A 29-year-old Harsh Mor, a civil engineer used to take construction contracts till the pandemic lockdown, thereafter he could not find any work, subsequently he decided to try his luck in farming.
Last year he started cultivation of vegetable and watermelon on his farm at village Dora, Paraswada development block of Balaghat district.
Dora village is located some 45 kilometers far from the district headquarters.
Harsh said “Horticulture Extension Officer Hargovind Dhuware a friend of my father advised me to visit Birsa to study the cultivation of vegetables done by some youths and the profit margin they earn”.
So I went to Birsa and saw cultivation of vegetables and decided to do farming of vegetables, he said.
Initially he took the cultivation of watermelon, bitter gourd, tomato and chillin on 6 acres land, he earned profit from selling, he said.
In order to meet the demand of vegetables from local market, I have increased the area of each crop, now watermelon is grown on 3 acres, bitter gourd on 5 acres, tomato on 4 acres and chillies on 2 acres, he said.
With expansion of the work I have to engage 30 labourers, he said.
The labourers from the village usually go to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Gujarat for work but now they have work in village itself, so no need to migrate to other place for job, he said.
For introducing drip irrigation in the field, I took help of the state government’s scheme of horticulture department, he said.
As of now, I have sold 25 tonnes of watermelon from 1 acre field and is expected to get 40 tonnes of watermelon from two acres in coming days, he said.
At present, I sell vegetables to the agents and on demand to individuals as I do not have my own outlet, he said. Currently I supply vegetables in the markets in Balaghat, he said.
