In dry Rajasthan, former nationwide service commando Mukesh Maanjoo has created a lush inexperienced farm with tasty date bushes. Utilizing rainwater harvesting to assist the farm’s irrigation wants, he earned Rs 12 lakh by promoting these organically-grown recent dates.
Over the many years, India has cherished dates for its excessive supply of vitamins. One of the crucial nutritious dietary supplements to a weight-reduction plan, dates are filled with antioxidants and assist wholesome bowel motion, even lowering the danger of most cancers.
The truth is, throughout Ramadan, khajoor or dates are used to interrupt the quick that observers preserve, thereby turning into a family staple.
However do you know that India’s date consumption necessities are met by different international locations?
The biggest exporters of dates to India are Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. Information additionally suggests India imports 38 p.c of the world’s manufacturing of date palm.
Practically a decade again when Rajasthan’s Mukesh Maanjoo, a former Nationwide Safety Guard (NSG), caught on to this truth, he was disheartened. “The weather conditions of each Pakistan and India are the identical, so why don’t we domesticate dates ourselves? We must always lose a number of the dependency on different international locations,” he tells The Higher India.
Believing this as his patriotic responsibility, he determined to domesticate dates in Pilani. Final season, Mukesh harvested 5 tonnes of natural dates which earned him an enormous earnings of Rs 12 lakh. Right here’s his story.
From commando to farmer
Earlier than taking over date farming, Mukesh labored as a commando on the Indira Gandhi Worldwide Airport in New Delhi for 15 years. He specialised in counter-hijack operations to safeguard individuals. In 2018, he took voluntary retirement from the NSG companies.
“As a part of my work, I received a possibility to go to 20 international locations. On my means from the airports to motels, I might spare a while to go to close by farms and find out about their applied sciences,” he says.
“Agriculture is in my DNA,” he laughs, including, “I’ve seen my father and grandfathers develop crops. However like them, I didn’t wish to develop conventional crops like mustard, wheat, and grams. I needed to attempt new applied sciences. Subsequently, I used to be searching for crops that required much less water to develop in our dry area of Rajasthan.”
Whereas working as a commando, Mukesh had already began getting ready himself to take up farming. However in 2018, he was compelled to return to his village after his father was recognized with most cancers. “Six months later, my father misplaced his life to the illness. His final recommendation to me was to take up date farming for a worthwhile farming enterprise,” he remembers.
Afterward, he undertook a 3-day coaching programme on the Centre of Excellence for Date Palm at Sagra-Bhojka within the Jaisalmer district. At the moment, the state authorities was selling date cultivation in Rajasthan by distributing subsidised date palm saplings to farmers.
Mukesh procured 250 date palm seeds of yellow-coloured Barhi and red-coloured Khuneji varieties and planted them on his farmland. It took 4 years earlier than he noticed the primary fruit on the date palm.
‘I develop cash on bushes’
Mukesh factors out that rising dates have been extraordinarily fruitful as each Barhi and Khuneji varieties give excessive yields in low upkeep and have decrease mortality charges as effectively.
“Should you plant say 100 bushes, then solely 1-2 will die. The remaining bushes will survive and proceed to yield for 80 years. In addition to, as soon as the seeds are sown, we’re solely required to supply natural manures like cow and goat dung. Yearly, I simply add 150 kg of manure to 1 tree,” he says.
“Being sturdy, the date palms don’t appeal to any pests and illnesses, so there are hardly any enter prices. All they require is water for irrigation, manure, and safety from birds, which might eat the fruit. So, I wrap a internet across the date bunches,” he shares.
Aside from this, Mukesh mentions that dates require handbook pollination. “The female and male species in date palms develop as separate bushes. The males produce pollen from flowers and require handbook pollination with females which bear fruits. For each 100 feminine crops, you want 4-6 male crops,” he provides.
After the flowering season in February, these fruit varieties ripen earlier than monsoon and the produce is harvested by June-July yearly.
Apparently, Mukesh has additionally created a pond the place he harvests as much as 3 lakh litres of rainwater. “This rainwater is an elixir for our dates because it comprises vitamins like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and way more. This additionally helps me save 20-25 p.c on irrigation within the dry area. Moreover, I take advantage of drip irrigation that takes water on to the roots by way of pipes and minimises water wastage,” he says.
With date cultivation, he says any farmer can earn as much as Rs 6 lakh per acre. “Not less than 60 date palms could be planted in an acre and as much as Rs 10,000 could be earned from every tree. About 250 kg of fruits could be harvested from one tree,” says Mukesh, who has 250 date palms and earned Rs 12 lakh within the final season.
He sells all his produce to about 120 customers based mostly in Gurugram, Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh, and Jaipur.
Up to now 5 years, he has acquired immense recognition on the state and district ranges for rising dates organically. In 2018, he was felicitated for the promotion of indigenous breeds of cows for natural farming on the district stage beneath the Agricultural Know-how Administration Company (ATMA) scheme in 2019.
For his work on date farming, Rajasthan’s agriculture minister Lalchand Kataria introduced him with an award in 2020, adopted by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot in 2021.
Greater than the popularity, Mukesh says he’s blessed to guide a peaceable rural life on the farm. “I keep in mind individuals would say, paisa ped me thode laagey hai (cash doesn’t develop on bushes). I needed to show this saying flawed. You possibly can harvest cash from bushes in case you observe the appropriate farming strategies and domesticate the appropriate crops,” he smiles.
Supply:
Plantation of Date Palms has modified fortune of farmers in Barmer: By Indian Council of Agricultural Analysis (ICAR).
Edited by Padmashree Pande. All images: Mukesh Maanjoo.