Sirsa: Strawberry farming transforms grower’s life

In the small village of Nathusari Kalan in Sirsa (Haryana), Ishwar Singh Kadvasra, a farmer, has shown that hard work and innovation can change lives.

Like many small-scale farmers, he struggled to earn a decent income from traditional farming. With limited land and a family dependent on agriculture, he found it difficult to make ends meet.

Challenges like droughts and poor crop prices made survival even harder.

Instead of giving up, Ishwar decided to try something new. A few years ago, he began growing strawberries, along with tomatoes, watermelons, ridge gourd, bottle gourd and other seasonal vegetables.

It was a risk, but his hard work paid off. In his first year, he earned Rs 5 lakh, much more than what he had been making from traditional crops. Encouraged by the success, he continued to improve his farming methods, and, today, his income has grown to Rs 15 lakh per year.

Ishwar Singh, who only has a Class VI education, realised that modern farming techniques could yield better results. He still grows traditional crops like wheat, mustard and cotton on his 4-acre land, but his main source of income now comes from strawberries and vegetables.

His success has inspired other farmers in his village to start growing vegetables along with their usual crops.

He avoids chemical fertilisers as much as possible, using cow dung manure and organic pesticides instead. This makes the crops healthier, tastier and more valuable in the market.

Despite his success, selling the produce is a challenge.

There is no local market for strawberries, vegetables and flowers in his area, so he has to transport them to other towns, increasing costs and reducing profits.