: Karnataka Man Turns 3.5 Acres of Barren Land Into Rich Soil, Now Earns in Lakhs #IndiaNEWS #Karnataka A land that lay vacant and barren 12 years ago is a lush green three-acre property that Laxmikant

Karnataka Man Turns 3.5 Acres of Barren Land Into Rich Soil, Now Earns in Lakhs #IndiaNEWS #Karnataka
A land that lay vacant and barren 12 years ago is a lush green three-acre property that Laxmikant Hibare (41) is extremely proud of today. A resident of Kalaburagi, in Karnataka, Laxmikant calls himself a progressive farmer.
By way of using organic agricultural methods, his farm has close to 850 sandalwood and red sanders trees, 800 drumstick trees, 225 Java plum trees, 49 Lucknow guava plants, 225 Thai Mosambi trees, 225 Grapefruit (red orange) trees and even 125 Mahogany plants.
Laxmikant’s journey of turning what was once barren land into lush green farmland is one of undeterred willpower.
Trudging on a difficult path
At the field.
Laxmikant was able to complete his class 10 examination but he had to drop out later for financial reasons. “Soon after class 10 I took up various odd jobs to make ends meet. It was a difficult time growing up. I managed to get a job as a typist while simultaneously working on trying to cultivate the land,??? he says.
Originally from Maharashtra, Laxmikant’s father moved to Karnataka many years ago to settle down. “My father had a total of seven acres of land, of which only about three acres was fertile and cultivable. As the years went by, the land was divided between my father and his brother, and what remained with my family was barren land,??? he shares. It was in 2009 that Laxmikant decided to try and work on the barren land that was part of his family’s share.
“People mocked me and were certain that nothing good could come out of working on a barren piece of land. Since they had not seen anything grown on it for years, they assumed nothing would,??? says Laxmikant. But it was his undeterred dedication that helped him make a difference.
Going organic
Using organic fertilisers.
“I went back to the basics – I started off by levelling the land. The process took close to a fortnight but that helped lay a good foundation for what I wanted to achieve,??? he says. Simultaneously, he also started working on providing the soil with the much-needed nutrients and fertilisers. “It is at this point that I understood the importance of using organic fertilisers. While the initial results with using chemical fertilisers was great, it needed a lot of monetary input and the yield also started to decrease with the quality dipping significantly,??? says Laxmikant.
“Moving to organic fertilisers is amongst the best decisions I took for the development of the land,??? he says. Laxmikant consulted the officials at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), especially the Principal Scientist Dr Raju Teggali, who he says helped him through various stages. “It was on their advice that I learnt all about forest farming and started growing crops following their instructions,??? he adds.

Stock Market NEWS Best intraday tips Intraday Stocks below 100