IE : Farmer uses grated coconut to save seedlings that power crisis kills : Oct 24,2007
Farmer uses grated coconut to save seedlings that power crisis kills
Harivijay Kanchan’s innovation helps farmers keep young crops alive when electricity plays truant and water pumps do not function
PIA CHANDAVARKAR
OCTOBER 22
T HE thought of planting a seedling in grated coconut instead of soil may sound odd. But for farmer-turned-entrepreneur Harivijay Kanchan, it turned out to be a novel idea that is a profitable venture and a boon for over 1,500 farmers in energystarved Maharashtra.
For many farmers, the loss of crop seedlings has become cause for concern, as they are unable to immediately transfer seedlings to the fields due to power cuts and inability to operate water pumps which causes the seedlings to perish after they have been uprooted from the soil. Even if the seedlings are successfully transplanted, it takes eight full days for them to take root and begin to grow again.
Kanchan, an agriculture graduate, faced a similar problem on his two-acre farm at Urali Kanchan on the outskirts of Pune. His family was suffering huge losses to the tomato crop due to loss of seedlings. Instead of giving in, he decided to put to the test an old idea he had while studying at Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth in Rahuri. “I had thought of it a long time ago, but it remained dormant as I worked on the farm for nearly eight years after I graduated,” said Kanchan.
The innovation seems simple enough: A 1.5-inch plastic cavity is filled with finely grated coconut, into which the seedling is planted along with a chemical specially developed by Kanchan.
“The cavity needs to be watered only once a day. The coconut fibre keeps the moisture intact, and the chemical stimulates prolific spreading of the root through the fibre. Thus when the seedling is removed, it remains alive for a longer period of time,” explained Kanchan.
Trays with several such cavities can be purchased by the farmers at Rs 80 per tray of 100 seedlings and stored for long periods. “Moreover, since the seedling that is transferred to the field is not dead, it grows out very fast, whereas an or dinary seedling takes eight days. This boosts farm production,” Kanchan said.
After a series of experiments on seedlings in his own farm, the 30year-old finally decided to kickstart his long-pending dream of becoming an entrepreneur, and started his own enterprise a year ago.
Apart from his own investment of Rs 1 lakh, he also received a loan from the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, a Delhi-based organisation that supports grassroots-level entrepreneurial ventures.
The idea was not accepted initially by the farmers. “But once they were convinced of the benefits such a method could have on their pro ductivity, they began to take small orders on a trial basis,” said Kanchan.
Today, Kanchan has a regular and growing clientele of over 1,500 farmers from Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Pune.
From trial orders of just 200 saplings initially, Kanchan now receives bulk orders for as many as 10,000 saplings at a time.
Kanchan currently runs his business in a half-hectare shed and develops seedling varieties of tomatoes, brinjal, capsicum, cucumber, watermelon, papaya and chilies. With an annual turnover of just Rs 11 lakh, Kanchan now wants to set up a polyhouse.
Publication : IE; Section : National; Pg : 2; Date : 24/10/07
URL : http://70.86.150.130/indianexpress/ArticleText.aspx?article=23_10_2007_581_013