Vijayapura: Basavaraj R Choukimath served in the police department for 38 years and retired as a DSP. He could have led a restful life on his pension. Instead, he ventured into horticulture , considered a strenuous activity, often resulting in a loss of investment.
Choukimath told TOI that he hired a wasteland of half an acre owned by his cousin BR Nandegolmath in Kavalagi, about 10 km from the city. “To make this land fit for horticulture, we used 50 trucks of soil and 25 tractors of fertiliser. We bought saplings from Bengaluru and sought consultation from Santosh Biradar, an expert in erecting a polyhouse on the land.
As capsicum is a herb, we planted 4,600 saplings at a distance of 1.5 feet. We put drip pipes between these lines to provide water to saplings.
As we provided the required fertiliser and controlled the weather effectively, capsicum nuts came out well. They are green in the beginning and then they turn red and yellow,” he shared. He further said: “Capsicum is a nine-month crop, and we planted it 3 months ago.
Now yellow and red capsicums are ready for harvest. The average weight of nuts is 200-250 grams. In the first harvest, we got eight quintals of capsicum and sold them at Rs 100 per kg to Goa market.
We are sending two more yields this week. We are expecting 12-14 tonnes of yield in the next six months.”.
When asked why he chose capsicum, he said he wanted to keep himself active after retirement. “Secondly, I wanted to sensitise farmers on profit-making crops. Currently, 5 labourers are working on the farm, and we keep 24x7 observation on the crop.
Prices of other vegetables may fluctuate but the price of coloured capsicum is steady in the market. As it is enriched with vitamin C and A, it is being used in modern eateries for pizzas and burgers and at luxury hotels of megacities,” he stated. Choukimath said he has requested horticulture officials to utilise his farm as a demo plot to educate other farmers.
“Many farmers are visiting our farm and seeking details on our crop and activities,” he said. We also published the following articles recently Prime Minister Modi releases 109 new varieties of crops, suggests farm experts to engage with farmers Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 109 new high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified crop varieties across 61 crops. Modi suggested Krishi Vigyan Kendras should proactively inform farmers about these varieties to increase yield and income.
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