Success Story: Retired soldier learned how to grow crops from YouTube, now earning a huge amount of money

Success Story: After serving in the army along the border, Subedar Nilesh Kumar is now bringing about a new revolution in Khagaria’s farms. In January 2023, Nilesh began growing dragon fruit in place of conventional crops after leaving the army. After seeing a YouTube video, he made the decision to try it. He placed an order for 900 plants from Asansol in March 2024. 800 poles were also planted, and a revolutionary agricultural method was initiated.

Subedar, retired The first farmer in Khagaria to grow dragon fruit is Nilesh Kumar. Shopkeepers in the market first refused to acknowledge it, but when Nilesh forced others to sample it, demand grew to the point that they were unable to keep up.

The evolving nature of agriculture

According to Nilesh, he has so far invested almost Rs 8 lakh on dragon fruit growing, but his efforts have finally paid off. Each pole has four to five plants growing on it, and the fruit weighs up to 900 grams. The market price has risen to between 200 and 300 rupees per kilogram. In addition to turning a profit, Nilesh has emerged as a local farmer’s role model. He’s now getting ready to take this farming from eight kattha to a massive scale. According to his dream, the village’s image would only alter if each farmer takes a fresh approach.

Dragon Mission Government

According to Nilesh, he is eligible for a subsidy under the Bihar government’s Dragon Fruit Development Scheme. According to Khagaria’s Horticulture Department’s Yashwant Kumar, this initiative offers subsidies of up to Rs 2.70 lakh per acre. There are two payments for this subsidy. where 40% is awarded in the second year and 60% in the first.

Farmer Nilesh said that while he began on his own, he would now expand it with government assistance, which will lessen the financial strain and enable him to satisfy market demand. The production’s market worth is between $30,000 and $50,000 every month.