Basudevpur: While scores of educated youths lead miserable life after they fail to find jobs, Soumyaranjan, a youth of Deuli village under Basudevpur block of Bhadrak, has set an example for them. He has scripted success in vegetable farming which has made him self-sufficient.
According to reports, the central and state governments have been implementing a number of schemes to make youths self dependent, but many are shying away from farming and other allied activities.
But Soumyaranjan, a Science graduate (with Physics honours) is an exception. With focus on farming, he has done integrated farming on an acre of land at his village.
After graduation, he was not keen for running after jobs. His father Umesh Chandra Samal is a government servant while his mother Parbati is an educated homemaker.
Soumyaranjan completed his graduation in Science majoring in Physics from Soro-based UN College with 82 per cent marks.
“I was never interested in jobs. I wanted to be self-reliant with farming. Initially, I started giving tuition to students in 2019 and opened Parbati Pre-school,” he said.
But Covid-19 badly affected his tuition from March as his school remained closed for months. But he did not buckle under pressure. Then, he thought of making use of an acre of land for horticulture purpose at Guagaon.
He started farming thirty varieties of vegetables. He brought high yielding seeds and saplings from some nurseries in his district. He used bio-compost and natural manure instead of chemical fertilizers.
In the first phase, he had sown 5 quintals of ola seeds, 5000 brinjal saplings and 200 saplings of bitter guard. He raised pumpkins, spinach, ridge guards, lady’s fingers, papaya, long beans, radish, guard, cucumber, and plantain.
He admitted that he earned enough from vegetable farming this year. Over 30 quintals of ola was harvested from his land.
In the last two/three months, he has been able to produce 5 to 6 quintals of brinjal from his farmland.
“I was interested in farming and horticulture. After lockdown, I was not frustrated. I decided to produce vegetables which will be marketed at my field itself. Youth should not run after jobs. Farming and horticulture has enough potential to fetch them good earnings,” he observed.
PNN