Mangaluru: Throat cancer or dwindling water sources, nothing daunts Thomas Grazeri Rebello from Puchchemogaru village of Moodbidri taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. While his wife and son are working abroad, Rebello stays at his village all by himself while enthusiastically pursuing his passion of farming.
His interest in farming started right at the young age though left for a job in the Middle East after the marriage.
While working there, he was afflicted by throat cancer and had to return back to his village. As he was battling the disease, he decided to pursue his old passion for farming.
"I don't make a big profit from farming and I have to manage with a little water but it gives me enormous satisfaction. I am occupied throughout the day and I feel positive farming", Rebello says.
He has cultivated coconut, areca nut, betel leaf and fruit trees in one acre sixty-two cents area. He is also cultivating herbs and vegetables. Rebello is also rearing cattle in addition to it.
He grows creepers, betel leaf and users drip irrigation for watering the plants. Besides, he uses only organic fertilisers and pesticides. He has over a hundred coconut trees in his garden, of which there are 40 species of coconuts. He has planted and nurtured more than 300 areca nuts.
However, Rebello finds scarcity of water a major issue at his farm. Out of the ten borewells dug in the field, nine turned out to be useless without water. The tenth one has only half-inch of water.
To manage this water crisis, he has constructed a tank and pumps water into it from the borewell. Using the water judiciously he waters the plant through drip irrigation. He laid the entire pipe network for the purpose.
Rebello said he had diabetes earlier and was consuming pills to keep his sugar level under control. After he started toiling in his land and exposed to sun, his sugar level is under control and he managed to defeat diabetes.
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