When a friend of mine told me about a farmer who has cultivated pomegranate in Tumkur district, I just couldn’t believe it. For, pomegranate is cultivated mostly in the districts of Bijapur and Bagalkot. I also remembered the news item on farmers in Chitradurga who had gone bankrupt following poor yield of pomegranate. When such is the case, how can anyone grow pomegranate in Chikkanayakanahalli village of Tumkur district? Dogged by curiosity, I accompanied my friend to the aforesaid farm to witness it myself.

A short bike ride took us to Jayalakshmi Farm where we met Gopalaiah, the man who was brave enough to buy a 15 acre plot to cultivate pomegranate. Availing a loan of Rs 15 lakh from a nationalised bank for the purpose is no mean task. It requires nerves of steel to muster the courage to experiment in farming. That too, in a land mostly suitable for coconut cultivation only.

Ask Gopalaiah, an astrologer by profession, what drove him for the experiment and he says, “Scores of farmers who depend solely on coconut farming have seen the worst when coconut trees were infested with insects and worms. I wanted to try out something new and the only thing that struck me was pomegranate cultivation. I decided to take the plunge as I felt it was far better than going all over the State reading people’s stars.”

No sooner was the loan sanctioned, Gopalaiah bought land and got it flattened, making it cultivable. He then planted 3,000 pomegranate saplings in about 12 acres of land and got solar-energy enabled fencing done for the protection of his saplings. Being a novice to pomegranate cultivation, Gopalaiah visited many pomegranate farms in Bijapur and met farmers to learn more about pomegranate cultivation. He even brought experienced agricultural labourers from Bijapur to work in his farm.

His efforts have definitely borne fruit and is there for all to see. Plants that are only one-and-a-half year old have already started reaping fruits, with each plant carrying anything from 80 to 100 fruits. Gopalaiah has also come up with his own technology to handle pests and diseases that generally dog fruit farms. Hence, he has built two tanks at a higher plane of the farm. While one tank supplies water to the nooks and corners of the farm, covering all the plants, the other tank is meant for the mixing of pesticides.

The tank with pesticides is also fitted with a powerful spraying machine and pipes that reaches the pesticide to all the plants in the farm. These pipes also have sprinklers at regular lengths, so that the pesticide is evenly sprayed on all the plants. According to Gopalaiah, this technology saves labourers the arduous task of going around the 12-acre farm with sprayers strapped to their backs, while also making it possible to cover the entire farm in one single day.

Gopalaiah is hopeful of getting a good price for the pomegranates grown in his farm. In fact, he sounds sure of earning up to Rs 10 lakh in the very first year.

Convinced that where there’s a will there’s a way, we rode back to the City, wishing Gopalaiah the best of luck.
Translated by Chethana Dinesh