit of about Rs. 22 lakh a year from merely 2.1 acres of land.

It is his innovative drive and constant experimentation with multi-cropping methods that have helped 51-year-old H. Sadananda to reap a rich harvest.

He cultivates nearly 30 varieties of crop on his land, including tomato and areca on half an acre each which yield him Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 50,000 respectively.

Ginger is cultivated along with areca in the plantation, and it yields him about Rs. 70,000 a year. Mr. Sadananda has also made space in his areca plantation for rearing 250 Giriraja hens which he sells every three months to earn about Rs. 1 lakh a year. The poultry droppings are valuable manure for the areca plantation while agricultural waste is used as feed for the birds.

He has planted about 2,000 rose cuttings on three-fourth of an acre, which fetches him about Rs. 4 lakh a year, and has set up a greenhouse on one-fourth of an acre for cultivating capsicum and high-quality rose alternatively. Capsicum, cultivated for about six months, yields him about Rs. 5.4 lakh while the rose variety that replaces capsicum for the next six months gets him about Rs. 2.5 lakh a year. A small vegetable garden, a fish-rearing pond, coconut and jackfruit trees on the periphery of his land, in addition to coffee plants, papaya, sapota and lime trees also find a place. His cows produce 80 to 100 litres of milk a day.

Manure
Manure comes from vermicompost and the slurry from a gobar gas plant. A tiny pond is filled with azolla plants which is a good cow feed.

Mr. Sadananda, who depends on borewell for irrigation, has installed drip irrigation system for the entire land at a cost of Rs. 50,000 (excluding subsidy). “Drip irrigation allows me to irrigate my entire land even with four hours of three-phase power,” he says. Besides, it prevents weeds and also saves him about Rs. 400 a day in labour costs.

Interestingly, he also breeds Rottweiler and Great Dane breeds of dogs to earn Rs. 1.2 lakh a year.

He has been honoured with prestigious awards by the Union Ministry of Agriculture. Several agricultural scientists, farmers and VIPs from India and abroad visit his farm.

Innovative ideas
Mr. Sadananda says that his farm income increased after he adopted innovative ideas provided by the Department of Biotechnology's Bio-Resource Complex project taken up in his village. He can be contacted on 9342022146.