A farmer hailing from Ghatboral village of Humnabad taluk in Bidar district has achieved that which is considered impossible for many of his peers. Apparao D. Bhosle has successfully created his own apple orchard on three acres of land.
Bhosle knew that Humnabad taluk is no Kashmir Valley but he was determined to prove that anything can be grown if there is fertile soil.
In 2009, the 45-year-old farmer, who went through financial turmoil as traditional crops failed for consecutive years, left home not to return. However, a few months later he came back to the village with premium varieties of fruit seeds and plants from different States, including Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Bhosle, speaking to The Hindu from his village, shared his story of how he became a successful farmer.
Initially, he experimented with 20 plants of each fruit and then, he cultivated 200 saplings of sapodilla or sapota, mangoes and figs from different States.
After 10 years of untiring efforts, the farmer has succeeded in growing Shimla apples in the arid land of Bidar district. After cultivating a variety of fruits, including sapota, mangoes, black plum, guava and figs on four acres of land, he thought of taking up apple plantation in the remaining three acres.
And, he started working on it. Though the crop failed several times, he continued to make an attempt every year with different varieties of apple saplings. In 2020, he bought 200 saplings of HRMN-99 variety of apple from Rupeesh Sunvane, a farmer in Himachal Pradesh. This variety of apple is grown in a region where the maximum temperature shoots up to 40 degrees Celsius.
Bhosle was convinced that he could grow the fruit in his region too.
The farmer began seriously pursuing his dreams with organic farming on three acres of land and also adopted vermicompost technology for better growth of plants and yield.
While the apple trees of this variety usually bear fruit in about four-five years in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, the saplings planted on his land started flowering and bearing fruit within two years. The trees bore 20 to 25 fruits and the yield is expected to be better in the second harvest. Though the fruits are small, they are tasty. The trees have grown 10 ft to 12 ft in height, Bhosle said.
The farmer sells his produce on the Hyderabad-Mumbai National Highway. He has spent around Rs.5.5 lakh for plantation on all of his seven acres of land. He earns anywhere between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.12 lakh a year, he added.
