Four acres of fallow land with no bright prospects awaited T.C. Vinod Kumar when he returned home ending his expat life in 2010. Farming meant dealing with erratic weather, low market prices and never-ending loans, but that didn’t stop the 38-year-old from trying and he started off with a patch of robusta. Today, Summer Land, his farm in Veliyam, gives yield throughout the year helping him earn around ₹2 lakh every month. He employs mixed farming, a method of growing food crops and livestock in the same farm. “My farm produces 400 litres of milk daily and five tonnes of fish each year along with vegetables and fruits,” he says. Summer Land also has an outlet near the main road where he sells fresh produce from the farm.
The turning point
Vinod Kumar says he had to face many initial glitches. “The first challenge was water scarcity and I dug a couple of ponds in my property. I started fish farming too, but none of that ensured a daily income.” He says it was a set of 10 cows he bought with the help of the Dairy Development Department that changed everything.
“Slowly I expanded my farm and over the years I received government subsidies and incentives which helped me tide over hard times. Today, I have 65 cows and the manure is used to grow vegetables,” he adds.
Though the ponds were used for irrigation first, he later started fish seed ranching. Now the farm has boal, catla, nutter and silopi, something that ensures a solid profit.
When one is lost...
Vinod Kumar says the advantage of mixed farming is that one is not dependent on a single crop. “In Kerala, the climate is not very suitable for cultivating many crops and of late it has become increasingly unpredictable. Add to it the fluctuations in the market and shortage of manpower and the situation becomes darker. In mixed farming, if one crop fails there will be others to keep you afloat,” he says.
Vinod Kumar has a nine-member staff in the farm who helps him raise the crops and take care of the livestock that also includes poultry and goats. At present the farm has banana, spinach, eggplant and long beans along with a stretch of fodder grass.
“Recently I lost a lot of fish in the rain, but the tapioca harvest was unaffected and turned out to be really good. Planning the crops in a way to maximise productivity and profit is also important,” he says.
