Mancherial: The yellow colored marigold flower is a key ingredient of all festivals of Hindu religion. Unfortunately, very few farmers are showing interest to grow the crop owing to certain difficulties in cultivating it and the costs involved in it. But, Pendyala Srinivas, a young farmer from Kottur village in Luxettipet mandal, has been growing the flowers for the last eight years.
While no farmer is coming forward to raise marigold crops, Srinivas is leading by example in growing the beautiful flowers and is reaping riches in it. Perhaps, he may be the first farmer to have ventured into this field in 2012. He is cultivating two varieties of the flowers, yellow dollar (Tagetus patula) and red dollar (Tagetus erecta) in half an acre land in his six acre agriculture field where cotton and vegetables are also grown.
“It’s challenging but a profitable crop. You need to take care of the plants from the stage of germination till flowering. I studied techniques to grow this crop by watching videos on YouTube and some magazines on agriculture. I am fascinated by the flower crop. One can earn higher earnings by cultivating the flowers, following heavy demand for the same in the market,” Srinivas told ‘Telangana Today’.
He says he was able to excel in this field due to his passion for the crop and for producing quality flowers. He attributed his success to the unwavering support extended by his parents and his wife. He reasoned that proximity of his field to Luxettipet-Jannaram road played a vital role in attracting customers belonging to several parts of the erstwhile Adilabad district.
The 31-year old innovative farmer, who did his MSc in Zoology, stated that the crop could be grown in red soils and duration of the crop was somewhere between 90 and 100 days of time. He opined that diligent farmers could enter into the field and one could make profits in raising the flowers by using organic fertilisers and pesticides such as dung and cow urine.
Srinivas felt the government should supply the seeds at subsidised rates in order to encourage farmers to venture into the field. He, however, regretted that he faced problems due to shortage of pesticides. He warned the farmers to be cautious while choosing the seeds. He added that the growers should own marketing skills as well.
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