COVER STORY March2011 enajori.com How Green is My Valley!

There is always an expectation surrounding a typical youth of following the conventional career path, to do what has been the clich. It takes heart to go against the flow and to make a mark at the same time. Meet Neelam Dutta, a young well educated budding Assamese entrepreneur who within a small frame of time has been able to achieve both. Having keen interests on farming since childhood, Neelam, a self employed youth inherited farming from his family. After his fathers demise, Neelam took the reins of the farm and today along with fisheries and agriculture, it boasts of organic farming. With the world turning all its ears to organic farming, Neelams initiative towards it has been worthy of an applause. Presently, boasting of 12+ hectare of farm in Pabhoi, a new entrant to the self-dependent Assamese entrepreneurial sphere has taken his step forward. enajori.com recently caught up with Neelam Dutta to trace his journey and find out his plans and ideas on new ventures. Please tell us about your farm. The farm Lakshmi Agriculture Multipurpose Project was named after my late grandfather and grandmother who were Lakshmi Prabha and Lakshmi Prasad Dutta, starting off with 3 hectares of land. It now has around 12 hectares of land where we have fisheries, vermi-culture, dairy, duckery, organic vegetables as well as organic paddy fields along with various plantations and a small nursery. We will move on to Organic farming, can you tell us how did it first get started? ND: My late father first started the farm in the year 1978-79. He always had had a keen interest in farming right from his childhood. He joined Guwahati Medical College in 1967-68 and

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graduated in the year 1973. After internship, he worked in Government hospitals and even in tea gardens for a few years and eventually came back to our village Pabhoi, where our farm is located. He always dreamt of having his own farm and started planning his agriculture venture. He was unable to garner support for his venture but still with all his heart moved ahead and laid the first stepping stones. It initially started off with digging ponds for fisheries along with paddy cultivation. He did everything in a proper scientific manner. The fisheries had stocking, rearing and nursery tanks. He first started a fish-seed producing hatchery in the late 80s and supplied fish seedlings to the neighboring districts in the north bank: Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur, Sonitpur and to Arunachal Pradesh as well. Your father has been a real inspiration behind your endeavor. Was there awareness about organic farming when your father started the farm? Whoever I am today is all because of my father and the experiences I have gathered from him in my childhood. He is still and would be my real inspiration and role model throughout my life. Speaking of organic farming, at that time there was not much awareness about it nor was there any real need for it as it is today. Green revolution was at its peak and people were more concerned about food productivity. Even though he did everything scientifically like using chemical fertilizers and modern methods of farming, there was not as much concern on organic farming methods at that time. I guess it was because the ill-effects of usage of chemicals were not well known. Tell us about organic farming. Organic farming is nothing but natural farming, where instead of chemical fertilizers we rely on natural techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control. The main advantage of organic farming is avoiding the harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the food which has a very harmful effect, as it accumulates in the body and may even in the longer run cause serious effects. In addition it helps in maintaining the soil productivity. Organic farming/food is gradually being taken seriously by people. Though it is still in its infancy in our part of the world, I am optimistic of its success as it has been in the west. Farming has always been an integral part of the Assamese society. But in matters of export and even self sufficiency, we have a long way to cover. Do you think proper scientific and organizational framework is the key to it?

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Yes, even though farming has been an integral part of the Assamese society, we really need to improve a lot in terms of self sufficiency and export. Most of our farm productions are being taken by middlemen at very low prices and sold at very high prices in the market. This is primarily because of the lack of proper linkage between the farmers and the market. This can be attributed partly to improper communication in terms of poor transportation, lack of market knowledge and also to the inhibitions a general rural farmer has in facing the urban market. Proper organizational framework is the call of the hour so that the farming community can reap a better price of their harvest and stop migrating to urban areas for work. Once they get better prices, then only will the youth have a reason to stick to their home and work in their fields. Is there enough of agricultural land in Assam today? If yes, can we also bring in the 'ranch' culture, as in the United States? Yes there is still enough land left in Assam for agriculture. I do not support ranch culture practiced in the west. Rather I would go for land reforms policy, which can bring a change in the society by distributing equal land for all. This would mean that there would not be any discrimination in our society. Ranch culture, in my point of view would bring a sort of capitalist culture in the society. What have been the major achievements of your farm? I am an ordinary farmer. I have been practicing multipurpose farming organically, which has been deemed very important in todays chemical fertilizers dominated agriculture sphere. Mine is a just a step forward in providing a healthy food market which still has a long way to cover. How is farming as a profession stand in today's society? What are your views? Farming in Assamese society still has been clinched to the term 'khetiyok' , making a picture of a traditional rural farmer who is seldom looked up to. The present Assamese youth do not opt for farming as a profession rather they would choose services or other sources of living. This I believe is only because of the general mindset of our society, which at large does not encourage one to go for farming. What are your future goals? I believe in keeping things simple. I am also one amongst the millions of aspirers trying to follow my dreams and establish my name in the society. I want to expand my farm and bring in

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new technical investments which will lead to sustainability as well as better productivity. I want to imbibe an organic food culture for healthy living in the society at large. Your message to the young enthusiasts. If I can be an example to inspire the youth to take up agriculture as their living I will be more than happy, to encourage the non-urban youth in particular in making them appreciate that there are other avenues to look forward to. Thinking out of the box from my point of view is not wrong as is commonly perceived as long as we rise up to the challenges. It is good to have dreams, but have faith in them. I can see many young Assamese entrepreneurs coming up. Your enajori.com is one such example as it is very endearing to know that it has within a very short time found public acceptance and following. enajori.com wishes him a splendid future! (Kabandi Saikia & Arunabh Sharma for enajori.com)

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