ACHIEVING SUCCESS THROUGH FLORICULTURE

I’m Gurwinder Singh Sohi and I’m living with my family in Nanowal Village of District Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab). Farming is my ancestral occupation. I stepped into the field of farming after completing my 12th standard when I wasn’t able to crack Punjab JET exam. From the beginning, I was clear that I’m not going to do Wheat-Paddy cultivation as my elders were doing. So, I started with mushroom farming but it was not that successful, soon after that I setup my own sweet shop in the nearby town- Khamanon. But that business also didn’t go well, so I took up the profession of horse breeding and later on I shifted my profession to jeep customizing.

After leaving all these jobs, in 2008, I heard the news that Punjab Horticulture Department is giving subsidy on Holland Gladiolas Seeds, so I thought of giving it a try. I started growing Gladiolas in 2 Kanals and gradually started adding more acres under the same flower. I started getting a good price of the produce than the local variety of flower and my revenue also got increased. Today, I grow flowers on 15 acres i.e. 12 acres gladiolus and 3 acres marigold.

As gladiolus is harvested within 7-8 months after sowing, so I also started growing moong bean and Black Gram in the same fields to maintain soil fertility. After this, I grow paddy in those fields. In this way, I get 3 crops from one acre and I earn well.

I have also made a Friends Farmers Welfare Club with 12 young farmer members of my village. The membership fee for the club is Rs 5000. After every 6 months we buy an agriculture machinery from the collected money. Currently, the club has 4 power sprayers, rotavator, speed drill, disc harrow, and reaper. The machines are only used by the club members and every month a club meeting is organized by the members.

Recently we have also started a company named as Akal Farmers Producer Company Limited, where we pack and sell all the crops produced by the farmers. We have 20 types of products like moong bean, black gram, chickpea, honey, kidney beans, mustard oil, turmeric, 4 types of flour, Squashes, Garam Masala, Lassi Masala etc. We have also opened a shop in our village for selling our products and due to this, the income of farmers has increased. We also do home delivery for these products in Chandigarh and Mohali. Our products are also sold in Kisan Mandi’s of Chandigarh and Mohali by club members. I also sell Tea under brand name Ekam by purchasing tea from Assam.

I have also established a vermin-compost Plant at my farm and I’m also doing organic farming on 1 acre of land.

I generally use happy seeder and DSR technique for wheat and paddy sowing. I generally prefer to sow crops in such a way so that I can make profit from it throughout the year. Besides this, I also organize farming, Horticulture and KVK camps on my farm to motivate other farmers.

Farmers should work in unity by making small groups because buying and using farming machinery in this way is easy. By using machines in a group reduces the expenditure resulting into a profitable venture. I’m also doing the same, I have also made a group in which we buy machines by the group names and all the members of the group can use it.