Direct employment of 12 thousand 084 human days to 402 families from the project, horticulture expansion to increase farmers’ income.
Raipur. 01 September 2020. You must hear the name of the children’s school everyday. Today we are providing you with a nursery where 17 different types of fruit trees are being developed. These plants which are giving high yield of good quality fruits are being distributed to the farmers. In the last two and a half years, one lakh 69 thousand saplings prepared in this nursery have been given to farmers for horticultural expansion. In a few years, these fruitful plants will become a strong resource for additional income of farmers.
In convergence of MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, nurseries are being operated in an area of 15 acres in Bhalsar village of Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district. A fruit garden has also been prepared there. Scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra have prepared mother tree of 17 varieties of fruits with hard work of five years. Plants prepared from these trees will produce more fruits due to being genetically and physically pure and healthy. This will provide a good opportunity for farmers to increase their income. In the last five years, 402 families have got direct employment of 12 thousand 084 man-days in the last five years, for which they have been paid a total wage of Rs 20 lakh 18 thousand.
The Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mahasamund started this nursery and fruit plant at a cost of Rs 34 lakh nine thousand with the employment of MNREGA workers five years ago. The barren land was made useable for years by identifying undesirable shrubs, filling pits and leveling of 15 acres of land at Bhalesar in Mahasamund development block. A year later, in the second phase of this project, lay-outs for planting of horticultural plants were dug out. Adopting the scientific method, the pits were dug in such a way that the distance between the two plants as well as the distance between the two queues was five meters. All pits were excavated for planting with the criteria of one meter length, one meter width and one meter depth, so that even after growing the plants, their roots can get enough space to grow underground. After this, dung manure, soil, sand and other suitable fertilizers were mixed and filled, so that essential nutrients could be available to the plants.
The Krishi Vigyan Kendra divided the entire region into 15 parts to prepare an advanced nursery and planted different fruit species. Plants of Pomegranate, Guava, Lemon, Sitaphal, Ber, Munga, Fig, Chiku, Mango, Jamun, Jackfruit, Amla, Bell, Orange, Karaunda, Lassoda and Tamarind were planted. In the third phase of the project, regular sowing of planted plants was carried out in the next two years. For good growth of plants, they were also harvested from time to time so that sunlight could reach every part of the tree well. Pesticide medicines were also sprayed periodically to prevent outbreaks of pests.
Dr. Satish Verma, Principal Scientist of the Center for Agricultural Sciences associated with the project, told that from the year 2018-19, advanced varieties of plants are being made available to the farmers from the mother trees. With the help of MGNREGA workers, high quality fruit plants are being produced through processes like goat pressure, cutting, grafting and seeds. He informed that a convergence of Rs 14 lakh has been received with MNREGA in the nursery from non-recurring and recurring items of Krishi Vigyan Kendra. With this amount, fencing, bore mining, pump installation, power system, cow dung manure and fertilizers along with other horticulture works have been carried out by the region’s cement poles and chain-links.
In the last two and a half years, one lakh 68 thousand 897 saplings have been distributed to 18 thousand 210 farmers from the nursery. 62 thousand 700 saplings have been provided to 4793 farmers in the year 2018-19, one lakh one thousand one hundred to 13 thousand 072 farmers in 2019-20 and 5097 saplings to 345 farmers so far in the current financial year. Fruitful saplings have also been planted in eight Gothans of the district. Among them, three varieties of guava, Allahabadabad Safeda, Lucknow-49 and Lalit, Saffron variety of pomegranate, Konkan Lemon variety of lemon, Konkan orange variety of orange, PKM-1 variety of Munga, Poona selection variety of fig, Karaunda The green-pink variety and mango Indira Nandiraj, Amrapali and Mallika varieties are included.
Scientist Dr. Verma says that for the smooth functioning of the mother tree project, inter-crop crops are being taken among the queues of fruit trees planted here. Under this, sesame, moong and urad are cultivated in kharif season and barbatti, tomato, brinjal and pumpkin class vegetables are being cultivated in Rabi season. With the amount of their sale, the project will be extended in the current current financial year 2020-21 and also in the following years. Set up with the convergence of MNREGA and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, this nursery will act as an ideal demonstration unit for the farmers in the coming time to get fruit cultivation and to know about its advanced techniques. This will pave the way for more and more farmers to double their income from fruit farming.
