Nabarangpur: While scores of educated youths in Nabarangpur district are jobless and frustrated, 26 year-old Ajit Kumar Nayak has become self sufficient by taking up farming. Most youths after the completion of their education, are reluctant to take up farming as a profession. However, Ajit has proved to be an exception to the rule. Now he is earning sufficiently to run his family.
“Nabarangpur district is an agrarian region, where farmers eke out their living by farming paddy, maize and sugarcane. Farming needs a lot of labour and investment. The Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP) has shown new ways and technology, making farming easy and cost effective,” Ajit said.
He added that CIMAP has been conducting multidisciplinary high quality research in biological and chemical sciences and extending technologies and consultancy services to the farmers and entrepreneurs of medicinal and aromatic plants.
Ajit also informed that the district administration is extending a helping hand to youths interested in farming.
Ajit after completing B. Pharma has opened a medicine store. He has taken training at CIMAP (a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) on new technology in farming and its marketing. In his medicine store, he has been selling soaps of different varieties.
He is presaging soaps (weighing 60 and 40 gram) from neem, tulasi,turmeric and alovera. He sends his soaps to CIMAP for checking the quality.
“After approval report of the soap is provided, they are packed and sold in the market,” informed Ajit.
With help of CIMAP, he has cultivated bena chera (vetiver roots) on three acre of land and mentha in another three acre.
Vetiver roots are known as ‘khus khus’ in India. It is an aromatic tall grass that boasts of medicinal benefits in traditional healing system.
Initially, Ajit had cultivated the roots in five decimal of land and later expanded it. He has managed to extract two litres of oil from vetiver roots.
“A litre of vetiver roots oil is sold for Rs 25,000. This farming is more profitable than paddy farming. Scientist of CIMAP Prashant Kumar Rout has been providing me all necessary technical consultancies in this matter,” informed Ajit.
PNN