PATNA: There is a silent revolution in Bihar’s villages. It may not be visible on the surface, but
being felt by people in the field as farmers are craving to earn more through agriculture. They
are ably supported by a new generation of agripreneurs who have been experimenting with new
techniques, adopting new technologies and growing new crops to increase their income.
This observation was made by a few agripreneurs who participated in the 5 th Bihar Times
Conclave held in Patna from Dec.1-3, 2023.
Sudhanshu Kumar, an agripreneur from Samastipur, said, “Farmers have realised that farming
wheat per acre will fetch them around Rs32,000 per annum. But they can earn Rs1 lakh from
mango, Rs1.5 lakh from litchi per acre per annum. The income will increase further if they go for
non-traditional crops like strawberry, dragon fruit, which may fetch upto Rs5 lakh and Rs10 lakh,
respectively.”
Anil Kumar, MD of Hecure Plants Pvt Ltd, has been making strides by introducing tissue
cultured plants with assurance of 200% increase in productivity and zero disease transmission
or viral infections.
Speaking at the conclave, he said that today farmers have the option to choose from a variety of
horticultural crops, plantation crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Some of the
highly liked varieties are Seedless Leamon, G9 Banana, Red Lady Papaya, Burma Teak.
“Farming anjeer can be a game-changer which can fetch upto Rs5 lakh per acre, per annum,
because there is a huge demand as 98 per cent anjeer in the market is imported. Planting
tissue-cultured neem is another good option,” he added.
Yaduvendra Kishore Singh, promoter of Rainbow Farms, Madhubani, said that dairy farming is
the key to achieve economic growth in Bihar. However, he also said that farmers need to have a
proactive approach and keep looking for various options.
“Dairy farming in villages was a tough task as lack of storage facilities used to push farmers for
distressed sale. Thus farmers were not getting their rates. Now, we make ghee from extra milk
that has longer shelf life and better profit too,” he said.
