Deogarh: Though Narayan Dehury is aged at 65 years, he does not consider himself to be old. He belongs to the village of Bhejikud in Nuadihi panchayat under Riamal block in Deogarh district.
While his educational qualification is not much, he is renowned as a popular and progressive farmer in this region.
Inhabitants of this village, located amidst the lush green jungles on the hilly region of this tribal-dominated district, mostly depend on paddy farming and local forest produce.
In such a remote village, Dehury has become a source of inspiration and has given a ray of hope to other villagers. The primary means of his earning/livelihood is integrated farming.
He has adopted a self-sufficient farming strategy keeping in view the problems and challenges arising out of climate change in the field of agriculture nowadays.
By doing that, Dehury has been able to compensate the losses incurred due to failed crops by cultivating another crop or taking up some other profitable farming.
Using scientific methods, Dehury cultivates paddy on three acres of his five-acre farmland, and earns up to Rs 48,000 per annum.
Just after the paddy harvest of kharif season, he grows mustard on two acres, which is otherwise known as rice and mustard intercropping. Dehury has also taken up fish farming in two ponds dug on an acre of land.
Annually, he catches up to 10 quintals of fish on an average and earns about Rs 80,000. Apart from this, he also rears Banraj and Kadaknath poultry and earns Rs 15,000 per annum by selling eggs and meat. In addition, he earns around Rs 40,000 a year by selling the milk of eight jersey cows.
Taking advice of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra and with the help of his son Sanjay, Dehury has bought an egg incubator and subsequently become the only farmer in the district to supply Kadaknath chicks to people interested in poultry.
Taking an extra effort, Dehury also rears almost 80 ducks and sells their eggs and meat. By taking up strategic integrated farming, he manages to make up for losses even during drought or flood situations.
He earns about Rs 3 lakh from integrated farming and, thereby, has scripted an inspiring success story.
PNN