- Earned a net profit of Rs 1.07 lakh per acre
The adoption of modern techniques and horticultural crops, rather than traditional farming, is transforming the fortunes of farmers. Mr. Narayan Prasad Verma, a farmer from Tengrahi village in the Bagbahara development block of Mahasamund district in Chhattisgarh, has demonstrated this. By adopting commercial bitter gourd cultivation with the support of the National Horticulture Mission, he has not only doubled his income but has also become an inspiration for other farmers in the area.
- Benefiting from government grants and schemes,
the young farmer’s fortunes have brightened with bitter gourd cultivation, earning him a good profit relative to his costs. He has been earning lakhs of rupees from bitter gourd cultivation for many years.
Mr. Verma, who owns 1.06 hectares of agricultural land, previously practiced only traditional paddy cultivation, which yielded limited income. To increase his income, he took advantage of the Vegetable Area Expansion Scheme under the National Horticulture Mission 2025-26. Under the scheme, he received a grant of ₹24,000 from the government for cultivating bitter gourd on 1 hectare of vegetable area. An amount of ₹5,000 was transferred directly to his account via DBT to install a support system on 0.50 hectares of land.
- Modern agricultural techniques increased the yield.
Shri Verma innovated in farming and used drip irrigation, plastic mulching and modern agricultural equipment. This resulted in huge water savings and an unexpected increase in crop quality and production. He told that by cultivating bitter gourd with advanced and modern techniques and scaffolding method, farmers are earning profits worth lakhs of rupees in a short time. Shri Verma told that mulching sheet is used to maintain moisture in the field and to prevent weeds and drip irrigation and trickle irrigation are used to save water.
- Narayan Prasad Verma, a young farmer cultivating bitter gourd,
said that earlier he used to do traditional farming but was not able to earn much profit from it. After this, he started bitter gourd farming, in which he got good profit. Due to technical management and proper care, he got about 12 tons production from bitter gourd crop per acre. After getting the right price for the crop in the market, after deducting all the costs and expenses, he got a net profit of Rs 1 lakh 7 thousand. This success has not only strengthened the financial condition of his family but has also increased his confidence in agriculture.