Even whereas working for a multi-national automotive manufacturing firm, Kottayam-native Mathewkutty Tom’s want was to affix his household in their farming enterprise. After spending three years in international automotive corporations, he shifted to his hometown and took cost of the farmland, which was beforehand run by his father.
“I took this as a problem as a result of I actually needed to do farming. I had a burning want to maintain my household’s legacy of farming. My dad and mom have been glad to again this resolution, which enhanced my confidence,” says Mathewkutty to The Higher India.
It has been seven years since he took up full time farming. He says that probably the most obvious situation he has noticed throughout this era is that conventional farmers are sometimes exploited by middlemen.
When he left his job in 2014 and opted for agriculture, Mathewkutty knew nothing about this downside. However when he started farming on the 18-acre ancestral land in Pala, he was unable to make any huge income within the first two years.
“I began by persevering with the current cultivation of paddy, banana and some each day greens. However quickly, issues emerged to find labourers, in addition to advertising and promoting. When the produce was taken to the market, the demand and worth have been too low,” he remembers.
Among the many produce on his farm have been coconut, arecanut, nutmeg, tubers and different greens, in addition to fruits together with jackfruit, mango, papaya, rambutan and mangosteen. “I used natural fertilisers and the produce was of excellent high quality. However market charges are at all times low and one share is taken by the middlemen,” he says.
“This leaves us with nothing besides the price and losses to bear. Being an MBA graduate, I considered incorporating some enterprise strategies and changing into an agripreneur as a substitute of a conventional farmer.”
A thriving farm
The 32-year-old opted for built-in or combined farming — rising crops and breeding animals on one farm, allowing wider crop rotations, and utilizing the waste of 1 produce as meals for one more.
As an illustration, as a substitute of planting 1,000 saplings of brinjal alone, Mathewkutty started rising 200 saplings of 5 completely different greens.
TJT Farm now produces and sells virtually all kinds of greens and fruits, in addition to decorative fish and birds. Mathewkutty designed the 18-acre plot by offering sufficient area for all crops. “I constructed 5 ponds on the farm to breed a number of kinds of fishes. I additionally arrange a separate pet retailer the place rabbits, decorative birds and fish are offered,” he says.
Commercial
He additionally grows seasonal greens and unique fruits, from and he earns upto Rs 5 lakh by promoting a mean of two tonnes of produce monthly, he says. The produce is especially offered on to clients by his retailer within the locality, or delivered at dwelling.
“The crops have market as they’re grown organically utilizing in-house fertilisers and pesticides constituted of the excreta of animals bred on the farm. We additionally take huge orders for any explicit occasions or events,” shares the agripreneur.
The best benefit of this built-in farming mannequin, he says, is the utilisation of waste.
For instance, the excreta of duck, goat, buffalo and hen is a wonderful manure for crops, he says. Mathewkutty even sells this for manure individually. “I cost Rs 2.5 to Rs 8 per kg for excreta of hen, pig, goat and buffalo. Farmers are my main clients. City terrace gardeners additionally contact me for buying them,” he says. This comes as a further earnings and ensures that the crops are grown organically.
Animal waste can also be utilized in a biogas plant situated contained in the farm. This covers your complete household’s and processing unit’s LPG wants all year long. “The truth is, on the finish of the day, completely no waste stays on the farm. We clear it each day and guarantee correct hygiene and well being of the animals.”
The fodder for a lot of the animals can also be grown in a half-acre area contained in the farm. This helps reduce down prices, he says.
TJT can also be teeming with unique fruits like rambutan and mangosteen. “There are 300 jackfruit bushes on the farm, that are round three years previous,” he provides. Moreover, there’s mango, papaya, nutmeg, cashew, ardour fruit and extra.
Mathewkutty’s effort in constructing a profitable farm has been recognised twice by the state authorities. He acquired the Younger Farmer Award of the Kerala authorities in 2015 and Younger Farmer Award of the Kerala State Animal Husbandry Division in 2022.
He says, “A great variety of farmers are leaving the sphere in the hunt for higher earnings and alternatives. However we can not deny the truth that farming is an integral a part of the economic system and fundamental want for survival. As a substitute of sticking to conventional farming strategies and tolerating the exploitation of middlemen, it’s higher to start out your individual ventures. This would possibly want a bit extra funding and energy however in the long term, success is assured. I hope extra kids step up into the sphere with out hesitation and train new methods of getting agriculture completed.”
Edited by Divya Sethu; Photograph Credit: Mathewkutty Tom