[xtremeshock]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

What kind of fencing are you using in your farm? Stray cattle moving into the farm is a major problem. In our coffee estate, we have wild elephants breaking the fences and trampling the plants along with the cattle (both stray & domesticated) who have taken a liking to eat coffee leaves.:Frust.

Well I don't have such animals in our area, just the domestic animals who come to graze.

I have 5ft. concrete pillars placed with a 1.5mts gap and 3 layers of barbed wire running across it.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

A great initiative xtremeshock. It is commendable that you are using organic methods. these days it is very rare (and expensive) to find organic food.

You could perhaps tie up with some of the organic food chains to sell your produce. Alternately, some of the food processors are known to enter into contracts (though this maybe similar to the bonds that your neighbours are into), maybe some may interest you?

Have you thought of selling direct to buyers? A little work maybe involved, but you could also get a better price

I have tried, but like I said there is type of understanding between the buyers, I will have to find a way to sell it outside Nagpur. There is a logistic problem if I bring it to Chennai.

Originally Posted by inder

Xtremeshock your location seems chennai,so how do you manage your farm near katol? Btw I stay in Nagpur.

Yeah have got to travel a lot between Chennai and Nagpur, whenever the crop is about to get ripe I generally travel then.

Btw where do you stay in Nagpur, my in-laws are from there in the Kadbi Chowk area.

[inder]

^^ I stay near the airport.

[manson]

Originally Posted by xtremeshock

I have tried, but like I said there is type of understanding between the buyers, I will have to find a way to sell it outside Nagpur. There is a logistic problem if I bring it to Chennai.

Have you thought, or tried using the web to sell your produce. What looks like herculean task to setup at this point may pay off in a big way a couple of years down the line.
I see portals come up every other day, fashion based, home made chocolates, etc, you could maybe initiate one to sell your produce and maybe even outsource disfferent fruits from other farms in the region.

Immediate advantages I see of resorting to the web are:
Very low cost platform
Immediate payments
Wide platform to outsource other fruits
And mainly, you do not have to stop any of your current marketing activity to adhere to the same.

[xtremeshock]

Originally Posted by manson

Have you thought, or tried using the web to sell your produce. What looks like herculean task to setup at this point may pay off in a big way a couple of years down the line.
I see portals come up every other day, fashion based, home made chocolates, etc, you could maybe initiate one to sell your produce and maybe even outsource disfferent fruits from other farms in the region.

Immediate advantages I see of resorting to the web are:
Very low cost platform
Immediate payments
Wide platform to outsource other fruits
And mainly, you do not have to stop any of your current marketing activity to adhere to the same.

Yes we have strongly thought of making up a website for this, we are just waiting for the Organic Certification to come through, which should be any time now.

We also have to register our own Brand name, once this is done we will be launching a website, and wish that it pays of

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by xtremeshock

Well I don't have such animals in our area, just the domestic animals who come to graze.

I have 5ft. concrete pillars placed with a 1.5mts gap and 3 layers of barbed wire running across it.

We have a similar kind of fence but with stone pillars instead of concrete ones. It also is covered with bushes. But, the cattle somehow find their way inside.

[amrisharm]

Hi all, as a kid I grew up in my grand parents farm and so the desire to one day own a farm again was always inside of me. Then in 2007 when I had a bit of cash in my hands I went looking and found some farmland 10 min bike ride away from my home. First the the land owner only wanted to part with 3 acres. i asked for more but he declined. i looked elsewhere but could not find any big plots within 1 hrs drive of my home. I was a bit apprehensive about buying land too far away from where I lived because of the real threat of goons capturing land in and around North Bengal (It happened to my uncle 5 years ago). So decided to buy the 3 acres near my home itself.

Then a year later in 2008 the land owner came to me asking me to buy another acre from him as his son was demanding a motorbike from him. I was delighted but put up a straight face and said i would buy only if i got the old price. He agreed.

Then towards the beginning of 2010 he comes up and asks me to buy another acre. i say no. I tell him if I buy just 1 acre my land will become "L" shaped. I also told him i would only buy land if he would sell 4 more acres. that way my farm land will become a perfect rectangle shape. He said no at first, but after a few months came back and agreed.

So 4 years later I am the proud owner of a 8 acre farm land. nothing has been done on it yet, but the plan is to Plant Betel nut trees around the boundary and to start a piggery and chicken farm. Also since its only 12 kms away from the siliguri town, i just might build a small farm house and live there permanently. But the living part wont happen in the near future as we just moved into our newly built house near siliguri. So its a long term plan.

At present I am busy with another construction project elsewhere so most likely I wont start anything on the farmland atleast until the second half of 2012. And i doubt if i will be able to buy more land in that area as since 2007 the price in that has already trippled. So 8 acres it is for me (unless i win the lottery )

[jeepster]

Originally Posted by xtremeshock

H
I have an orange farm in the outskirts of Nagpur around 25 acres, somewhere near Katol.

Our objective was to revive the Nagpur Oranges to its former glory using completely organic methods, maybe for export or domestic selling, we are now contemplating for a juice pulp factory.

1. We were duped in the land, i.e. we had paid 1/3rd more for the market value of the land because we had bought through a close friend. Needless to say that do your own research before investing anywhere.

2. The land we bought was full of rock and hence we had to hire a JCB to clear it all out and smoothen it.

3. Water shortage was another major problem hence we had to use pipe irrigation process. Also, we made a small opening for rain water to be collected and drain into the soil.

4. Time/patience needed, as we thought we would use this project as a side business.

5. Insects can be a Bi***.

6. Labour, still facing this problem.

Some hints for future farmers:

1. It takes 5 years for a orange tree to be fruit bearing.

2. Initial care must be taken, you must oversee the project yourself in the starting stage.

3. Have a sturdy fence around the perimeter of the farm as to not let other animals/people to enter. If a cow eats a tree sapling half way through, the whole sapling is spoilt. 25, 1 year old trees of mine were destroyed this way.

4. Introduce yourself to the local agricultural authority and tell them your plans, in my case they were very helpful.

5. You have no control over mother nature, so be prepared for the worst

6. On un-used or during the initial stages of planting trees you can grow crops at the same time.


Unfortunately after 4 years into this project I am still facing a loss, sometimes mother nature has spoilt the crops or the buyers are not giving a good rate.

The other thing I noticed is that all the local buyers are bonded, i.e. they control the rate at which they want to buy.

yes,

buying farm is a ART.
some dont know, some know too well.

the lobbies are there but they are not controlled by farmers, they are in the hands of few businessman's.

thats why we need to sell our products to the end customers or to malls & store chains directly.

selling pulp under your own brand is very good idea.
as it lasts long than orange, can sell overseas too.

Originally Posted by vahss_11

Can all the people who have farms, and produce food articles, tell me which brand/company product is used in your farms?

1) Pesticides
2) fertilizers
3) tractors/agri cultural equipments (if possible)

the list differs according to area as almost all the pesticides & fertilizers are manufactured by many companies.

farmers usually buy what his neighbor uses so best thing is consult with any government agricultural officer.

same goes with tractors.
choice is big from 25 HP to 75 HP from all manufacturers.

Originally Posted by amrisharm

So 4 years later I am the proud owner of a 8 acre farm land. nothing has been done on it yet, but the plan is to Plant Betel nut trees around the boundary and to start a piggery and chicken farm. Also since its only 12 kms away from the siliguri town, i just might build a small farm house and live there permanently. But the living part wont happen in the near future as we just moved into our newly built house near siliguri. So its a long term plan.

At present I am busy with another construction project elsewhere so most likely I wont start anything on the farmland atleast until the second half of 2012. And i doubt if i will be able to buy more land in that area as since 2007 the price in that has already trippled. So 8 acres it is for me (unless i win the lottery )

congrats!!

wish you all the best.

rgds,
Nikhil

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by amrisharm

So 4 years later I am the proud owner of a 8 acre farm land. nothing has been done on it yet, but the plan is to Plant Betel nut trees around the boundary and to start a piggery and chicken farm. Also since its only 12 kms away from the siliguri town, i just might build a small farm house and live there permanently. But the living part wont happen in the near future as we just moved into our newly built house near siliguri. So its a long term plan.
Attachment 611937

Congrats on your purchase. Pig farm and chicken farm sounds like a good idea, so have a look at couple of ways of making your farm sustainable.

Sustainability on the Pig Farm - YouTube

The video above has some good ideas and will keep all posted on ways to do more.

Tractors: Mahindra and Massey Ferguson make some good tractors but frank opinion is go for what can be serviced by your neighbourhood mechanic.

[C300]

Originally Posted by amrisharm

So 4 years later I am the proud owner of a 8 acre farm land. nothing has been done on it yet, but the plan is to Plant Betel nut trees around the boundary and to start a piggery and chicken farm. Also since its only 12 kms away from the siliguri town, i just might build a small farm house and live there permanently. But the living part wont happen in the near future as we just moved into our newly built house near siliguri. So its a long term plan.
)

Attachment 611937

Congrats Amrish! Good start on farm investment. Pig and Chicken farms can be rewarding.
What sort of crops are usually cultivated in North Bengal region? Do farmers face Maoist problems in Siliguri area?

[amrisharm]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Congrats on your purchase. Pig farm and chicken farm sounds like a good idea, so have a look at couple of ways of making your farm sustainable.


The video above has some good ideas and will keep all posted on ways to do more.

Tractors: Mahindra and Massey Ferguson make some good tractors but frank opinion is go for what can be serviced by your neighbourhood mechanic.

Thank you very much, And a huge thank you for the link to the video. It opened my eyes a lot. Like the farm owner's original plan in the video, my plan for waste management was to dig holes in the ground and dump the waste there. But now i am a little bit wiser. My farm being only 8 acres i dont think i can do all that he has done though. wish I had more land. But the previous owner had dug up an area about 7,500 sq.ft with the intention of starting a small fish farm but instead sold it off to me. So i probably will do what the farmer in the video did but in a much smaller scale.

Originally Posted by C300

Congrats Amrish! Good start on farm investment. Pig and Chicken farms can be rewarding.
What sort of crops are usually cultivated in North Bengal region? Do farmers face Maoist problems in Siliguri area?

Thank you. Yea I am quite excited about it and doing my planning for it.

To answer your questions, The main crop grown here is Rice and Wheat. Govt Irrigation is pretty much non existent around here so only 1 crop is grown per year relying solely on the rain gods. I have also recently started seeing contract farmers who grow Pineapple for large companies who then buy directly from them. There are also a fair few Banana farms around North bengal.

Another recent trend that has started is Micro tea gardens. if you look at the picture of my farm above, right behind my land on the left of the picture you will see a dark green patch of land. That is a micro tea garden not more than 8-9 acres big. They grow leaves and sell them to processing factories.

To answer your 2nd question, there is no threat of Maoists or naxalites in our region. I think the region around the Bihar, jharkhand, W.B border is the main hotspot for them. Naxal Bari, the place where the naxalite movement originated is only 25 kms away from the centre of siliguri yet this area is quite peaceful. The danger comes from the locals of the area you buy your land from. You have to involve them in the dealings and give them some "pocket money" now and then and you should be fine. But As soon as you buy your land, you have to mark your boundary ASAP. Not necessarily a wall as that can be expensive, just a wire fence or 1 ft high concrete stubs every 15 ft, like I have done.

And it is very very important to have someone visiting the land regularly if it is not being used. Encroachment is a major issue here.

[NoRules]

Wow Jeepster, this is one subject on which I never expected to see a thread on T-BHP and am I glad.

I am not a hands on farmer but own some 60-70 acres of arable land in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh. My father was a very popular farmer in our area for using modern techniques of farming.

The farming was done by my father and elder brother but both of them passed away few years ago. My mother and sister-in-law live in the village and as it was difficult for them to manage the whole land, we now farm only few acres on our own and have leased the rest. The crops we grow are paddy, cotton, soya and small quantities of tur, moong and other daals for our consumption.

During my father's days he also used to cultivate sugar cane, turmeric, ginger and tobacco.

After my father and brother passed away everyone in my village expected me to sell the land, there were a few crooked relatives who kept asking me to sell out and I think are still hoping I would but I have decided not to sell even one cent of land. Infact I have plans to buy more land over time and someday I want to go back to my village and be a full time farmer.

I will be visiting my village during Dasara vacation and will click some pics of the paddy fields and other crops.

The Telangana area of AP does not have canal irrigation and we depend on rains and bore wells. Sadly three phase power is limited to 6-7 hours but still we grow decent crops and paddy cultivation has increased in last decade. Cotton is the main cash crop and except for last year the yield has been very good in last decade. This year rain god has been kind so far and we expect a bumper crop. Fingers crossed.

Another thing my father did was pipe-line. Our village has 2 small canals flowing on both sides and my father connected 3 patches of land (some 25 acres) through under ground pipeline from the two canals and these pipe lines were interconnected so that if you switch on a motor on either side, water can reach any or all of three fields. It was very expensive when he did it and was a first of its kind when it was done in 80's. I was a kid at that time and remember Finolex engineers coming from Pune to oversee the first major installation of their pipes in our part of the district. Maharastrians here would remember that radio jingle of Finolex - Finolex ne aanla paani , shethaat piklya sonya vani

We earlier had a tractor, 5 pairs of bulls, lots of cows and buffaloes but we sold them all because finding labour was difficult and my mother and sis-in-law found it difficult managing them. We supplied milk to sweet shops in near by town. We also had a mini-rice mill, oil mill and flour mill but sold it off too for the same reasons. Felt sad selling the mill as my father established it way back in early 70's but I had to be practical.

Will add more details and pics soon. If anyone has any specific queries regarding farming, I can get answers to them from my folks.

[maddy42]

@amrisham: Heard about the quake which affected parts of siliguri. Hope all is well

@Norules: Nice and good that you didnt sell. Labor is a problem but land is a shortage so hold on to it.

[amrisharm]

Originally Posted by maddy42

@amrisham: Heard about the quake which affected parts of siliguri. Hope all is well

Thank you for your concern. Things are back to normal now in siliguri (180kms from epicenter). No damage to any of my properties, not even a single crack anywhere. but lots of cracked buildings around town but nothing serious.

Things seem quite serious in Sikkim though. The army and relief force are making slow progress. The more they move north the more death they are reporting. So far its 65 confirmed deaths in sikkim. My friends in gangtok are all tensed as there is a rumor going on that the last earthquake has caused a massive build up of pressure underground and that a 8.0 + mag. earthquake is on its way to release that pressure. Stupid rumors.

[addyhemmige]

Guys, is anyone out here using a 'Rain Gun' to irrigate their farms/plantations? I stumbled upon it while looking for something on the net and it has raised my curiosity. I would like to know how it would be advantageous/disadvantageous over the regular irrigation (mainly sprinkler) systems. I have heard that it might be pretty expensive. Does anyone here know what would be the typical price range for a rain gun?

[singleton]

Anyone out there tried Ginger farming?
My dad has started Ginger farming on a small scale near Mysore. He has got a full time manager who stays in the farm (around 7 acres) and my dad visits the place every now and then, and he loves to do that. This is his first year into serious farming and so we do lack on the experience front. To be honest everytime he goes there and brings photos of the farm, I am tempted to leave this corporate life and go live there, away from all the mad rush of the city.

Anybody with any experience in Ginger farming, would like to know more about this field. any stories there?