Sowing seeds of success by banana cultivation

BARIPADA:  Kartik Chandra Hansda’s success story is an inspiration for those who want to make a career out of agriculture.The 45-year-old graduate, who is not keen to work under anyone, has taken up banana plantation and turned it into a highly profitable business. A resident of Bubeijoda village of Bisoi block, Kartik was initially a paddy farmer. However, as it did not pay well, he decided to try his hand at banana plantation on his farm land. 

Now, he is one of the wealthiest farmers in his village. Kartik’s success story started in 2017 when the Horticulture department encouraged him to take up banana cultivation. He planted around 4,000 banana saplings over six acres of land. However, he lost 60 per cent of the plantation due to Kalabaisakhi. But, Kartik still managed to make a profit of `2 lakh with the 40 per cent plants that survived. It was his first harvest.

His profits went up to `7 lakh in the second harvest and within no time, Kartik had become a successful banana cultivator in the entire Bamanaghati area of Mayurbhanj district. Kartik has attended several meetings and workshops where he shares the secret of his success with other farmers. “I had invested around `1.5 lakh and got `5.5 lakh as profit in the last two seasons,” he said. The farmer said he gets tips from the Horticulture department on ways to enhance productivity. 

He said banana cultivation is more profitable than paddy. “I invested more manpower, fertiliser and time while cultivating paddy but the returns were less,” he said. Assistant Horticulture Officer of Rairangpur Sukanta Kumar Nayak said the Horticulture department provided technical know-how to Kartik after he decided to switch over to banana cultivation. Kartik’s success has inspired Balaram Majhi, a resident of Telangia in Bijatala block, to take up banana cultivation. He has earned `3 lakh net profit in his first harvest.