Author: Vivek Deshpande
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 3, 2006
Subhash Natthuji More is the happy exception
to a sad rule in the killing fields of Vidarbha. While others spoke of hardship
and misery, what more told the Prime Minister was about perseverance and hope:
A successful cotton and orange farmer, he is not in debt, earning a neat Rs
5,000 a month.
How did the 54-year-old pull it off? "Hard
work is sure to reap gold in the fields," he said.
"I have only six acres, but I never had
debt repayment problems. I have married off my daughter and my son is doing
LLB at Amravati. Proper loan management is the key. Life isn't about losing
courage."
A resident of Kawla village, about 10 kin
from Dhamangaon, More hasn't taken a loan since 1998. Every year, his crop
has been a success and he has no complaints against the government.
SSC pass more recipe is simple: "I get
up at 5 am and head for my farm. I work hard, am there till late night. I
sow at the right time and have even managed some minor irrigation by constructing
a well. I use government schemes for which I am eligible. And I promptly repaid
all the loans I took till 1988," he said with clarity and confidence,
something that's been rare in Vidarbha for quite sometime now.
Not that More had no help. Father Natthuji
had bequeathed a sound legacy when he took over farming 1980 - no loans and
a little bit of irrigation. More built on it by building another well.
"I took a co-operative society loan and
did not default during its term from 1984 to 1998," he said.
"In 1997, I planted 250 orange trees
on 1.5acres. Today, I am reaping a harvest of Rs 1 lakh per year. In 2004,
I experimented with Bt on another 1.5 acres and harvested 12 quintals per
acre. I observed the discipline Bt cultivation requires," he proudly
added.
Adaptability has been another more virtue.
Till 1995, when there was a running sugar mill nearby, he used to produce
a good sugarcane crop. "Later, I shifted to orange," he said.
It is not that more didn't face problems.
"For three years since 1984, my crops were flattened by hailstorm. But
I didn't lose heart. They (government officials) always co-operated with me
- the tehsil agriculture officer often visited me in my field to provide guidance.
When I suffered damages due to floods last year, I got a compensation of Rs
9,000," he said.
