Jagdish Jerabhai Chauhan- A budding horti-entrepreneur

Shri. Jagdishbhai Zera bhai Chauhan, a resident of Mokal, Post – Kanod, Tehsil. - Kalol, Dist.-Panchmahal, Gujarat, has 3.5 acres of irrigated land and knowledge of multiplication techniques. He grows maize, pigeon pea, paddy, chilly cucurbitaceous vegetables using traditional methods. To earn additional money for family needs and social affairs, he grafted Kesar, Mallika, Rajapuri, Langra, Alphonso varieties of mango trees in 0.50 ha of area. In Gujarat, there is a significant demand for quality mango planting material in the country.

Plan implementation and support: He visited Central Horticultural Experiment Station (ICAR- Central Institute for Arid Horticulture), Vejalpur, Godhra, Panchmahal, Gujarat.

He showed his willingness to multiply mango varieties and wanted to develop a small nursery. Thereafter, he was technically guided by the experts of CHES, Vejalpur to start commercial production of grafted plants for sale to the farmers as there is a huge demand for above-mentioned varieties. He was trained about the commercial multiplication techniques of mango and other technical know-how about nursery raising was given by the scientists (A. K. Singh, V. V. Appa Rao, L. P. Yadav and Gangadhara K.) working at the Station. He was also advised to collect Deshi mango stones from his own mango trees available with him to reduce input cost for raising rootstocks. He also attended various horticultural skill development programmes conducted at the Station. Experts frequently visited his nursery and advised him about bed preparation, polythene mixture, scion shoot selection, scion shoot defoliation procedures and time period of soft wood grafting and plant protection measures. He was also suggested to use various social media platforms to sell the planting material of mango.

Output and outcome: He prepared 5500, 6000 and 6500 grafted plants of mango in the year 2021-2022 and 2023, respectively. He sold 15000 grafted mango plants to the various farmers at Rs. 100/ plant in the district Panchmahals, Mahisagar, Dahod, Kheda, Chhota Udepur and  Vadodara districts of Gujarat State in three years. He implemented all techniques and suggestions provided by CHES experts from time to time. He is earning very good income by adopting this simple technology. The total cost of production (₹ 225000/), gross return (₹ 1500000/) and net return (₹ 1275000/) was earned in three years by him. Every year he is earning more than 4 lakhs from mango grafts. Now, he has started raising rootstocks of bael for large scale multiplication.

Impact: Now he is a key person in production of mango grafted plants. He is very happy and earned a smart income from mango nursery. He is also providing seasonal employment to 3-5 labourers. He has become the source of inspiration for other farmers to develop fruit crop nurseries to generate additional income. Searching for a suitable niche that has sustainable and exponential growth is definitely game-changing, especially in horti-entrepreneurship. The production of genuine planting material of mango in non-traditional areas of central Gujarat created a new avenue for the farming community to be self-sustainable and profitable.

(Source: Central Horticultural Experiment Station (ICAR-CIAH), Vejalpur (Godhra), Panchmahals, Gujarat)