A farmer in Kilenjaru village of Kuppepadavu Gram Panchayat jurisdiction in Mangaluru taluk has scripted a success story by encashing on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to get maximum returns from his 15-acre land.
Sadashiva Kuppepadavu is a banker-turned-farmer. Having worked in a private bank for 14 years, he realised that his true calling was farming. Sadashiva realised that government schemes were meant for uplifting the livelihood in rural areas, so he constructed a poultry shed utilising funds under the MGNREGS.
Sadashiva now rears 3,200 chicken on the poultry farm. The chicks supplied by the poultry industry are reared for 45 days before being supplied back to the firm, explains Sadashiva.
He next constructed a goat shed by making use of facilities under the MGNREGS. At present, there are eight goats of Rajasthan Sirohi and Punjabi Beetal breed. The young Punjabi Beetal fetches a good price. There is a good demand for goats.
“I’m planning to rear Jamnapari species of goat. The goat shed can accommodate 50 goats,” he said.
Below the goat shed, he is planning to rear ‘Naati Koli’ (a traditional breed of chicken).
Traditional breed
Under the MGNREGS, he planted 100 ‘Gendali’ varieties of coconuts this year. In the space between the coconut saplings, he planted banana, papaya, brinjal, ridge gourd, ivy gourd and bottle gourd.
“Youth should engage in farming as it helps lead a life of contentment. After I developed a poultry farm and started rearing goats, many youths visited my farm to collect details about the scheme. MGNREGS is a good scheme to supplement the income of the farmers,” he said.
As he stays in a joint family, a majority of the work related to farming is carried out by family members, while the rest is undertaken by three labourers.
The much-needed organic manure comes from the rearing of chicken, cows and goats. He has also planted the Napier variety of grass.
Now, Sadashiva is planning to construct a cowshed and a soak pit for the new house under construction. He aims to expand apiculture, and plant areca nuts on a portion of the land using the MGNREGS facilities. Further, he is also planning to engage in pisciculture by making use of an available pond.
The farmer also had dug two farm ponds under the MGNREGA scheme. He utilised the lockdown period to clean the areca nut garden and add manure with the help of labourers from Jharkhand.
“We never realised that there was a lockdown as we were busy on our farm,” Sadashiva said.
He also engages himself in paddy cultivation spread over an acre of land. Further, he has recharged a defunct borewell in his farm using rainwater.