Sahnewal, March 22
Mr Mohinder Singh Grewal, a progressive farmer, grows four to five crops on a hectare in a year. This is nothing short of a miracle for many experts who visit his farm frequently. “My aim is to get the maximum out of crops in the minimum possible time,” says Mr Grewal.
“A farmer should always try to diversify the crop pattern. Depending on a single crop, year after year, can be risky. If one crop is lost, it costs the farmer the equivalent of five years’ efforts,” he adds. He has demonstrated that income from a farm can flow in every month with meticulous management and planning. “The important thing for a farmer is to know which crop is to be sown at what time,” says Mr Grewal, “He should always go in for crops which fetch more money.”
The winner of many awards in agriculture and poultry competitions, Mr Grewal has been maintaining a cropping intensify of 300 per cent every year. In addition to food crops, he grows vegetable seed crops and has a government- recognised fruit nursery and poultry farm.
Back in 1966, he purchased his present farm just outside Ludhiana, at Kanganwal village with the help of a Rs 20,000 bank loan. But today he owns a seed farm, a nursery, an orchard and a poultry farm, having repaid all initial debts and subsequent bank loans. His four-hectare farm has row after row of vegetables.
He is not only familiar with the latest farm technology and its adoption, but is also a research-oriented farmer. He has conducted research at his farm on the use of weedicides, intercropping, vegetable seed production, gardening and multiple cropping with very encouraging results. The secret of his success is planning and maintaining a proper record of expenditure and income. Besides being a progressive farmer, Mr Grewal is also an efficient salesman. He has been able to find a market for seeds in Delhi and his crops are now much sought after because of their high quality. Experts have visited his farm to see the progress of the multicrop experiments.
“A farmer must get cash payment against his crop every three months so that he does not face any problem in purchasing the inputs required for the next crop,” he says. Through intelligent planning and successful application of modern methods, he has developed a marketing network of his own produce.
He is proud of his accomplishments and his ability to do hard work. Whether it is oppressive heat or freezing cold, he works over 12 hours a day. He attributes his success to his late wife.
Mr Grewal, who is 66, is a Navy man turned farmer. “As a young man, I was good at sports. So I joined the Navy,” he recalls. But his parents wanted him to be with his family and hence he was discharged from the Navy on compassionate grounds. Once home, he began planning his life. He married and had two children. “I had to think about my good living and the good education of the children, So I put into practice the idea of a multipurpose farm.”
He has successfully grown lady’s finger, followed by potato seeds and reddish, onion or turnip bulbs, all within a year.
Several distinguished visitors from within the country and abroad have visited his farm. “This was possible because of my adopting all latest techniques and with the full cooperation given to me by my wife Jagbir Kaur, scientists of PAU and Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
Mr Grewal is the President of Punjab Kisan Club, PAU, and Ludhiana East Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative-cum- Processing Society, Chairman of Rural Development Committee, Vice-Chairman of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, Punjab, life member of Punjab State Cooperative Vegetable Development Federation, Indian Society of Extension Education, New Delhi, and Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, New Delhi, member of Management Committee IISR, Lucknow, Farmers Advisory Committee, PAU, governing body, Punjab State Seed Sub-Committee, PAU Publication Committee, Punjab State Electricity Board and Advisory Committee, Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar, and patron member of the Indian Society of Plant Pathologists, PAU.
He has appeared on Jalandhar Doordarshan and AIR on several occasions to propagate scientific agriculture. He was also a compere of TV programme “Mera Pind Mere Khet” from 1980 to 2000. He helps farmers by conveying the latest technical knowhow through CDs, video films, visits of farmers and delegations, articles in various magazines and newspapers, electronic media, meetings and lectures at various kisan melas of agricultural universities and research stations.
He has written five books, titled “Kheti-Bari Di Safalta Di Kunji”, “Tere Bagair Zindagi” (poems), “Rang Zindagi De” (autobiography) , “Zindagi Ik Darya” and “Successful Scientific Farming.” His articles have been published in foreign newspapers, national dailies, state newspapers, agricultural magazines and Rotary magazines. He has also undertaken several community service projects, including free eye check-up camps, road safety week, blood donation camps, tree plantation, field days and soil tests.
He has won 14 awards at the state and national levels. He was given the Punjab Sarkar Parman Patra in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the development of agricultural sciences. He was awarded a plaque for operating poultry, vegetable seed production and crop production with the highest efficiency on a small land holding.
The Punjab Kisan Club honoured him for transferring latest scientific and diversified farming technology among fellow farmers and farm women in the state. He was also honoured by the Department of Vegetable Crops, PAU, as a leading progressive vegetable grower of the state. He was also awarded the Man of the Year award by the ABI (USA) in 1996. He has also won several state- level and national-level awards in poultry farming.
Mr Grewal says,“The motto of my life is, ‘He profits most who serves best.’ I have been striving hard all my life to achieve perfection but now I feel that I have just begun the journey of my life, that I have miles to go before I sleep.”
