Rajkumar Singh/Vaishali: In the village of Kechakwara in Vaishali district, farmers and young people are shaping their own destiny through agriculture. These individuals have chosen farming as their future, as they believe they can earn more from cultivating crops at home than from working in jobs outside their village. Sanjeev Kumar is one such young farmer who is dedicated to agriculture and constantly experiments with different farming techniques.
Gobi (cauliflower) seeds are supplied throughout the country from the village of Chakwara in Vaishali. Almost every farmer in the village cultivates cauliflower, and they also prepare seeds from it. As a result, Chakwara’s cauliflower reaches the market first. Sanjeev earns five lakh rupees per season by preparing cauliflower seeds from two acres of land.
Around 20 years ago, the people of the village lost interest in cauliflower farming. However, Sanjeev and his fellow farmers formed the Annadata Kisan Club to encourage young people to engage in agriculture. As a result, the farmers in the village now consider farming better than government jobs. Around 500 families out of the 2,500 population of Chakwara are involved in cauliflower seed farming and trade. The seeds produced here are sent to various states in the country.
Sanjeev Kumar prepares 20 kg of cauliflower seeds per katta (approximately 720 square feet) of land. These seeds are sold in the market for around four thousand rupees per kilogram. Sanjeev earns five lakh rupees per year from cauliflower seeds alone. He has also developed a new variety of cauliflower seeds under his own name, which is one of the different varieties developed in this village. This variety is ready in around 55 to 60 days, enabling farmers to benefit more from early market placement in Hajipur.
वैशाली जिले के चकवारा गांव में खेती करने वाले किसानों की कहानी अनूठी है। यहां के किसान और युवा खेती-किसानी से अपनी तकदीर लिख रहे हैं। यहां के किसान फूलगोभी की खेती और बीज के व्यवसाय से जुड़े हुए हैं। एक कट्ठा खेत में वे प्रति कट्ठा 20 किलो फूलगोभी का बीज तैयार करते हैं, जो बाजार में चार हजार रुपये प्रति किलो के रेट पर बिक जाता है। इससे किसानों को साल के 5 लाख रुपये कमाने का मौका मिलता है। इसके अलावा, उन्होंने खुद अपने नाम से फूलगोभी के बीज की नई किस्म विकसित की है, जो बाजार में चार्पटी की वजह से ज्यादा मांग प्राप्त करती है। वैशाली जिले के चकवारा गांव को फूलगोभी उत्पादकों का गांव कहा जाता है और यहां का फूलगोभी बाजार में सबसे पहले आता है।