Moga man quits lectureship to become farmer, earning lakhs using Hydroponic technique
Cultivating herbs, vegetables using Hydroponic technique, Moga farmer changes the way of farming
Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Hans appreciates effort, directs Agri officials to establish similar project
Dharamkot (MOGA), March 4, 2020: Setting an example for farmers confined to traditional farming of wheat and paddy, Lecturer-turned-Farmer Gurkirpal Singh from Kaila village in Dharamkot subdivision, about 25 kilometres from district headquarters, has raised his earnings at least three-times by starting doing Brahmi Herb (a medicinal plant) farming using the hydroponic farming technique. Brahmi is scientifically named as Bacopa Monnieri.
Gurkirpal Singh, 37, a post-graduate in Computer Applications had quit his job as a lecturer to become a progressive and innovative farmer. Today, Gurkirpal is the owner of an Agri-Biotechnology company with a turnover in lakhs.
Deputy Commissioner Moga Sandeep Hans along with Agriculture Officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar visited the farm of Gurkirpal Singh and appreciated the latter’s efforts. Deputy Commissioner also asked the agriculture department to establish this type of project in one acre for a demonstration to other farmers that they can opt this profitable and water-saving farming technique.
Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar said that Hydroponic farming is a method of growing plants using the mineral nutrient solution in water solvent instead of soil. He said that plants grown hydroponically use only 10% of water compared to field-grown crops as plants only consume necessary water, while the run-off water again drained into the storage tank for reuse.
Gurkirpal Singh, while telling his story to the Deputy Commissioner said that he read about the hydroponic farming technique on the Internet and wanted to try it. “I tried hydroponic farming technique by cultivating three seedlings of tomato on the tube-light in my room. I was amazed when tomatoes successfully started growing,” he said.
Gurkirpal said that to kickstart the farming he got installed a poly-house on his one Kanal land in 2012 and started cultivating tomatoes, which remained very successful, though, later he realised that hydroponic farming doesn’t need poly-house but greenhouse could work.
He said that later in 2017 he tried farming Brahmi herb using the same technique which fetched impressive results. “I might be the only farmer in India who is cultivating Brahmi herb using the hydroponic technique as this medicinal plant generally found in the soil of hilly areas,” he said.
Gurkirpal said that after successfully growing Brahmi and tomatoes, he has now cultivated Lettuce, Garlic, Coriander, Onion and Strawberry as a trial.
Meanwhile, Gurkirpal has been running his own medicinal company to sell his Brahmi herb produce. Brahmi is used in Ayurvedic traditional medicine to improve memory and to treat various ailments.