Passion, Willpower And Govt Subsidy: Millionaire Himachal Pradesh Farmer Scripts Success Story With Rs 1 Crore Turnover
Farmer Ashish Gautam's forte spans beyond traditional agriculture and horticulture into sectors like apiculture and pisciculture to challenge his comfort zone.
Published : March 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM IST
Sirmaur: In an inspirational success story, a farmer from Himachal Pradesh has become a millionaire by taking advantage of various schemes of the government.
Progressive farmer Ashish Gautam from Chamoda village in Sirmaur district is a multi-tasker of sorts by venturing into agriculture, horticulture, poultry and fish farming. Besides, by selling mushrooms and honey alone, Ashish earns lakhs of rupees in the twin sector. With sheer hard work, Ashish has crossed his annual turnover of one crore rupees. Besides, he also provides employment to 10 to 12 people.
Ashish believes that passion, strong willpower and subsidy received on government schemes definitely lead to success.
Smell Of Lavender Success
Ashish said that he has applied under the Pushp Kranti Yojana being run by the state government's horticulture department with a subsidy of Rs 30,000.
“There are 500 lavender plants in my fields at present, whose sticks and oil are in great demand in the market. The state government has implemented many schemes to make the youth self-reliant, which unemployed youth should take advantage of. This will strengthen the economy of the state along with the youth,” he said.
Dr. Vinod Dholta of the Horticulture Department Rajgarh said that Ashish has emerged as a progressive farmer-horticulturist.
“The way Ashish has done farming and gardening in accordance with government schemes is a source of inspiration for other farmers. Ashish Gautam has also provided employment opportunities to others. Ashish has been provided subsidies under various government schemes, which he has taken full advantage of and strengthened his economy,” Dholta said.
Earned Rs 30 Lakh From Mushrooms
Ashish got a grant of Rs 8 lakh in the year 2024 for shed construction, air-conditioned room and purchase of compost manure under the Khumb Vikas Yojana. This earned him an income of Rs 30 lakh by producing 30 tons of mushrooms within a year, he said.
Similarly, he has been sanctioned a grant of Rs 2.5 lakh for the construction of a 1200 square feet cold storage and Rs 1.03 lakh for installing a borewell. Apart from this, he has received a grant of Rs 5 lakh from the Agriculture Department for the construction of a water storage tank with a capacity of 3 lakh liters. The grants have enabled Ashish to run the agriculture and horticulture businesses smoothly.
Dr. Rajkumar, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department said that the department has launched several schemes to make people self-reliant.
“Ashish Gautam has increased his income by taking advantage of the departmental schemes. Other youth should also take advantage of these government schemes. The department will provide all possible help to the applicant,” Rajkumar said.
Sweet Honey Success
Ashish said that in the year 2023, he got a subsidy of Rs 1.36 lakh on 48 bee boxes from the state government, under which in the year 2024, he produced 1.50 tonnes of honey and earned an income of Rs 5 lakh, which he sold at She-Haat located in Kwagdhar and on online platforms.
Poultry And Fish Farming
Ashish did not stop at the agriculture and horticulture sectors. He said that he thought of trying his hand in the poultry and fish farming business in 2024. For this, Ashish got 50 chicks at the rate of Rs 10 each from the Animal Husbandry Department for the poultry business in 2024.
He sold eggs worth about 30 thousand rupees and chickens worth 20 thousand rupees, he said. He is using the chicken waste in fish farming. Ashish recalled that during the Corona period, he built water storage tanks of 1.50 lakh liters and 60 thousand liters for fish farming for which the state government provided him 5 thousand fish seeds at the rate of 1 rupee per seed. This produced one ton of fish in last June-July, which earned him an income of about one lakh rupees.
Capsicum And Cucumbers Worth Rs 9 lakh
Ashish said that he got a grant of Rs 8.42 lakh from the Horticulture Department in the year 2023 for the construction of a 500 square meter greenhouse, in which 2500 yellow and red capsicum plants were planted in the month of March.
This earned him an income of about 7 lakh rupees, he said adding he also planted cucumbers in the same greenhouse, which he sold at Rs 20 per kg, earning him an income of Rs 2 lakh.
Apple Farming
Ashish also tried his hand at gardening. He said that he has 2500 fruit-bearing plants of Jeromeine and Scarlet-2 of Gala variety of apples.
“In 2024, my garden produced 200 boxes of apples, which were sold in the nuclear market and earned four lakh rupees. For this garden, the state government also gave a grant of 36 thousand rupees for installing an anti-hail net. Today I have a nursery of 5 thousand apple plants, which is prepared every year. One stick of apple plant is sold at the rate of 300 rupees, which gives an income of about 15 lakh rupees per year,” he said.
Kiwi Cultivation
Ashish also has a kiwi garden of 400 plants, in which on an average 60 kg of fruits are obtained from one plant. This year, 20 tons of kiwi were produced from the kiwi garden, which earned him an income of about 19 lakh rupees.
He has also received a grant of 5.5 lakh for planting a kiwi garden under the Kiwi Incentive Scheme. This year, Ashish has a target of growing 1 lakh kiwi plants and his kiwi nursery will be ready in the coming month of December. Ashish plans to sell one kiwi plant at the rate of 150 rupees which will earn him an estimated income of about Rs 1.5 crore besides employment for 12 people.
Over his composite farming, Ashish said, "I am fond of agriculture, gardening, mushroom production, fisheries, poultry and beekeeping”.
Proud Workers And Village Head
Sunil, Aman and Ranjan, who work with Ashish praised him for providing employment at the doorstep. They get Rs 15 to Rs 18 thousand rupees per month, with which they are taking care of their families.
Surati Chauhan, Gram Panchayat Pradhan Sarahan also praised Ashish over his passion for farming.
“Ashish is a progressive farmer-horticulturist. The way he has done farming, gardening etc. as per the government schemes is a source of inspiration for others as well. The great thing is that Ashish is also providing employment opportunities to others. Youths looking for employment should learn from him. Instead of running after jobs, they should try their hand at business,” Chauhan said.
Read more:
