Patna: Farming is always considered a less profitable business. Smart farming and the application of modern techniques have changed the complexion of agriculture. Ashok Kumar is a 76-year-old farmer from Biharsharif, Bihar. He had given a new look to farming, encouraging others to adopt modern techniques and earn more income.
After completion of his education, he decided to be a farmer. Despite no formal training, he involved himself in horticulture, experimenting with new crops. In the beginning, he started growing Singaporean bananas. Later in the 1980s and 1990s, he became a noted personality in banana farming. Ashok introduced many new varieties of bananas, such as Malbhog, Martaban, Jahaji, Rovesta, and even red bananas, which were unknown in the area before.
His success story helped locals get jobs, and his bananas started getting popularity across the state. He gave up banana farming; after that, Ashok once again returned to horticulture with a new plan. This time he grew lucrative dragon fruit, a crop that was never grown in that area. Currently, the dragon fruit farming has been covering over 7 acres of land.
His work has given an encouragement to the farmers’ community in the state; many of them are taking a keen interest in dragon fruit farming. Ashok Kumar always tried to do something new, so he adopted modern technologies, giving him a huge income. What started as a small experiment has grown into a successful business that supports his family and the local economy.
Ashok’s Jain Agro Farm has been experiencing a huge increase in production. His farm produced 1 metric tonne of dragon fruit in 2017, which made huge progress and reached 50 metric tonnes in 2023. His high-quality products have got appreciation from experts as well.
