DANGARPADA (SAMBALPUR) : He is an inspiration for youths shying away from agriculture. Thirtysix-year-old Ayaskant Badpanda of Dangarpada village under Jujumura block of the district has turned 50 acres of agriculture land into a profitable integrated-farming model for others to emulate.
Ayaskant grows paddy, vegetables and fruits besides undertaking poultry farming and pisciculture. This season, he has cultivated vegetables like potala (pointed gourd) in two acres, potato in three acres and chilly in half an acre of land.
He has also planted watermelons in five acres and banana in half an acre.
While Ayaskant owns five acres of land, he has taken the remaining 45 acres on lease from fellow villagers. Only during kharif season, he grows paddy in the entire 50 acres as the village depends on monsoon for paddy cultivation.
A Matriculate, Ayaskant said he earns around `7,000 per acre from paddy cultivation in the land owned by him while he gets about `3,000 per acre from the land taken on lease during kharif season. Apart from paddy, vegetables and fruits, he generates around `1.2 lakh annually from poultry farming and about `50,000 annually from pisciculture in the tank spread over one acre. Altogether, his annual income from farming comes to about `7 lakh.
Ayaskant was attracted towards farming at the age of 16 years and learnt the nuances from his father Nirakar Badpanda.
He said his father was cultivating paddy in five acres besides potala and watermelon in half-an-acre each. However, he started farming independently in 2001 with cultivation of paddy in five acres besides potala and watermelon in one acre each. At present, he has engaged 20 labourers who work in his farm land throughout the year.
He draws water from lift irrigation project set up on the banks of Bhutel nullah passing through the village besides a deep borewell for cultivation of vegetables and fruits. He had procured a tractor, a power tiller and dug up the borewell with support from National Horticulture Mission.
Selling the farm produce has never been a problem for Ayaskant. His fresh vegetables and fruits are much in demand among people and traders, who often come to his village to procure his produce. He also sells vegetables and fruits at Golebazaar, the main vegetable market in Sambalpur, situated at a distance of about 25 km from the village.