It seems age is no bar for this septuagenarian couple who turned horticulture farmers at the age of 70 and have started earning lakhs from their 30-acre pomegranate orchard besides providing regular employment to about 30 labourers.
The couple, Sunkara Nageshwar Rao (75) and his 72-year-old wife Vishalakshi, are farmers from Guntur district, who purchased some 30 acres of land near Kaluvapalli village of Gurrampode mandal in the district five years ago with the money sent by his two sons, who are software engineers. One of them is working in the U.S.A. and the other in Chennai.
Having studied up to Intermediate in the early years of India’s Independence in Guntur, Mr. Rao garnered knowledge of cultivating various agriculture crops. Since his sons wanted to take up some plantation in these lands, he had decided to cultivate pomegranate following the advice of horticulture officials. As the crop needs regular monitoring, the couple decided to stay in the orchard. They had started reaping the benefits of their hard work within two years as they have been making a profit of Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh on each acre, which equals an entry level software professional’s salary, every six months. However, Mr. Rao said that he would invest at least Rs. 1 lakh on each acre for producing the best quality of pomegranate in the market by practising the best pest control management besides feeding better fertilizers.
One can produce a maximum extent of 10 tonnes of pomegranate on each acre. The price varies between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 80,000 per tonne depending on the market and quality of produce. “Earning money is not the sole aim; we want to remain active until our last breath. We are also happy we could provide employment to about 30 people,” the couple said. The couple is also a source of inspiration for many farmers in Nalgonda; at least a dozen farmers had taken up cultivation of pomegranate after seeing their success.
