Hyderabad: Gonguluri Janardhan, 59, a progressive farmer in Choutkur village of Pulkalmandal in Sangareddy district, has been successful in farming all through. Janardhan, who cultivates quality paddy, cotton, sugarcane, red gram, chillies and others on his 25 acre land, asserts that quality produce sells fast.
He won the best farmer award in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2010 for raising excellent red gram crop. Brokers, he says, rule the roost in the agriculture sector but they fix the rate depending on demand and supply and pay instant cash. Hence, farmers still depend on them. “The problem with some of our farmers is they ape Andhra farmers and land in trouble. We should raise crops as per our environment, ensure quality product and not just focus on money by spraying all kinds of pesticides, synthetic steroids etc to boost production. The present chilli crisis is more due to greed. Quality chillies like Teja have good market,” he says.
Janardhan says he always cultivated quality chilli and got good returns. “Not just me. Quality sells,” he asserts.
Narrating his experience, he says chilli cultivation (a six-month crop) costs about Rs 30,000 per acre and one gets five to eight quintals of yield. “Last year, the price touched '10,000 per quintal. Even now, good quality Teja is sold for '6,000 per quintal,” he explains.
When asked about average returns from a crop, he says a farmer gets about Rs 10,000 per crop.
With regard to paddy, he invests about Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per acre of BPT, Telangana Sona, and gets about 40 bags to 60 bags. “We will get a minimum of Rs 1,000 per bag of 65 kg.”
The award-winning farmer also cultivated cotton, spending about Rs 20,000 per acre and got 8-10 quintals, which were sold at '5,000 per quintal. “You will get more profit if you own land. If you take land on lease, you will have to spend an additional Rs 15,000,” he said.
