A one-acre plot of marigolds is perhaps the only bright spot in the gloomy agriculture scenario in Mudhole Assembly constituency in Adilabad district, characterised as it is by a spate of suicides by cotton farmers. Farmer R. Gangadhar of Bidrelli village in Mudhole mandal is laughing all the way to the bank having opted to cultivate marigold flowers instead of sticking with the fatal attraction of cotton.
“I have already earned Rs. 1.5 lakh against an investment of Rs. 30,000,” claims a proud Gangadhar as he walks through the rows of the bright flowers. “I am expecting at least Rs. 50,000 more from selling these marigolds,” he adds before beginning to relate his success story.
“We wanted to avoid cotton under any circumstances this year. As the area under marigold crop in Hingoli district of Maharashtra, from where the flowers are supplied in bulk to Hyderabad and Nizamabad, had decreased considerably this season it seemed prudent for us to cultivate these bright flowers,” observes Nagnath, Gangadhar's son.
As it was the first time, the father-son farmer duo was understandably circumspect and cultivated the flowers in only one acre of the 10 acres. The remaining area was sown with soyabean crop which again was a failure this season.
“We selected the Bangalore variety of marigold flowers for our field which suits our soil and weather conditions. Careful nurturing, which includes watering of the field, resulted in a bumper harvest,” Nagnath reveals.
The plants begin to yield flowers after two months of transplantation which in Gangadhar's case was close to the Dasara festival. He sold over 10 quintals during Dasara and double that quantum at Deepawali at an average price of Rs. 5,000 per quintal.
"I am expecting to harvest another 10 to 15 quintals in the next fortnight before it is time for me to decide whether I should go in for another crop," says Gangadhar. "I may continue reaping the crop for some more time if I get a good price," he says.
