At a time when youth are shunning farming and migrating to urban areas in search of jobs, Suresh Devanga bucks the trend. The 47-year-old software engineer, who worked in California in the US for 11 years, is now back to farming.
He retuned to India along with his family and bought 6 acres and 16 guntas of land in Pura village of HD Kote taluk in Mysuru district.
“I learnt scientific techniques about farming through the internet and also by visiting the fields of innovative farmers. This helped me in setting up a full-fledged farm within three years,” he says.
His focus is on developing an integrated farm that is sustainable. His lush green farm has coconut palms, mango, sapota, pomegranate, guava and other fruits besides various vegetable, flower and medicinal crops and forestry varieties. In addition, he is rearing cows, sheep, goats and rabbits. He has also taken an adjoining 11 acre plot on lease to cultivate millets. The leased land is dedicated to rainfed cultivation while his own land is irrigated by a borewell.
“I have entered into contracts with buyers for market linkages and earn about ₹8 lakh a year after deducting all expenses. The income is bound to go up in the years to come when all the crops start yielding,” he says. He is happier now than he used to be working abroad as a techie.
“Now I am feel that I have done something. The fact that journalists are contacting me makes me feel that I have come to the limelight through farming,” he remarks.
Being an educated person with foreign exposure, he does not want to confine himself to cultivation. “I want to take up branding of my produce, especially millets, and market them through my own company. This is mainly to provide employment to rural youth,” he says.
He delivers talks to motivate youth and children to take up sustainable farming. His farm, named ‘Hosachiguru’, has already become a place for school children to visit and learn about farming as well as the environment. Suresh was honoured by the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru on Friday with the district-level best farmer award.
