Madhukar is a famer of repute in his home village in Mokhada. Some years back his story was the same like that of the other tribal seasonal migrants.
He now lives with his parents, wife and children.
As a child, Madhukar used to work as a farm labourer after attending school. Due to the economic condition of his family and the work load, he had to quit education in the 5th Standard. He started working full time with his parents on the farms during monsoon and then used to migrate to other villages to work on brick kilns and construction sites. Sometimes there was no work or very little work and expenses could not be met. This led Madhukar to seek solace in addiction which added to further economic deprivation in the household.
He had heard about AROEHAN helping farmers to multi crop and utilize good agricultural practices. On being approached, the project assistant from AROEHAN helped him with support for seeds, fertilisers and other agricultural inputs and also involved him in an exposure visit to other farms. Madhukar then planted vegetables as a rabi crop, but heavy rains took a toll on the saplings and the crop was destroyed. This did not hamper the spirit of Madhukar, who readily agreed to plant gourds in 5 gunthas of land in September. He strictly followed all the instructions given by the team and started selling vegetables in the nearby weekly village markets. He also planted and sold leafy vegetables. He and his wife planned and worked together and even shifted the family to the fields so as to keep watch on stray cattle, which could otherwise destroy their crops. Thus he became a full time farmer. He earned a net profit of Rs12500 from the sale of vegetables. Madhukar also contributed to the education and other family expenses. He could refrain from migration, earn well through multi cropping and was able to construct his own house through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme.
Madhukar experiments with a lot of vegetables and floriculture and earns good profits from the sale of produce. He has thus set an example for the other farmers in his area, who have taken inspiration and guidance from him to cultivate in the non-monsoon seasons as well
