A young farmer in the Mau district chose to dive into agriculture after completing his technical education and is now reaping substantial financial rewards through innovative farming techniques. Moving beyond traditional crop cycles, he is successfully managing a dual-cropping system on his land to maximize his income.
The Journey of Akhilesh Maurya in Farming
This success story belongs to Akhilesh Maurya, a young resident of Pakri Buzurg village in Mau. After finishing his ITI studies, he decided to focus on agriculture instead of pursuing conventional jobs. Today, he cultivates dragon fruit alongside yardlong beans, popularly known as boro, achieving impressive financial returns from both ventures. He credits government horticulture offices for helping him spark this innovative agricultural journey.
Inspiration and Guidance From the Horticulture Department
Akhilesh shares that the idea to adopt this modern farming method came directly from the horticulture department. The department provided him with the initial dragon fruit plants, which he brought home and planted in his fields. However, setting up the cultivation required careful preparation. To support the dragon fruit plants properly, he first had to install sturdy concrete pillars, with each pillar costing around 600 rupees. He then planted the dragon fruit saplings right beside these pillars.
Implementing a Dual-Cropping Strategy
Akhilesh realized that dragon fruit takes about 18 to 19 months to mature and yield its first major harvest. To optimize this waiting period, the horticulture department suggested utilizing the same space by creating scaffolding on the pillars to grow yardlong beans. This dual-farming approach ensures a simultaneous stream of income while the dragon fruit matures over the 18 to 19-month window. Currently, he is cultivating dragon fruit across 30 pillars and harbors an ambitious target to install 100 more pillars. He officially kicked off this combined dragon fruit and bean cultivation in the month of June.
Scale of Farming and Operational Management
With years of experience in traditional farming, Akhilesh manages agricultural activities across a total area of 10 bighas. Three members of his household actively manage the farm operations, supported by 4 to 5 permanent laborers. Interestingly, he has restricted his high-value dragon fruit and yardlong bean cultivation to a compact area of just 3 maandas, proving that high returns are possible even on smaller plots. Cultivating yardlong beans involves preparing dedicated soil beds and planting saplings originally nurtured in a local nursery.
Recovering Total Investment Within One Month
Explaining the financial breakdown, Akhilesh notes that each bean sapling cost him 10 rupees. Once planted, the vines were trained to climb using an overhead trellis scaffolding system, making harvesting efficient. Yardlong beans currently command a strong market price ranging between 70 and 75 rupees. His total investment for setting up this particular crop came to around 15,000 rupees, an amount that was fully recovered within just one month of harvest. Harvesting for this crop began in August and continues right through to the end of October.
