Bargarh: Ramakrishna Patel (25), of Bheden in Bargarh district achieved a rare feat when he completed intermediate in Arts stream from Remuda Junior College of the district.
His friends moved to Raipur, the capital city of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and other places to earn a living but Ramakrishna chose to eke out a living by carrying out farming activities on the 2.5-acre patch of parental land.
He struggled for a good 7-8 years, facing challenges of crop cultivation and livestock management but things changed after October 2017, when he participated in an advisory programme run by Reliance Foundation at Kuruan village. Their mobile-based livelihood advisory, helped Ramakrishna in receiving season-based livelihood advice and he began using weather forecasting for his crop, pest, livestock health and disease management.
There was a marked improvement in his groundnut and bitter gourd cultivation. He also learnt the use of decomposed organic manure and now he is growing vegetables organically. They fetch him a good price at a faster rate.
He has also started growing vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, brinjal, chilly, cow pea and beans and is raising 50 goats.
