Creative bug bites farmers in Gujarat

Seeds Of Exotic Fruits & Vegetables Imported From Japan, Taiwan

 FARMERS in entrepreneurial Gujarat are increasingly turning innovative. It all started with the production of Taiwanese Papaya at village Limbdi in Surendranagar, traditional bananas in Jamnagar (in Saurashtra's barren land) and very recently Japanese watermelon in Vadodara. The experiments don't end here.
    The farmers are now importing musk melon from Taiwan, brinjal-sized tomato from Japan and egg-sized brinjal from Africa. While seeds of musk melon are being imported from Taiwan at rate of Rs 32,000 per kg, Japanese tomato is being imported at Rs 10 per seed and brinjal seeds at a rate of Rs 70,000 per kg.
    Brinjal is being experimented in Limbdi (Saurashtra), Vadodara and Dhoraji (Saurashtra).
    The unique feature of this brinjal is that it has more disease resistant power compared to traditional crop, said Jitu Patel, an agro-tech expert.
    One kg of brinjal seed is enough to cater to 5 acres. For instance, only 100 gram of seed is adequate to cover production in five acre. Against an investment of Rs 20,000 (including the cost of Rs 10,000 towards seeds and other inputs like fertiliser, power, water etc.), the farmers can get an assured return of Rs 3.50 lakh on a plot of five acres, Mr Patel said. The brinjal crop is likely to be ready within 10 days in Dhoraji (Rajkot district).
    Similarly, tomato (brinjal shaped) seed Rs 10 (per seed) imported from Japan can produce 20 kg of tomato per plant and the duration of crop ranges between 75 and 90 days. Its shelf life is longer and plant strength is higher than the traditional one. The unique feature of this imported tomato seed is that the production is available round the year (maximum shelf life of plant is one year).
    Musk melon cultivated in an acre can give a production of 10 tonne. An investment of Rs 16,000 (including the cost of seeds Rs 8,000 and Rs 8,000 towards fertiliser, power and water) can fetch an income of Rs 1 lakh, Mr Patel added. The musk melon constantly remains in demand in northern parts of the country.