E-Paper
Farmers of Hamirpur’s Chaleli village cash in on crop diversification
The farmers of Chaleli village in the district’s Bijheri developmental block have amplified their annual income by growing cash crops under the Himachal Pradesh
The farmers of Chaleli village in the district’s Bijheri developmental block have amplified their annual income by growing cash crops under the Himachal Pradesh Crop Diversification Incentive Project, being run with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Due to harsh weather conditions, lack of irrigation facilities and low yields, many such cultivators who had been growing wheat and maize growers for generations were on the verge of quitting farming. However, crop diversification brought hope for them.
Under this project, about 9.58-hectare farming land was brought under irrigation at a cost of Rs 46 lakh in the village. Besides this, 35 farmers were provided power tillers, power weeders, garlic planters and other modern agricultural implements through JICA and trained by agricultural experts.
Farmers including Raj Kumar, Saravan Kumar and Nikkaram, Sanjeev Kumar have set an example in vegetable production with the help of the JICA project. They are now planting cucumber, bitter gourd, okra, tomatoes and other vegetables along with traditional crops during the kharif season, while peas, radishes, potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables are sown during the rabi season.
JICA project director Dr Vinod Kumar Sharma said that due to the diversification, the production of food crops has increased to 28 quintals per hectare and vegetable production to 190 quintals per hectare in the kharif season in Chaleli village.
Similarly, for the rabi season, the yield of food grains is 26 quintals per hectare while the vegetable production is 160 quintals per hectare. Sharma said that the annual income per hectare of Chaleli farmers has increased from Rs 74,500 to over Rs 3 lakh, nearly a five-time rise.
