Bhawanipatna: A youth working as a software engineer in Bangalore has found fulfillment in vegetable cultivation after he was forced to return home due to Covid-19 induced lockdown, a report said. Arabind Patra, a software engineer and a native of Tarnja village under Dharmagarh block in Kalahandi district, had to return home after lockdown was enforced in the whole country due to spread of the pandemic.
Patra, after returning home, is now doing his office work from home over last eight months and is devoting the rest of the time on cultivation.
Braving hardships, he has been able to grow chilies, cauliflower, tomato, brinjal and other vegetable on his three acre farmland which was earlier lying abandoned. He has become a successful farmer in the area and is an example for others to emulate.
Reports said he was hit hard by the pandemic. However, that did not deter him from achieving his goal. He decided to give a try to cultivation on which he had never laid his hand as the majority of his time was devoted to studies and later his job.
Farming of various types of crops has given him a decent earning which has raised hopes among others in the area to try their hands in cultivation.
He earns around Rs 30,000 per month by selling vegetables. Patra is not the only person to benefit from the cultivation but has been able to provide livelihood to seven to eight persons in the village by engaging them on his farmland. This has given them a sense of relief and has improved their financial condition when people are struggling with job loss.
Patra plans to return to his workplace soon after improvement in condition for which he has delegated the charge of his farmland to some of his family members. However, when necessary he will personally visit the village and take care of his cultivation.
PNN
