Put it down to his banking roots, but everything green he touched after quitting his desk job eight years ago turned into gold. And now that others have been unable to replicate his Midas touch, Rajaram Tripathi is preparing to show off his skills all over again.Tripathi is a legend in local agricultural circles. Beginning with a 10-acres of safed muesli in Naxal-affected Bastar, he today owns 416 acres of land, grows 18 high-value herbs, has an annual turnover of Rs 14 crore and a steel-solid marketing network in 15 states across India and half-a-dozen foreign countries.But more than three dozen farmers in Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur who tried to replicate his success story have suffered losses, largely for want of buyers. So safed muesli is now off the BJP government’s priority-cultivation list.‘‘We have identified 14 varieties of herbs for mass cultivation. Safed muesli, which the previous government tried to promote, has left a bitter taste,’’ says P Raghavan, Chhattisgarh’s agriculture production commissioner.‘‘We will not promote safed muesli unless there is positive feedback from the market or those cultivating it.’’Positive feedback is just what Tripathi is preparing to provide the state government. ‘‘Safed muesli has an international demand of 35,000 tonnes, while availability is just 500-600 tonnes. “Less than 1,000 farmers grow it in India. So there’s tremendous scope in this crop,’’ says Tripathi, 46, who has recently ventured into growing stevia, an alternative natural sweetener.Tripathi says he will add 70-80 acres of land to his Maa Danteshwari Hi-Tech Herbal Farms to demonstrate the worth of his innovative farming metods to critics. If he could do, he believes, there is no reason why others can’t.
