Odisha’s Prakash Chandra Dehury (32) had studied a vocational course from the Industrial Training Institute (ITI), but lack of opportunities in his village, as well as limited pay, never let him earn a decent living. The Budhdani village native says he worked in a private company in Bengaluru till 2014, and quit to return home and care for his ailing parents. He searched for jobs in government and private sectors in the area, but in vain.
In the meantime, he began helping his father on the farm, growing bananas and other cereal crops. He began experimenting on his 2.5-acre farm by intercropping cowpeas, maize, turmeric, and mango. This experiment in turn earned him the Best Dryland Farmer Award from the central government in 2016. Since then, what was supposed to be a way to bide time has become a means for Prakash to carve his own path as a successful farmer. He has planted around 3,000 banana trees, earning lakhs of rupees.
A Maharashtrian variety in Odisha
Confident that he…