Shankar Jaat from Salera village Rajasthan is a traditional farmer, growing tomato, beans and wheat on his 1.25-acre land. However, the 45-year-old marginal farmer never earned more than Rs 60,000 a year, because unlike other fertile regions of India, the state’s harsh weather and arid climate conditions do not allow farmers to get surplus harvest. Shortage of water often limits farmers to only one crop rotation per year. They often rely upon the mercy of the monsoon for a good harvest.
However, over the years, Shankar has adopted scientific techniques that have now aided him in earning Rs 4 lakh a year, with the same crops on the same amount of land.
“I started growing tomatoes on the farm in 2016. But the yield was low. I did manage two crop rotations, but could barely cover the expenses of a family of six,” Shankar tells The Better India.
He says that after training and learning scientific techniques under the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) Research…
