Farmer Profile : Kevin Cherian (Multi-produce approach)

We thought it would be good to acknowledge some of our industry colleagues in this section aptly titled 'Farmer Profile'. Each profile will provide background details on the farmer, best practices developed / followed by them and finally contact information for our readers to reach out to these mentors directly.

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Most people who come into the farming business lose heart because there is no proper guidance available and have to do most of the things on a trial and error basis and by the time they find the right way to do it, they are either financially broke or fed up with the whole process. The main reason is that very few who do it professionally, others have no domain knowledge and those who are successful often do not mentor or share experiences (for free). Another breakpoint is the inability to market your produce effectively. With all the running around you do to gather information, the time spent, the money spent on producing that specific product, you finally end up with less than the production cost for the product. The main reason is the lack of proper marketing system in place that supports the farmer. The person who makes the money is the middlemen.Lastly, the long(er) gestation period is another deterant. The grower has to wait for the crop to yield and provide returns. This often takes 5-6 months after planting or sowing depending on the corp.

Now if guidance is available and the grower gets value for their product (proper marketing) and immediate gratification (quick returns) is possible, the whole process of farming is interesting and much more profitable. All this happens by proper planning. You need to budget your capital into different sections. In the last three years I did a lot of experiments and made several mistakes.

Kevin has devised a module that has started to bring in results. For immediate returns he has Quail and duck layers on his farm. Quail start laying at 45 days after hatching and they lay 300+ eggs at one go. The space requirement is less ( in 300 sq ft you can grow 2500 quail on a multilayer stand system),feed conversion ration is profitable. Ducks also give quick returns because layer ducks are available and so no waiting for five and a half months for the duck to start laying. They are easy to manage because of their feeding pattern. In the normal case where you sell a duck egg for 2.75/- in the wholesale market, the cost of production would be 2 to 2.25/-. but the cost can be brought down to 1.25 to 1.5/-(the profit is .75 ps to 1 rupee more than the normal practice) per egg plus the sale price increased from 2.75 to 3.5/-(proper marketing gives you another 75 ps extra here too). Same is the case of quail eggs, you can make a profit of .75 to 1/- per egg.

He has also planted bush jasmine (1000 nos). This crop has a life of 15 years and the rates per kilo are very promising. Another veg corp that has started yielding is Ivy gourd. This plant starts yielding within 45 to 60 days of planting ans has a life of 3+ years. It is a creeper plant and gives two harvest per week.

Kevin can be contacted for details around planning, costing, operating and marketing expenses for each produce listed above. Kevin entered farming to make money and while his first few years were disappointing but his determination is showing results now. He is more than happy to guide anyone who needs support is willing to share his experiences. Kevin may be reached at kevinblr@hotmail.com or 9845520116 / 9900039462