Mansa village scripts success story in capsicum cultivation

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Mansa, December 24

In a big push to crop diversification, farmers of Bhaini Bagha village in Mansa have scripted a success story by giving a boost to agriculture income by shifting to capsicum cultivation.

As per the bell pepper growers, high remunerative returns have motivated farmers here to shift to capsicum cultivation. Every household has a minimum of one acre under cultivation of this vegetable.

Moreover, due to their good quality, they are attracting wholesale buyers from Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab and other states across the country.

As per estimation, the village has more than 1,000 acres under capsicum cultivation and is the maximum capsicum growing area in the Malwa region.

Gora Singh Bhani Bagha, a farmer, said, “I have cultivated capsicum in five acres this year as it attracts good return. Capsicum cultivation costs per acre is around Rs 1 lakh, which includes labour, good quality seed, chemicals and other costs. Quality condition induce more than 200 quintal of produce in an acre, for which a farmer can earn more than Rs 2 lakh per acre in six months.”

Another grower said the good price of the vegetable in markets prompted them to cultivate it.

The farming of the vegetable has changed the lives of many farmers in the area. Looking at the success story fellow farmers, growers get motivated. Farmers of other villages — Tamkot, Khokhar Kalan, Burj, Jhande Kalan and others — have also started cultivating capsicum.

Another farmer Naib Singh said the climate and soil in the region were very suitable for capsicum farming and farmers got high yield with low costs.

Naib expects high yield of the vegetable this year as there is almost no pest-attack. “Capsicum farming area is expanding with each passing year in the area here as the number of farmers in capsicum cultivation was increasing day by day for its high profitability,” he said.

Mansa Deputy Commissioner Baldeep Kaur said, “These progressive farmers have come out of the wheat-paddy cycle by starting capsicum cultivation. This is both environmentally and economically viable as these farmers are fetching good prices for their crop. I appeal to other farmers as well to adopt this model and shift to crop diversification and increase their income.”