Sindri: The once monocropping district of Dhanbad, where farmers could only depend on paddy for earning their livelihood, now boasts of cultivating strawberry, tomato, watermelon, ginger and chilli, among others, organically across all its fields. So much so that now even the educated youngsters are taking up organic farming in the country’s coal capital.
For instance, commerce graduate Rinku Shaw, who is a resident of Topatand village under Nirsa block in the district, is currently engaged in strawberry cultivation. “I had around two acres of land and I took eight acres from the villagers on lease and through my associate in Ranchi, I bought the saplings from Mahabaleshwar. Despite facing difficulties in finding a market for the produce due to the lockdown last year, I earned nearly Rs 3 lakh in just six months by selling strawberries,” Saw said. He added that the training he received from scientists at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in the district and from a private firm i