After quitting plum govt job, man forays into agriculture

Aman Sood

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Patiala, May 23

A progressive farmer of a remote village in Nabha has set an example for fellow villagers and hundreds others like him. 

Amarinder Singh, who has done his graduation from the Netherlands, left his government job to venture into agriculture in 2013 and set up a polyhouse on 4,000 sq m. Amarinder, a resident of Sadhohari village in Nabha, did his MSc in geoinformatics from the Netherlands in 2009 and worked at Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (GOP) as scientist-B for four years. But he left his plum job for agriculture. In 2014, he added another 4,000 sq m area to his polyhouse. His family owns 32 acres. 

Encouraged by the output of poly houses, he took to vegetables cultivation in open fields. He grew capsicum, melon, cucumber, bitter gourd and green chilly using modern means such as drip irrigation, mulching and low tunnel technology. 

In 2015, he added another 1,000 sq m to the poly house. In 2016, Amarinder started constructing a mushroom compost unit and produced 344 quintals of seasonal mushroom from 15,000 bags (525 q of wheat straw). The polyhouse was used as a mushroom-growing area by covering it with a layer of paddy straw on the shade net. He had not only saved paddy stubble from going up in flames in 2016-17 but like a true entrepreneur, he generated employment of 5,000 man-days. Now, Amarinder, using modern farming techniques, is not only getting handsome gains but also continues to be the lighthouse of knowledge.

He has become a successful vegetable cultivator on the basis of cooperation, subsidies and technical assistance provided by the state Horticulture Department. He took subsidies worth Rs 16.88 lakh per acre and Rs 2. 80 lakh per hectare for planting materials. Besides, he has also applied for subsidy on the compost unit of mushrooms. 

“Farmers in my area are moving towards crop diversification and using modern means to enhance their agricultural income, I am in touch with a majority of them through social networking means and rendering my services when needed,” he added. 

Amarinder said he was grateful to Punjab Agriculture University, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Horticulture Dept for their continuous support and guidance from time to time. “Scientists often visit my farm and give their valuable guidance and moral support. The government also supports in the form of subsidies for protected cultivation,” he added.

He said pesticide-free marketable vegetables were his biggest contribution to society in general.