Bhawanipatna: At a time when educated young men prefer to migrate to other places in search of jobs, an educated young farmer from western Odisha has made a fortune for himself by taking up agriculture.
Tankadhar Nayak (31) from Dumermunda village under Bikamara panchayat of Kalampur block in Kalahandi district not only has made money from his chosen vocation, but also he has received accolades and recognition.
After completing his studies, he was not attracted by the allure of a job and expressed his desire to work as a farmer. He chose agriculture over everything else as his career.
Before 30 years, the farmers of Dharmagarh locality used to suffer from water shortage for agriculture. However, Indrabati irrigation project has addressed this challenge to a large degree. Tankadhar wanted to make the most out of this change.
“I was inspired by looking at the farmers earning their livelihood through agriculture. That is why I decided to make farming my vocation,” says Tankadhar.
After completion of his studies, he started working in the field and cultivated paddy in the initial stage. However, he couldn’t make much money from it. This forced him to move to cash crops such as banana, onion, cauliflower, beans, brinjal and cowpeas. These apart, he also does fish farming in a nearby pond.
Every day, nearby greengrocers come to his field to buy fresh vegetables.
“Vegetable farming is more profitable than that of paddy cultivation,” says Tankadhar. All that hard work has been kind to him as he makes decent profits from the cultivation, he claims.
PNN
