How Dhirendra Kumar of Bihar got success from Makhana cultivation

Dhirendra Kumar is a resident of Belwara village in Darbhanga district of Bihar state. He is a progressive farmer, who mainly cultivates Makhana and water chestnut. His village is located in the flood-affected area, where floods had to be faced every year. Due to floods, the farmers here were not able to cultivate with their traditional methods and the crops suffered heavy losses.

But Dhirendra Kumar showed courage to turn this difficult situation into an opportunity. He left the traditional methods of farming and adopted modern techniques for Makhana cultivation. Makhana cultivation takes place in water, and it proved to be an excellent option in flood-affected areas. With his hard work and new thinking, Dhirendra continued agriculture successfully even during the floods. Thus, Dhirendra Kumar not only brought a change in his life by adopting innovation in agriculture, but also set an example for the farmers around him.

Dhirendra joined farming after completing his intermediate studies

Dhirendra Kumar comes from a farmer family, where he saw and understood farming closely since childhood. Farming has been a tradition in his family, and he understood the importance of farming while working in the fields at a young age. After passing intermediate in 2006, he got completely involved in farming.

Dhirendra continued his further studies, but at the same time he made farming his main career and source of livelihood. He was always ready to adopt new methods and techniques. Apart from the traditional method of farming, he decided to use modern techniques in farming. Gradually he started doing new experiments in his fields, which not only improved the quality of his farming but also increased his income.

During this time, he moved towards the cultivation of makhana and water chestnut, which proved to be a new direction in his village and surrounding areas.

Reasons for choosing makhana cultivation

Earlier, farmers in Dhirendra Kumar’s village mainly cultivated sugarcane, but due to the closure of sugar mills and frequent floods, sugarcane cultivation suffered heavy losses. In such a situation, Dhirendra adopted makhana cultivation, which proved to be an ideal option to deal with the problem of climate change and floods.

In 2019, he started cultivating makhana, and at the same time he started gathering information about the advantages and disadvantages of makhana cultivation. Gradually he started making progress in this field and today he has become a leading example of makhana cultivation.

Makhana Cultivation and other crops

Dhirendra Kumar told that along with the cultivation of Makhana and water chestnut, fish also get accumulated in his fields, which come to the fields during floods. This gives additional income from fish in the month of October-November. He earns more than ₹ 1 lakh from Makhana, water chestnut and fish in one acre. At the same time, wheat, pulses, oilseeds and green fodder crops are also grown for cattle in the Rabi season, which also increases the fertility of the fields.

Contribution of Makhana cultivation during Corona period

When people returned to the village after becoming unemployed during the Corona epidemic, farming provided them with a means of employme nt. Dhirendra explained the benefits of Makhana cultivation to these people and trained them. Along with this, he also provided information about the schemes being run by the Bihar government to the farmers.

Production of other crops and cultivation of bamboo

Dhirendra Kumar is also cultivating bamboo on unused barren land and coarse grains like millet, kauni, kodo, marua etc. Apart from this, he also cultivates Manipuri black rice, black salt, aromatic basmati rice, Pusa basmati rice and bio-fortified wheat. He is providing seeds of these crops to other farmers.

He is also a pioneer in the field of mushroom production and is also providing makhana seeds to the Bihar government, which is being distributed among the farmers.

Honours and Awards

Dhirendra Kumar’s hard work and innovation have been honored with many awards:

District level awards: ‘Innovative Farmer Award’ (2020) for makhana cultivation, from Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa. State Level Awards: Uttam Krishak Award, for good production and economic status by using organic fertilizers and bio-products.

National Level Awards: ‘Innovative Farmer Award’ (2023) by ICAR and many other awards.

Benefits of Government and Non-Government schemes 

Dhirendra Kumar has also availed the benefits of several government schemes:

Subsidy for Makhana cultivation: Received a subsidy of ₹52,000 under the ‘One District, One Product’ scheme.

Electric pump subsidy: Received subsidy for installation of 2 HP electric pump by the Department of Agriculture.

Technical assistance: Received technical assistance from Krishi Vigyan Kendra Jale and Makhana Research Centre, Darbhanga.

Training and exposure: Training on various topics on agriculture was provided by ATMA and NABARD, as well as exposure to CCS NIAM, Jaipur and CIPHET, Ludhiana.

Inspiration for other farmers

Dhirendra Kumar’s success inspired many other farmers as well. Farmers who earlier used to leave their farms due to floods and drought are now adopting the cultivation of Makhana and water chestnut. Dhirendra has proved that problems like climate change and floods can be turned into opportunities if the right technology is adopted.

Conclusion

Dhirendra Kumar’s story proves that any problem can be solved by using innovation and modern techniques in agriculture. Through Makhana cultivation, he not only changed his life but also set an example for others. His journey shows that with hard work and efforts made in the right direction, immense success can be achieved in the agriculture sector as well.