Pratapgarh farmer’s sandalwood and turmeric farm draws Bhutan attention | Prayagraj News
Prayagraj: Bhutan’s transition to a fully organic agricultural system has brought officials and businessmen from the country to Pratapgarh’s Bhadauna village, seeking Indian expertise in organic and natural farming. Loknath Sharma, Bhutan’s former minister of economic affairs and natural energy & resources, was among the visitors. They toured ‘Rishigram’ — former Shashatra Seema Bal officer Utkrisht Pandey’s seven-acre farm in Bhadauna village, which showcases organic and natural farming practices. The farm features around 3,000 sandalwood plants and hybrid turmeric varieties. The delegation’s visit aimed to explore opportunities and learn from India’s experiences in organic farming, with a focus on rural sector economy development.“After taking premature retirement from central armed police forces in 2016 from the post of assistant commandant, I decided to take up technical and skilled natural farming on my agricultural land. Initially, I planted 400 sandalwood saplings about five years ago, and now my farm has over 3,000 plants and a wide range of turmeric varieties,” Pandey said. He believes that sandalwood production will increase employment opportunities for villagers, especially women, and lead to reverse migration and sustainable development.Pandey told TOI, “Bhutanese delegation visited farms to explore how our models are working in organic and natural farming, agro-tourism, sustainable agriculture, and learning and practising our agri model to further implement it at their place.” He added, “We would be collaborating with them once they again come here to learn organic farming practices.”Pandey said, “Bhutan members interacted with people taking up organic and natural farming and learned about the basics. Both the members shared their ideas and views on organic farming and appreciated Indian farmers for fast adopting and taking organic and natural farming under its concept of ‘khet ki baat’.”Pandey claimed Bhutan has been sending its officials to India for training in organic farming practices, with the goal of implementing them in their own agricultural sector. India has also provided assistance in developing large-scale organic farming projects in Bhutan.The Bhutan members also took a look at the vast scale of sandalwood and turmeric farming through the organic and natural farming process, where 40-year-old Pandey has made a name for himself by cultivating around 3,000 sandalwood plants and hybrid varieties of turmeric on his seven-acre land in Bhadauna.Pandey too learned the necessary skills and techniques from a Bengaluru-based institute and is now training farmers in eastern UP to grow sandalwood and turmeric. He has, in fact, launched a mission called “Har Ghar Chandan” to promote sandalwood-based small industries and revive the rural economy. In 2019, Pandey took up active farming through organic methods to improve soil quality and the lives of thousands of other farmers.He also studied sustainable farming and further struck upon agroforestry as the ideal model for him. Pandey emphasises the high economic value of sandalwood worldwide, its use in perfumes, and its medicinal properties. A fully grown sandalwood tree takes 14-15 years and fetches a high price in the market. Similarly, black turmeric can sell for over Rs 1,000 per kg, depending on its quality.At Marcelone Agrofarms, named after the French word for defence, Pandey cultivates a diverse range of crops, including white sandalwood, black turmeric, Kasturi turmeric, kalanamak rice, and Kasturi rice, all using organic and sustainable farming practices. He collects cow urine and dung from his pet cows and supplements this with cow dung purchased from local villagers to create natural manure. Pandey’s farm has been certified as entirely organic.Recognized for his expertise, Pandey has received the Taru Mitra award and Dev Bhoomi Bagbani award (Gujarat).
