Guwahati: Nitul Saikia, a 36-year-old farmer from Assam, ventured into agriculture in 2013. In the beginning, he started vegetable cultivation and later set his feet in the commercial harvesting of watermelon and king chillies. He along with his four-member team, started growing watermelon on a 5.5-bigha plot through organic methods. His labour paid dividends, producing 220 quintals last year, earning a hefty amount of Rs 40,000 per bigha.
This success boosted his morale; he decided to expand his watermelon and king chilli cultivation to 35 and 25 bighas, respectively. He experimented with the double cropping, planting watermelon seeds along with potatoes.
Nitul is a firm believer in organic and sustainable farming. He uses only natural fertilizers. Sometimes he uses pesticides on his watermelon farm to overcome pests and other diseases. However, his king chilli crops remain fully organic. He got success through his innovative farming methods, inspiring other farmers in his region to venture into organic farming.
He has to face several challenges, such as hailstorms and other natural calamities, ruining his crops badly. However, he got support from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and the State Agriculture Department, receiving seeds to restart his cultivation. Now, he has recovered his crops due to hard labour and determination, hoping for a good harvest this time as well.
