Bharatpur (Rajasthan): A young man from Rajasthan chose agriculture as his career rather than education, a decision that has bore fruits for him, literally.
After securing a BEd degree, Tejveer Singh, who hails from Bharatpur district, ventured into horticulture farming. He started cultivating Taiwanese papaya on five bighas of his ancestral land. The papaya plantation has started giving him rich dividends. Tejveer has been making a handsome money. He is earning Rs 1 lakh per month by selling Papayas in the Mandis (agricultural markets).
Talking about his success in horticulture farming, Tejveer said, "Farming done in a scientific way gives three or four times more returns, instead of opting for the traditional method. After securing a BEd degree, I had something different in my mind. I was not interested in joining the teaching profession and was planning to start horticulture farming in a big way."
"I took assistance from the horticulture department in this regard. Quality seeds of Taiwanese papaya giving high yield were obtained from the horticulture department. The papaya saplings were prepared in the nursery and thereafter these saplings were planted on five bighas of the ancestral land. The soil was prepared on five bighas of land. To protect the papaya plantation from catching disease, the mulch and low tunnelling methods were used," Tejveer added.
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Dwelling upon his scientific method of farming, Tejveer explained, "For the optimum use of water and covering a large area of papaya grove, I used the drip irrigation method. I received a 75 percent subsidy from the horticulture department for cultivating Taiwanese papaya."
It took almost six months for papaya crops to get ready and the input cost of papaya farming was Rs 2.50 lakh on five bighas of land. Tejveer was successful in recovering the input cost by growing marigold flowers and tomatoes between the two rows of the papaya plantation. "By the time papaya was ready for plucking, I earned rupees two lakh by selling marigold flowers and made Rs 50,000 after the sale of tomatoes. Thereby, I was successful in recovering the input cost used in the production of papaya," he added.
In six months till May 2023, marigolds worth Rs 2 lakh and tomatoes worth Rs 50,000 were produced. It covered the cost of sowing papaya. The papaya crop was ready for harvesting in July. About 20 quintals of papaya are produced every month. The price of papaya weighing one kilo is Rs 50. Tejveer claimed that he has been earning Rs 1 lakh every month by selling the papaya produce. The plantation will give fruits for the next one and a half years. "If everything goes as per plan and suppose we do not face weather's onslaught then I can neatly pocket Rs 20 lakh in the next one and a half years," Tejveer summed up.
