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Spreading Technology
India needs more people
like Dr. Inderjit Singh. An agricultural scientist, he has not waited
for a government job to land in his lap and provide security. He is more
committed to the cause and has therefore taken the responsibility of
spreading the use of technology by the farmers. Today more and more
people are listening to him in Rewari and reaping rich harvest.
Dr. Inderjit Singh, an agricultural scientist, is one of
those rare people who do not wait for opportunities to come knocking at
their door. With his base at Berli Kalan in Rewari district he has
undertaken the challenge of spreading the culture of vermin compost and
other eco friendly technologies among the farmers. Recognising his
efforts in this direction he has been nominated as the Member of the
Governing Board of the Agricultural technology Management Agency (ATMA),
Rewari.
After completing his education Dr. Inderjit Singh opted
to work under the banner of a non government organization and
constituted one such NGO by the name of Society for Upliftment of Rural
Economy (SFUORE). He decided to spread the culture of the use of vermin
compost among the farmers and continues to hold training and
demonstration camps for them. He himself has 32 beds for the compost
where he converts 40 per cent of the input into ready to use compost.
These beds not only make ideal training ground for the farmers but are
also the sale point for those who wish to use the vermin compost either
for their crops in the fields or for their kitchen gardens. With more
and more people becoming alive to the dangers to health from the
excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides the number in the users of
this compost is rising every day. Moreover, since the demand for wheat
cultivated without the use of the chemical fertilizers is growing and
such produce is getting good price for the farmers, the use of vermin
compost is becoming more popular among those who opt to grow varieties
that might not be high yielding but because of their quality fetch good
returns.
Dr. Inderjit Singh, not surprisingly, is a proud man
today as a number of farmers have availed the benefit of his training
and they have reduced the cost of their production considerably by
striking a balance between the use of chemical fertilizers and the
vermin compost. Since most of these farmers also have cattle at their
farms therefore they make the transition to the vermin compost easily.
One such farmer trained and inspired by Dr. Inderjit
Singh is Kanihya Lal, an ex-serviceman from Khuspura village, about 25
kilometers from Rewari. After being trained by Dr. Inderjit Singh, he
has set up a few beds of vermin compost which is fully used in his own
two acres of farmland. He grows vegetables and onions and earns a
regular income of about Rs. 50,000-60,000 every year. Along with the use
of vermin compost, Kanihya Lal is also alive to the need to respond to
the extension activities of the Agriculture Department and the ATMA. It
is because of this and the use of vermin compost that cultivation is
made sustainable even in two acres of his land. | 
