Roses all the way: Farmers go back to classroom

He has a two-and-a-half hectare Dutch rose greenhouse. Naturally, Amar Jadhavrao wants to perfect his farming techniques. So the 25-year-old...

He has a two-and-a-half hectare Dutch rose greenhouse. Naturally, Amar Jadhavrao wants to perfect his farming techniques. So the 25-year-old has opted for another course at the Horticulture Training Centre. As Jadhavrao and others — most of whom haven’t peeked inside a classroom in years — walk into the swanky education centre at Talegaon Dabhade, they find projectors and slides instead of chalk and blackboard, an extensive syllabus, state-of-the-art greenhouses, a glitzy canteen and three-star residential rooms.

The centre was set up jointly by the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) and the Netherlands-based Practical Training Centre (PTC). It has so far guided over 700 farmers from across the country through their five-day residential course since October 2003.

MSAMB MD Dr Ram Kharche says their aim is to gradually make the centre an ideal seat for agricultural education with specialisation in marketing, post-harvest management and exports.

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At the training centre, farmers learn about the latest agri-equipment and are supplied with photocopied lessons. They are also taught the finer nuances of greenhouse management, automation in protected cultivation, marketing of horticultural produce and nursery management. The centre also has specific courses on cultivation of rose, gerbera, carnation, anthurium and orchid, and vegetable farming. The five-day course costs Rs 3,500, including food and lodging.

Says Jadhavrao: ‘‘I did their day-long course and the two-day course. I wanted to polish my skills further, and so I am back to join their five-day residential course.’’ In the first year, Jadhavrao invested Rs 22 lakh that came with a 20 per cent subsidy from the National Horticulture Board and Rs 40,000 per beneficiary from the state government, and harvested roses worth Rs 15 lakh.

He says the course helped him in many other ways. ‘‘Now, when I go to the greenhouse, I know what problems the labour force faces, and I can tell them the right way to harvest flowers.’’

The hands-on training at the greenhouses, unlimited library access and free counselling have drawn farmers from across the country. Saazid Singha, who owns apple orchards in Himachal Pradesh, is in Talegaon because he wants to grow vegetables and get into the export business.

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Kharche says farmers have come from orchid-growing Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. ‘‘We are also expecting a team from Andaman and Nicobar Islands,’’ he adds.

Farmers apart, even bankers who have to approve farmers’ loans and students of agriculture are signing up for the course. ‘‘Our only requirement is that the person should know how to read and write. With lectures in English and Marathi, people from all walks of life are welcome,’’ say director of the centre Dr Suresh Dhumal and joint-director Sangita Ladha.

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