Rahul Kumar Sahu from Amla Tehsil of Betul district, Madhya Pradesh is owner of the brand Sahu Vegetables farm. He describes himself as a 29 years old small landholder. At the age of 22 he started farming by planting onions over 1 acre, next he planted cabbage. He grows organic vegetables and he grows brinjals, tomatoes, cabbages and peas.
The problems that he faced in the initial years were not getting correct prices for his produce, low production in the farm or loss of crops due to disease or inadequate storage. He faced these problems initially but over the last four years there have not been any such issues. With experience he has learnt how to solve problems and how to avoid them.
Rates of vegetables fluctuate and at the moment tomatoes cost Rs 2 per Kg, which is very low. Even though you get low income you must not stop farming of these items. There may be low phases in terms of income but there will be better periods as well. These highs and lows must not affect your farming and you should focus on producing quality crops.
There is no guaranteed profit or loss formula. As an example he selects his cabbage crops to explain what he means. He has planted cabbage 12 times in last 7 years. First 7 times he used rotavator on cabbages to destroy the crops as they fetched very low value, but last year the cabbages fetched Rs 12 to Rs 15. This has happened 5 times and he has been able to cover the losses that occurred the first 7 times.
2 to 3 continuous losses deject the farmers and in frustration they turn to other crops. He suggests to these farmers not to give up and to improve the quality and productivity of their crops. He said you will be able to cover every penny of your losses by improving your product and marketing it intelligently.
He said if you farm a new crop or have just started farming, farm on a small scale. If your crops are successful only then slowly increase the scale at which you are farming. If you invest heavily initially, you may get big losses which you will find hard to recover, so invest wisely.
You must farm modern ways with drips and mulching. He said the farming methods passed on to us though generations are not necessarily accurate. Some believe in charts and grow one product now and others later. Rahul believes there is no such fixed timings or cycles which when followed will give you good results. You need to be practical, learn through experience and react quickly to any situations.
He said the way we plan our daily activities from sunrise to sunset, you need to plan your farming accordingly. When to sow, when to irrigate, when to spray, when to harvest all this must be pre-planned. You should know what to do at what day. To improve as a farmer you will have to focus and work hard. You will need to pay attention to your plants to observe their conditions and requirements.
Rahul said there is a lot to be learnt from these plants, the way they grow from seeds, the way they flower, so you must observe them very carefully. Your day as a farmer doesn't stop at 6 in the evening, after sunset you have to observe the insects or other things that are affecting your carefully sown and growing plants. There are things that you won't see in the daytime. You will learn with time and experience.
He finally suggests to the farmers that they should not worry about profits or losses and just look after their crops and produce quality crops. Hard work always pays well so even if you invest say Rs 25,000 and sell at Rs 2 per Kg, still you will get your money back even though you didn't get paid for your work. To watch Rahul speak watch him in the group video by clicking here.
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