After operating as a mission scientist in ISRO, Professor Divakar Channappa left town existence in Bengaluru and became to farming. In a bid to develop one thing distinctive, he quickly was one of the most first farmers to begin natural date cultivation in Karnataka.
Born into an agricultural circle of relatives in rural Karnataka, Divakar Channappa’s father at all times sought after him to excel in existence however clear of his farming roots.
Hailing from a small village Begur, Divakar recollects, “Our village misplaced its life with an unheard of enlargement of Bangalore town. With this, farming was unprofitable for us. My father used to be pressured to shop for land round 100 km clear of town to proceed farming. He by no means allow us to consult with the land as he sought after us to transport to Bangalore for higher training.”
Divakar, who went directly to change into a mission scientist with ISRO, remained totally disconnected from his farming roots till 2009 when his father suffered a stroke that left him paralysed. This is when Diwakar selected to transport to his village.
“Within the first 12 months I spent with my father, I understood that I didn’t want to lead town existence. All the way through the similar time, I came about to learn a ebook known as ‘One Straw Revolution’ through a Jap farmer Masanobu Fukuoka. At the fourth day of studying the ebook, I amassed the braveness to visit the farm that my father stored hidden from us,” says the 46-year-old.
Quickly after, Divakar became to farming and not regarded again. His adventure led him to transition from cultivating native plants to rising dates, a barren region crop, in Karnataka! He lately earns Rs 6 lakh in keeping with acre.
Discovering his existence’s calling
After finishing his upper training in social paintings, Divakar labored with a number of non-profit organisations and used to be a visiting school at Tumkuru College. In 2008, he were given a chance to paintings as a mission scientist for a social building mission with ISRO (Indian House Analysis Organisation) in Bengaluru.
After his father’s stroke, he hand over his activity and town existence to transport to his village and change into a farmer. “Greater than someone, my in-laws had been very disillusioned about my resolution. They’d were given their daughter married to an individual who used to be a professor and labored with ISRO. They had been disenchanted with me. However I had understood my existence’s calling,” he says.
First of all, Divakar cultivated plants like ragi (millets), tur dal (pigeon pea), and corns like native farmers. For this, he invested about Rs 22,000 and earned Rs 33,000 — a cash in of Rs 11,000 — extraordinarily much less income in comparison to the former works.
“That is when my mom jogged my memory why my father didn’t want a farming occupation for me. She jogged my memory of the obligations of my new child daughter and mentioned I had established an identification for myself within the town however I perceived to lose all of it on account of farming. This troubled me for a very long time,” he says.
In a bid to face out within the farming crowd, Divakar sought after to develop a singular crop. So, he became to cultivating dates — a crop grown within the scorching barren region of nations like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Oman.
Cultivating a barren region crop in Karnataka
Prior to taking over date cultivation, Divakar remembered assembly a date farmer on the Krishi Mela organised in Bengaluru. “This farmer from Tamil Nadu used to be distributing leaflets on develop dates in India. Again then, I had mocked him asking how a barren region fruit may develop on this a part of the rustic?”
It took Divakar six months to track the farmer. He went to Tamil Nadu to be told the nitty-gritty of date farming. “This farmer have been effectively rising dates there. Because the climatic prerequisites of our villages had been relatively identical, I determined to domesticate dates too,” he says.
“This can be a false impression that one may develop dates simplest in barren region prerequisites. All {that a} date tree wishes is a large number of moisture and abundant daylight. One calls for 40-45 levels excellent temperature however our area will get a most of 38 levels temperature in summer season,” he provides.
Anyway, Divakar went forward and acquired 150 saplings for Rs 3,000 each and every. It value him a hefty preliminary funding of Rs 4.5 lakh. “For the reason that the saplings had been pricey and I needed to develop them with out barren region prerequisites invited a large number of questions. Folks laughed at me and requested if I meant to create a barren region on my farm,” recollects Divakar.
To develop dates, the farmer dug 2×2 toes pits in his farm and added river sand. He nourished it with neem and castor cake, vermicompost, and panchgavya prior to planting the saplings.
Whilst different farmers stored on with their conventional plants, Divakar didn’t get any yield. “No one believed me each time I advised them those had been date timber. I used to be also known as a idiot and requested a number of questions. I had no solutions to them,” he says.
It used to be simplest after 4 and a part years that Divakar noticed the primary flowering; his pleasure knew no bounds. First of all, he used to be in a position to extract 800 kg of dates from his 2.5-acre farm. Nowadays, he will get as much as 5 tonnes of produce. Priced at Rs 375 in keeping with kg, he is in a position to generate Rs 6 lakh source of revenue in an acre of date farm.
In conjunction with getting a bountiful harvest, cultivating dates earned him immense reputation.
“Once I confirmed those that shall we develop dates in a area like Karnataka, I used to be reached out through many newshounds. When one in all my interviews used to be aired on tv, my better half’s father visited my farm. To my wisdom, I’m the primary date farmer within the state and the primary farmer to domesticate dates organically in South India,” says Divakar.
Despite the fact that a question of serious delight for Divakar, the adventure to modify to farming used to be by no means a very easy selection. “Switching from a role at ISRO, instructing at a school, and dwelling in a town like Bangalore to all at once changing into a farmer in a village didn’t make sense financially,” he says.
Divakar had understood that farming may fulfil all his wishes however no longer all his desires as there’s no finish to it. “For approximately 4 yields, I used to be not able to steadiness my funding and income. It is just within the remaining 3 years that I will maintain my circle of relatives and my farm with 2.5 acres of date cultivation,” he says.
In the meantime, pointing towards as of late’s technology, Divakar says, “Folks in this day and age to find it thrilling to hand over present jobs and soak up farming. Many of us come to me and enquire about funding and cash in. Farming comes with its personal set of demanding situations and with none assured good fortune without reference to absolute best practices one adopts. Farming isn’t a real-estate industry that you are going to get double the funding in a temporary duration.”
“For me, internal peace used to be extra essential than financial phrases. I’m thankful to guide a sluggish and easy existence as I had imagined after my father’s paralysis,” he provides.
Edited through Pranita Bhat; All footage: Divakar Channappa.