Sagar: Taking ahead innovations in farming, a young farmer from Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district has come up with a unique initiative to preserve traditional wheat varieties that are at risk of disappearing with their seeds slowly becoming rare.
Akash Chourasiya has grown a total of 36 such varieties of wheat on one acre of land in his farm in Kapuria in Sagar. These varieties include Sona Moti related to the Harappan period as well as extinct seeds like Khapli and Banshi. This young farmer believes that with these varieties, cultivators can have both a good produce and earn huge profits.
Akash has become popular for his innovation techniques and experimentation in farming. Apart from preserving different varieties of seeds, he helps farmers with wheat varieties that give good prices along with high yield in less space and water.
Akash said, "We have traditional wheat varieties here that are increasingly getting extinct. We have tried to preserve all these varieties. We prepare new varieties through these seeds and work on improving their quality so as to make them easily available to the farmers."
He has planted around 36 varieties of wheat by making beds in the field at his farmhouse located in Kapuria in Sagar. Among the seed varieties he has planted include Kali Moustache, Sona-Moti or Pitambara, Basanti, Pratap, Malvika Basanti, Khapli, Kathia, Banshi, Sarjana, Sarvati, Motibasin, Hansraj, Shri, Khaira, Neelambar, Gulambari, Kala Wheat, Kudrat, Red Wheat and RK.
"These varieties are considered to possess good nutritional value. Many wheat varieties do not have gluten and many are good for people suffering from diabetes while some are capable of curing stomach ailments. Many varieties have elements like zinc, potassium phosphate, magnesium and iron," he said.
The best thing is that some varieties can be cultivated in less area and water. A few varieties give a good production even in just three rounds of watering while some varieties need more water. Based on their qualities, many varieties give good profit to the farmers because they have a good demand in the market.
Akash said that many varieties give a yield of 10-12 quintals per acre in just three rounds of watering and some varieties give a yield of 12-15 quintals per acre in four watering rounds. Some varieties require five watering rounds and give a yield of 18 to 22 quintals per acre. The quantity of seed required per acre also varies from 25 kg to 30 kg and to even 50 kg.
The market price of Sona-Moti wheat is up to Rs 15,000 per quintal while some varieties are sold for up to Rs 8,000-10,000. The traditional varieties give a yield of Rs 4,000 to 5,000 per quintal, Akash explained.
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