Market led production- A success story from Paschim Midnapore

                Paschim Medinipur is one of the district of West Bengal located towards the South Western Direction. Apart from sharing borders with neighbouring district, Purulia and Bankura in the northern side and Hooghly and Purba Medinipur in the Eastern side, the district also shares inter state border with Odisha and Jharkhand.  As per the 2011 Census, approximately 11 lakh out of total population of 60 lakh comprises of the farming community. More than 50% of the farming community have small and marginal land holdings.

                  Under WBADMIP Scheme, 117 Minor Irrigation Schemes till now has been sanctioned for the district out of which 43 schemes has been handed over to the Water User Association for its maintenance, operation and management. The schemes are to cover an irrigated area of around 2541 Ha and cultivated area of 3,197.

                  Rainfed condition and Single cropped area are the two main criteria that are taken into consideration while selecting a new scheme under WBADMIP. The project has shifted its priorities from Ground water to Surface water schemes which means availability of water during Rabi will actually determine the increase in the cropping intensity. The availability of assured irrigation has to be followed by ideal crop planning for optimisation of  the water resource and maximising the farm profit. Earlier the cultivated areas currently under the project command area were dominated by Paddy cultivation mainly for the farmer's own consumption and little bit of vegetable crops as kitchen garden. But now after the availability of assured irrigation, the farmers opts for vegetable crops for its comparatively better return and short duration. As a result of the interventions, production of Rabi season crops has increased more than 10 times from 330 MT to 4010 MT  in the Project areas of the district.

Ridge Gourd Cultivation

            One of the significant decision taken by the DPMU experts was to include crops which were mostly confined to kitchen garden in people's backyard. Crops from Cucurbitacea family like Ridge Gourd, Pointed Gourd, Sponge Gourd etc. were mostly preferred to be grown in the farmer's home garden as a source of fresh green and leafy vegetables rather than giving it a market led productions. However there were several factors behind it and most common one was unavailability of water during rabi season further worsened by lack of technical knowledge on market based cultivation. Now with the interventions of the agriculture expert from the SPMU and DPMU along with assured irrigation provided from the project, farmers are able to shift towards more profitable crops like the Gourds. It is observed that the crops which are cultivated most are also vulnerable to market glut leading to  fluctuating prices as we see with crops like brinjal, tomato, potato etc.  The crops like those from gourd family are in a better position regarding vulnerability to price fluctuation owing to its higher demand against supply.
   One such classic example of success in Ridge Gourd cultivation has been reported from Pakurseni, Paschim Medinipur DPMU where a cluster of Tube Wells had been installed in the year 2015 from the project to provide assured irrigation. Availability of water during the dry season brought a paradigm shift in the attitude towards agriculture among the farmers. Empowered with the technical training provided by Agriculture experts from DPMU, farmers in the project village roped in high value crops like Ridge Gourd(Luffa cylindrica) which was earlier confined to their kitchen garden only. Ridge Gourd like other Cucurbitacea family is reported to have several essential nutrients, minerals, dietary fibers, and a number of neutraceuticals and phytomedicinal compounds.Its a Cross Pollinated crop grown in the tropical and sub tropical areas in the world. 
Taking example of Amaresh, one of the many farmers in  Pakurseni village benefited from the Ridge Gourd cultivation had shared about his investment and the return from his 52 decimal plot of land which was as follows:   

1. Date of Sowing : 12.12.2016
2. Date of Harvesting: 10.02.2017

Return against Investment:

*Cost of cultivation (INR)	Productivity	Market rate INR/kg	Gross Profit(INR)	Net Profit(INR)
64515	70-75 Q/bigha	10- 30	1,13,000	48,485

*Break up of Cost of Cultivation:

SL. No.	Description	Quantity	Rate @	Amount
1	Ploughing	1 hr	800	800
2	Bed Preparation	8 Nos.	200	400
3	Pit Preparation			2530
4	Fencing			3260
5	FYM carrying cost			700
6	Cost of Fertilizers 10:26:26			10400
7	Cost of Seed	I kg		7500
8	Cost of Labour for seed sowing			1200
9	Cost of Straw mulching			2800
10	Cost of irrigation			4100
11	Intercultural operation			3025
12	cost of chemicals			12600
13	cost of Harvesting			7000
14	Picketing			2000
15	Transportation			7000
	Total cost for Ridge gourd Cultivation			64515