Sri. Krishnaiah, S.A. S/o. Ajjiah, Sangapuradhatti, Haraluru(P), Tumkur-572104 Mobile: 9611513201
Sri. Krishnaiah, aged 25 is from the village Sangapura Gollarahatti in Tumakuru district of Karnataka. He used to sell butter in Bengaluru city for his livelihood after the completion of Pre University Course. He used to earn around Rs.3000 per month in this way. He has a landholding of 5 acres with irrigated, rainfed and agro-forestry areas in his village. He was selected by SMS Agril. Extension from KVK Hirehalli for ARYA concept during 2009. Today, he is a vegetable farmer, growing vegetables like french beans, tomato, peas, radish, brinjal, chilli and green leafy vegetables for the last four years. Earlier, he used to grow field crops like ragi, jowar and mustard, but the income was not satisfactory. He is now growing Arka Suvidha, Arka Komal & Arka Anoop, improved french beans varieties of Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru.
The yield of French beans ranged from 14.5 –16.5 t/ha, which is the highest among nearby villages. Arka Suvidha variety fetched more price in market as it is a stringless variety. Whenever labour problem arises, harvesting can be done even after a gap of 5 days, as the beans of this variety do not lose its quality. Yield wise Arka Anoop is found to be the best. He could get 16.2 t/ha, and the variety is also resistant to important diseases like rust and bacterial blight. He got a market price of about Rs.14/kg for Arka Suvidha compared to Arka Anoop and Arka Komal (where he fetched Rs.12/kg). He now prefers to grow Arka Anoop and Arka Suvidha because of their additional qualities and high yield. According to Sri. Krishnaiah, Arka Anoop and Arka Suvidha are having good cooking quality. Arka Suvidha fetches higher price in the market because of its preference by working women.
Earlier, Sri. Krishnaiah, as a small time farmer used to bring his vegetables for sale to important markets of Bengaluru. Once he started growing in large scale, neighboring vegetable vendors came to know about his produce and quality of the vegetables. Hence, the vendors come to his place and purchase the produce at attractive prices.
The seeds of improved varieties were provided for demonstrations by the KVK (IIHR) during the year 2010. After knowing the performance of these varieties, Sri. Krishnaiah visited and interacted with scientists of KVK and procured the seeds. He started growing improved varieties from 2010 onwards and he is now realizing higher yields. Sri. Krishnaiah is constantly in touch with Subject Matter Specialist (Agril. Extension) and as a follow up, the SMS and other KVK staff visit his field regularly. He has been provided with all the need based knowledge and skill, which included enrichment of fertilizer, pest management etc.
During his visit to KVK, he came to know about the vegetable special for the tomato, beans and other vegetables. The recommended dosage of vegetable special for tomato is 75 grams in 15 litres of water along with 1 shampoo sachet and 2 medium sized lemons. For french beans, it is 2 grams per litre. He is now using vegetable special regularly as he has noticed that the fruit quality and diseases resistance of the crops have improved. It also helps in retaining more number of flowers, thus increase in the fruit set, leading to higher yield.
Similarly, as an intercrop in areca nut, he is growing ellaki banana with the technical guidance from KVK Scientists. He follows techniques like banana bunch feeding technology, use of fruit fly traps in mango, use of bio-fertilizers for enrichment of soil. He started using both bio-fertilizer (Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB), Azospirillum and Azotobacter) and bio-pesticides (Pseudomonas fluoresces, Paecilomyces lilacinus & Pochonia chlamydospria). He has also started growing other improved varieties like, Arka Anand (a hybrid green long Brinjal from IIHR, resistant to bacterial wilt) and chillies (Arka Meghana and Arka Shwetha).
He has been recognized by All India Radio, Mysore and an article on his success was published by NABARD in collaboration with AIR, Mysore. He participated in the “National Business Meet on Plant Protection in Protected Cultivation of Vegetables and Flowers” organized by IIHR, and Society for Promotion of Horticulture, Bengaluru during March 06-07, 2014 had gained knowledge in the concerned subject. He also participated in the Vocational Training programme – Coconut Friends and received second prize in Coconut Olympics.
The key to his success seems to be his eagerness to learn and understand quickly, hard work and positive attitude. He is now a model vegetable farmer for the region.
