Odisha Farmer Realises His Dream With Expert Advice

Being a student of science he always tries to implement the rules of science and technology in agriculture. Dibyaprakash, 25, of Village Aniapal, Block Koliana, Mayurbhanj, inherited farming as a livelihood from his father, Pratap Chandra Dey.

His family of three lives in a village situated on the bank of a river. He owns eight acres of land. On four acres, he cultivates paddy and vegetables like ladies finger, coccinia, pointed gourd, cucumber, ridge gourd during Kharif. In Rabi, he grows vegetables like brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, onion and sweet corn on two acres. His father used to follow the traditional methods of cultivation but there were issues of low production, low yield, and low income also. Dibyaprakash wanted to use advanced technology and become an agriculture entrepreneur in the future.

One day, he came across a promotion poster of Reliance Foundation, which also had the helpline number 1800-419-8800 printed on it. He jumped at the opportunity and dialled the number for agricultural advisory. It has been three years since then and he still relies on advice from RF experts. He asks them about the disease to his onion crop.

“They advised me to apply Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid alternatively. Then I knew that the local pesticide dealer has given me the wrong medicine. After applying the prescribed medicine suggested by experts the aphid and sucking pest attack was cleared. Then I came to the conclusion that taking advice from old farmers or from local pesticides vendors is giving me low yield and loss and putting me to bear extra expenditure,” said the young farmer.

“Now I take regular advice from experts of Relianceame  Foundation on irrigation management, fertilizer management, pest and disease management for my crops,” he added. 

Dibyaprakash said that the advice of RF experts has never gone wrong. Now, even his fellow villagers have started asking him for remedies to save their crops. Dibyaprakash helps them by connecting them with RF experts so that they can transform themselves for the better by following modern farming practices.

Earlier, Divyaprakash’s paddy harvest was 20 quintal but this year, applying all the advisories in paddy and vegetable cultivation, he has earned a good harvest and good profit also. “I have sold 16 quintals of paddy out of 24 quintals of production. From vegetables, I have got Rs. 60,000 in Kharif and Rs. 40,000 in Rabi season as profit,” he added. 

“I hope their technical guidance will empower me to become an entrepreneur in the future,” said the young farmer.