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Converts 17 acre barred land into fruit orchard with right agro techniques
In the span of just six years, the land that didn’t have a single tree today has 7000 trees yielding best quality fruits. Sounds impossible? It has been made possible by Mr. Ramesh Pokerna, Founder, Pokerna Farms. “It is rain shadow area that means we don’t have single drop of water. Irrigation is done with water sourced from the tankers. We use water judiciously and have selected the fruit trees that are apt to the prevailing soil and weather conditions,” he adds. The farm is located at the outskirts of Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Mr. Pokerna
Mr. Pokerna turned into farmer after taking retirement from his business of 41 years of manufacturing concrete pipe and poles. Speaking of drive behind venturing into farming, he says, “My first entrepreneur venture was Beton Concrete Products at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. We manufactured concrete based products. We were the first to develop ‘Prestressed Spun Concrete’ tubular pole for Indian Railways in 1984. I was awarded National Award for Entrepreneurship in 1987. I got retired from this business in 2011 and started farming with the mission to prove agriculture is profitable, inspite of all constraints if taken up as any other business!”
It was mandatory to practice water conservation and rain water harvesting. The farm has one open well and one farm pond (50lakh liters capacity). “We harvested every drop of water. As a result to our efforts we could revive the pond and well too. Besides, I decided to grow mango, guava, pomegranate, apple ber and dragon fruit trees because all these trees can survive even in draught conditions,” he asserts.
Guava and mango are grown in high density farming system. There are 500 mango plants/acre and guava 650 plants/ acre. 3600 dragon fruit plants are grown in another 3acres plantation. “I selected dragon fruit because it is a cactus variety plant that needs less water, no maintenance and has medicinal properties. Further it gives very good yield as 15 ton/acre,” he highlights.
Dragon fruit saplings are crafted from matured cutting/plant. Ideally the mother plants must be minimum 2 years old so that the cuttings are matured enough to grow fast and healthy. “We develop the saplings at our own nursery in the farm. We also sell these saplings to other farmers. The cost varies with the quantity ordered,” Mr. Pokerna explains.
The saplings are planted during August to February months. The plant needs support for growth so four saplings are tied around one pole from all sides. “There are 400 poles in one acre and 1600 plants are supported by the same. It is a creeper variety of cactus hence has to be supported upto 5-6 feet height. Four plants encircle one pole. Normally the plant can grow upto any height but we keep it short as it has thorns so it is easy to pluck the fruits manually,” he shares. It starts fruiting from 15-18 months after plantation. The life span of the plant is more than 30-35 years.
Every year the plant starts flowering in May. “In one year, there are majorly 5-6 flushes during the period June – October. During this period lots of flowering and fruiting takes place,” adds Mr. Pokerna.
“I sold my first two years fruits in Mumbai and Pune. It was moderate however from third year onwards the price reduced substantially due to the selling layers between me as producer and end consumers. Therefore, I have developed my own market at my place. The price realized is Rs. 150-200/kg depending on the size. Retailers are selling for Rs. 300/kg. So consumer shall save Rs. 100/kg,” he elaborates.
Mix of organic and in-organic farming inputs are used at the farm. “To control diseases we use spray such as Kavach, Streptoccyclin and Kasigomycin etc. During summer, we spray Keolin to avoid evaporation of moisture from the plant,” he shares. Organic inputs used are biogas slurry, press mud base or cow dung manure. Irrigation is done as per the season. “During summers maximum water required is around 10 litres/plant/day. In winters irrigation is done once or twice a week,” shares Mr. Pokerna.
Intercropping is good as it gives add on income but Mr. Pokerna is not in its favour, “Intercropping can bring in some diseases so I don’t have this farming module in my farm. I don’t want to spoil my existing plants.”
In time to come Mr. Pokerna plans to diversify into producing value added products such as dehydrated fruits, pulp and juices etc for all the fruits grown in his farm. He is working on dehydration and pulp extraction unit.
He concludes, “Farming is profitable if the problems and challenges are dealt with the persistence to resolve it. There is way out for every issue. It is compulsory to find the solution with patience and sharpness followed by implementation. Then nothing can stop the cash inflow!!”
Contact details:
Pokerna Farms
Mobile: 09049633111
Email: ramesh.pokerna@gmail.com, pokerna.agrotech@gmail.com
In the span of just six years, the land that didn’t have a single tree today has 7000 trees yielding best quality fruits. Sounds impossible? It has been made possible by Mr. Ramesh Pokerna, Founder, Pokerna Farms. “It is rain shadow area that means we don’t have single drop of water. Irrigation is done with water sourced from the tankers. We use water judiciously and have selected the fruit trees that are apt to the prevailing soil and weather conditions,” he adds. The farm is located at the outskirts of Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Mr. Pokerna
Mr. Pokerna turned into farmer after taking retirement from his business of 41 years of manufacturing concrete pipe and poles. Speaking of drive behind venturing into farming, he says, “My first entrepreneur venture was Beton Concrete Products at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. We manufactured concrete based products. We were the first to develop ‘Prestressed Spun Concrete’ tubular pole for Indian Railways in 1984. I was awarded National Award for Entrepreneurship in 1987. I got retired from this business in 2011 and started farming with the mission to prove agriculture is profitable, inspite of all constraints if taken up as any other business!”
It was mandatory to practice water conservation and rain water harvesting. The farm has one open well and one farm pond (50lakh liters capacity). “We harvested every drop of water. As a result to our efforts we could revive the pond and well too. Besides, I decided to grow mango, guava, pomegranate, apple ber and dragon fruit trees because all these trees can survive even in draught conditions,” he asserts.
Guava and mango are grown in high density farming system. There are 500 mango plants/acre and guava 650 plants/ acre. 3600 dragon fruit plants are grown in another 3acres plantation. “I selected dragon fruit because it is a cactus variety plant that needs less water, no maintenance and has medicinal properties. Further it gives very good yield as 15 ton/acre,” he highlights.
Dragon fruit saplings are crafted from matured cutting/plant. Ideally the mother plants must be minimum 2 years old so that the cuttings are matured enough to grow fast and healthy. “We develop the saplings at our own nursery in the farm. We also sell these saplings to other farmers. The cost varies with the quantity ordered,” Mr. Pokerna explains.
The saplings are planted during August to February months. The plant needs support for growth so four saplings are tied around one pole from all sides. “There are 400 poles in one acre and 1600 plants are supported by the same. It is a creeper variety of cactus hence has to be supported upto 5-6 feet height. Four plants encircle one pole. Normally the plant can grow upto any height but we keep it short as it has thorns so it is easy to pluck the fruits manually,” he shares. It starts fruiting from 15-18 months after plantation. The life span of the plant is more than 30-35 years.
Every year the plant starts flowering in May. “In one year, there are majorly 5-6 flushes during the period June – October. During this period lots of flowering and fruiting takes place,” adds Mr. Pokerna.
“I sold my first two years fruits in Mumbai and Pune. It was moderate however from third year onwards the price reduced substantially due to the selling layers between me as producer and end consumers. Therefore, I have developed my own market at my place. The price realized is Rs. 150-200/kg depending on the size. Retailers are selling for Rs. 300/kg. So consumer shall save Rs. 100/kg,” he elaborates.
Mix of organic and in-organic farming inputs are used at the farm. “To control diseases we use spray such as Kavach, Streptoccyclin and Kasigomycin etc. During summer, we spray Keolin to avoid evaporation of moisture from the plant,” he shares. Organic inputs used are biogas slurry, press mud base or cow dung manure. Irrigation is done as per the season. “During summers maximum water required is around 10 litres/plant/day. In winters irrigation is done once or twice a week,” shares Mr. Pokerna.
Intercropping is good as it gives add on income but Mr. Pokerna is not in its favour, “Intercropping can bring in some diseases so I don’t have this farming module in my farm. I don’t want to spoil my existing plants.”
In time to come Mr. Pokerna plans to diversify into producing value added products such as dehydrated fruits, pulp and juices etc for all the fruits grown in his farm. He is working on dehydration and pulp extraction unit.
He concludes, “Farming is profitable if the problems and challenges are dealt with the persistence to resolve it. There is way out for every issue. It is compulsory to find the solution with patience and sharpness followed by implementation. Then nothing can stop the cash inflow!!”
Contact details:
Pokerna Farms
Mobile: 09049633111
Email: ramesh.pokerna@gmail.com, pokerna.agrotech@gmail.com
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