I am back once again asking for suggestions from the GURU’s.
I am now on verge to take the final leap into the field of farming, and trying clear all my doubts before jumping in.
I have thought of visiting around 50 farms in and around Bangalore ( 250 Kms radius )which are cultivated on the basis of ZBNF, as I wish to follow that Natural farming.
The primary purpose of doing this are :
To get an assurance that one can be successful in farming by following ZBNF methods.
To learn from others mistakes.
To know about the new innovations each one might have made.
To know about their marketing techniques.
Get an assurance that me and my family will be able to transform our lifestyle.
I wish to record the visits very meticulously and thus documenting my survey. I hope this visit and documentation will be useful for many members of farmnest.
I will be taking a printed format of the survey application with me and will try documenting the following details:
Common challenges.
Average revenue (per acre).
Intercropping combinations.
Marketing strategies.
Their USPs
Average land price prevailing in that region.
Suggestions for newbies.
At the end of the field visit I hope to get the utmost confidence to take the leap of faith into this field. I am a firm believer of doing one thing at a time, so the moment I decide to jump into farming and buy my land, I will quit my job and give my best shot to it. That is one of the reasons why I am planning to do this field visit before getting into farming fulltime.
Not that I am not sure that farming will help me lead a better and happier life, but just to prove to myself and my family statically that farming is a viable business I am undertaking this task.
Kindly comment if I am thinking in the right direction, and will the field visit give me the desired results.
Also please give me your suggestions to improve this field trip.
Note:
I have got the details of the farmers from Subhash Palekarji’s website and am yet to call them to take permission to visit them.
Good Luck mate, even I am in the same exact same phase like you are currently. I am also interested in ZBNF. Even i am planning to visit some farmers who are practicing ZBNF. I will share whatever i can here.
This is a wonderful journey you plan to start. As Sri2012 had commented in one of his mailing. We cant experient in ZBSF as it would take 5 years to reap the benefits. the best way to decide “to go” or “not to go” for ZBSF is by visiting people already into it. eagerly waiting for the knowledge you gather and share.
If you are planning to do it in Karnataka, you won’t be able to buy land unless your yearly income is less than 2 lakhs ( 10 lakhs for last 5 years), apart from this your father or grandfather should be agriculturist.
Another important information, in the beginning, you will not be able to sustain, please note, most of the agriculturist who follow natural farming or ZBNF (or any sort of farming) are farmers who has nothing to loose. If you are starting with huge capital ( needed for buying land ), you need handsome returns, and in farming (other than very specialized things ) pack back period is long.
Certainly, I am not discouraging you, just trying to give the facts, be prepared for all these. Until you jump in you do not understand lots of this, good plan is a must. Please prepare a plan of action and then go towards it.
Most farmers do not keep records, very few do, so most of the monitory information given by them would not be useful.
I am trying to do plan most of the things well in advance i.e even before picking up the land.
I have almost dropped the idea of buying land in KA, as I dont want to start the venture with a huge “GOLMAAL” ( though I would love to own lands here ).
I am trying to find the most common issues people face in this field and am trying to find a solution for the same ( atleast theoretically ).
Yes as you said I expect the farm to start paying back ASAP ( not that I am expecting huge returns but atleast returns to sustain myself). I am trying to incorporate a few methods to accomplish this, thats also one of the main reasons for my farm trail.
After a lot of struggle I have managed to get through to a hand full of ZBNF farmers ( or thats they call themselves).
In a brief talk with them they all dont seem to be following it very religiously as they say the yield is not so great, thus they mix it up with a few basic organic techniques.
Few farmnest members were interested to join the farm trail, I have jotted down the plan for the next 3 days.
Please feel free to call me on 9900564932, so that we can plan it together.
Date of visit : Sunday, May 12, 2013
District : Doddaballapur
Name : Narayana Reddy
Phone number : 9620588974
Is NF a viable method? : Not really
No. of acres : 4
Type of irrigation : Drip
Crops : Mango, Butter fruit, Chickoo, Papaya and many more.
Fertilizers : Home made organic manure. Nothing is bought from outside.
Sold at : Mandi
Common challenges : Didn’t stress on any.
Average revenue/acre in lakhs : 1 - 1.5
Well, this is the first farm I visited and was very happy as I got a very warm welcome for a great farmer.
From the very first instance his talks were highly inspiring and very practical. His farm visit should me the simplicity of a farmer ( even though he makes good money, needless to say he has made a name for himself ).
There was a very different type of inter-cropping ( which I have not read anywhere ), basically in some parts of the farm there was uniform mono-cropping and in others it was totally mixed up.
He was telling me the advantages of integrated farming ( he has cows and goats ). He was telling me that he prepares all his manure himself and nothing is purchased from outside ( though he didnt get into the detailing of it).
He has invited me to stay in his farm for a week or so and attend his practical training, so that I can have a hands on experience. Planning to steal some time of work and attend the training.
Good to learn about your farm visit. Thanks. I believe that you have visited this gentleman youtube.com/watch?v=4twP3I4zwGM
Would you mind publishing the visiting details before hand, it would help others to join in if possible.
,
.
( though I would love to own lands here ).