The Progressive Farmer
Ours is an Agrarian economy and there is everything one could achieve through agriculture provided one has some determination. Yadnesh Save is one among them Born on 6 September 1963 in a small village of Brahmangaon, in the Talasari Taluka of Maharashtra, Yadnesh has made it big.. Thanks to his determination and his never say die attitude. Yadnesh completed his studies till class X.
"My father owned 3.5 acres cultivating Rice throughout the year. My father could not see and so my mother used to help him. Those were the testing times and so I stopped my studies and started helping my father. It was in 1981 I took to farming."
Yadnesh was quick learner and took no time to understand the business. He was convinced that even he has a fertile piece of land and could produce a better yield. He did all his homework getting the information, meeting various experts, then selecting various hybrid among green vegetables, analyzed various types of Rice that gives better yield, mar understanding the best practices of cultivation for enhanced yield, use of fertilizer and other organics. With all his efforts he found better results and a much enhanced output.
He was the first one to opt for hybrid variety of Pumpkin, Tomatoes and many more. "As a matter of fact I was the one who initiated the practice of Drip irrigation and Shade Net. I met many of the experts, visited Agricultural universities, tried to understand the crop and then the Market's push-pull effects so that I could produce accordingly and get some benefits. It took some time but it happened and I was successful."
While selecting crop Yadnesh advises to understand the basics like what is the crop, are, the weather conditions suitable for the crop, is there a demand for it, does it have a better yield, also one needs to understand the pattern of crop for every crop has its seasons and one should cultivate accordingly.
Yadnesh learnt the trading as well and got handsome returns on his yield. When he had cultivated tomatoes he was able to have output of 55000 Kg of tomatoes per acre of land. During seasons he has the output of anywhere between 15-20 thousand kg tomatoes per day.. He also cultivates variety of flowers as well.
In 1982 he also took to dairy farm to support his business. Starting initially with 4 buffaloes producing 15 litres of milk, he now has 25 buffaloes with output of 200 litres of milk daily. This has not only added to his income but also inspired him into venture of feedstock. Taking cue with an annual stock of 20 tonnes, has helped him to grow and now he requires 200 tonnes of feedstock per year. He has ensured that all his ventures provide employment to the needful and no one sleeps empty stomach.
As things progressed Yadnesh, also grew and then in 1997 started yet another venture into fisheries. He acquired various ponds from Gram Panchayat for breeding and made his business grow as well. He has variety of fishes like Roha, Katla, silver, Brigade and many more.. "As you know most of us like to have fish from the ponds.. they are very tasty.. I have people coming from far to get a couple of variety of fishes and I try not to disappoint any one."
The young entrepreneur was acknowledged for his success making headlines on Regional TelevisionChannels SAAM Marathi, STAR Majha, E Tv and alike. Even the then Minister for Agriculture, Nanabhau Hembadvad visited his farm. Following then took everyone who is planning to cultivate, call upon Yadnesh.
He has always helped everyone. Many of those visiting him have had what their land not cultivated, or are not yielding better outputs, Yadnesh helps such people. Many a times, he has met people on his own who have piece of land Mat remains unused and offers his service. This is also termed as Contract farming. Under this, he does all the plowing and even cultivates the crop say Mangoes, Chikku, Cocounut and alike, according to the choice of the owner of the land. He has also cultivated land in states of Gujarat.
“I do it for 5 to 50acres of land. I am also looking forward for bigger piece of land may be something like 150 acres or so." Yadnesh also advises to consider various options before finalizing any crop and not to repeat the same crop. According to him one should cultivate fling a variety of crops on a rotation basis.