Progressive farmer Narendra Mehra hopes to develop the variety to increase farmers’ profits
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 | PNS | Haldwani
A progressive farmer in the rural area of Haldwani is the centre of talk these days after harvesting about 24 kilogrammes of turmeric roots from a single plant. The farmer had to take the help of three labourers to dig out the turmeric roots which were produced in a completely organic manner.
Resident of Gaulapar area of Haldwani, Narendra Mehra first became famous last year when the government recognised the Narendra 9 variety of wheat developed by him. The government also patented this variety. Famous for his farming, Mehra has now set a new record by harvesting about 24 kilogrammes of turmeric from a single plant. Mehra grew the special type of turmeric plant using the ring-pit method. Two years later when he dug up the plant, he found that the roots had grown to considerable proportions. He called three labourers to help him and when the roots were extracted and weighed, they turned out to be about 24 kilogrammes. Mehra said that he had grown the plant in a fully organic manner. He plans to develop this variety further for which he will contact agricultural scientists and get the variety patented. He expects this to benefit the farmers cultivating turmeric in India.
According to Mehra, the ring-pit method does not require ploughing the field. Using a machine or farming equipment, ring shaped pits are dug at a distance for growing the plant. The pit is filled with compost manure or manure made from cow dung along with other organic manure before the plant is put in. He hopes that the development he has made with turmeric will be considerably beneficial for farmers across the nation.
