Keera brings cheers to farmers

Mahbubnagar: Despite all odds, cucumber (Keera Dosakaya) farmers in Mahbubnagar are making good returns this summer. Albeit the district is under severe pressure with deficit water supply for irrigation and drinking, the farmers in Marikal gramapanchayati in Narayanapeta revenue division in Mahbubnagar are adventuring cultivating Keera Dosa (cucumber) on a commercial scale and earning good returns.

Chinna Venkatanna from Appampally village of Marikal has cultivated ‘Keera Dosa’ in 1.25 acres of land and has earned more than Rs 80,000 in just 2 months. The major reason for choosing this crop is it requires less water and the returns are good in just about 60 days. “Initially I was hesitant to sow this crop, but after I learnt the benefits, I wanted to experiment it. With just one bore, I am able to successfully cultivate the crop. In just 15 days it started flowering and by next 15 days we could do the first round of harvesting,” explained Chinna Venkatanna.

The amazing aspect of this creeper variety is it can be cultivated in any kind of soil, black, red, gravel, etc except saline and lime soils. In a year, a farmer can grow 2-3 crops in seven months period from January to July. “It requires very less water and the yield also comes very fast. Only thing we have to be careful about is protecting the crop from pests and collect the harvest every alternate day,” said Pola Laxmaiah, who had sown Kheera Dosa on two acres of land.

According to Sanjeev Reddy, of Marikal village, “We have to invest Rs 12 to 15 thousand per acre.” A pack of seed will cost Rs. 1350 and the pesticides and required fertilizers will cost them another Rs. 2500 per acre. All this would be initially borne by the promoter company. After the harvest, the farmer has to sell his produce to the same company from where he buys pesticides and seeds.

The farmer will get the returns based on his harvest and finally the input costs borne by the company are deducted. “The only drawback here is we will have to sell all our produce to the company and will have to wait for about 3 months for getting dues,” said Sanjeeva Reddy.

Maibu, a filed assistant who is always after the farmers and creating awareness of the benefits cucumber crop, says, “Since past seven years I have been promoting cucumber cultivation in Narayanpeta and Gadwal mandals. Many farmers have benefited from this short duration and good returns yielding crop. If all steps are taken as told, the farmers can increase their yield from 6-7 quintals per acre every alternate day.”

The Keera Dosa is segregated based on the size. The smaller the size the higher will be the price. “We collect our produce alternate day and take it to the selling points for segregation. The smaller the size the better will it yields the price. For smallest size cucumber of 14.5mm, it will fetch Rs. 2000 to 2100 per quintal, 17 mm will fetch Rs. 1800 per quintal, 18.5mm will fetch Rs. 1700, 25 mm will fetch Rs. 1000 and finally 33 mm and above size will fetch Rs. 400 per quintal,” said Bheemaiah, a retired Army personal, who is organising market for the farmers in Marikal.

“Almost 50-60 companies are procuring the cucumber from farmers in the entire country. In Telangana there are 6-7 companies who are doing the export business. The Gherkin Association of India at Bangalore decides the rates based on the size and quality of cucumber produced by the farmers. Accordingly we purchase it from the selling points. The transport costs are completely borne by the company itself.

The produce will be cleaned, mixed some salts and lactic acid for preservation and free them before packing it for exports. It is estimated that about 70,000 metric tonnes of high quality cucumber is exported from India every year, said Malyadri, owner of Maheswar Agro Biotech, who procures the Keera produced from farmers.

At present about 150 farmers in Narayanpeta division have cultivated Keera crop in more than 200 acres. “We have supplied seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to farmers from the company. The only thing farmers have to do is grow the crops as per our advice.