Joseph Lobo used on-line sources like YouTube movies to study and develop a whole bunch of vegatables and fruits on his terrace, together with berries, chikoo, and varied mango varieties.
Think about waking up someday and being informed {that a} fruit you’ve grown for your loved ones in your terrace backyard sells for Rs 2.5-3 lakh per kg.
When the information got here to Joseph Lobo, he didn’t instantly consider it.
“I knew the mango selection was uncommon and costly, however I didn’t realise how pricey it may very well be. My household and mates consumed the primary yield, unaware of its worth,” the farmer tells The Higher India.
Lobo grows the Miyazaki Mango which is a Japanese selection identified to be some of the costly on this planet. He is among the few farmers in India who’ve efficiently harvested the fruit.
Apart from the range, Lobo additionally grows different 200 forms of vegetation together with fruits and flowers on his terrace farm. And the most effective half? He solely makes use of natural fertilisers and methods corresponding to hydroponics to farm.
Right here is all you want to find out about this humble farmer’s magnificent farm –
‘All I’ve is a terrace’
Born in a small village in Udupi, Lobo grew up in a farming household. “It’s all I had identified for many of my childhood. I had all the time been enthusiastic about farming and felt a reference to vegetation,” he says.
When you may discover it odd {that a} teenager wished to take up farming as a occupation, it was all Lobo had ever wished. “I had wished to check out new methods of rising vegetation successfully and profitably. I knew stepping into the occupation that it’s extra passion-driven than revenue,” he says.
He continues, “Nonetheless, my household land was caught in a battle and I couldn’t farm on it. We come from humble backgrounds and people lands have been our solely assist. My dream gave the impression to be out of attain for a second however I made a decision to maintain going.”
Lobo, together with his data of farming and vegetation, began consulting and landscaping different individuals’s farms.
“I additionally wished to ensure that my household eats effectively. The market is filled with chemical-laden meals and I couldn’t enable myself to devour it. So, I made a decision to practise farming on my terrace. It was not very massive however sufficient to observe my dream and ensure my household eats effectively,” he says.
Lobo began to search for on-line sources and YouTube movies to know the way to arrange a terrace backyard. At the moment, he grows 32 jasmine vegetation in his terrace backyard, three of them utilizing the hydroponics technique, together with 200 forms of fruits like mulberry, chikoo, and mangoes.
Rising the world’s costliest mango selection
“I had been rising varied forms of gulf berries on my terrace and was additionally rising some mangoes as effectively. Once I had efficiently grown these, why not attempt Miyazaki? I knew that it was laborious to develop in India,” he explains.
Not realising the financial worth of the range, he handled it like another mango plant. “Again then, I didn’t give any particular consideration to the plant. I fed it my authentic and standard combination that I give to all my different vegetation. It took the plant three-and-a-half years to yield. I didn’t know what its worth was, so my household and I consumed it,” he says.
“It was a information reporter who was doing a narrative on my terrace farm who recognised the mango’s price,” he shares.
“It was after that report that I realised that it value a lot. Since then, I’ve been getting requests to learn to develop it. Nonetheless, I should not have a lot to share besides my soil combine,” he says.
Speaking in regards to the selection, Lobo says, “The variability comes from Japan which doesn’t have the fitting climate situations to develop mangoes, and the farmers normally use polyhouse methods to develop them. The mango is thought for its varied well being advantages and distinctive style,” he says.
Sharing his ‘magic’ combination, he says, “I make it at residence and it incorporates 9 minerals. It’s made utilizing cow dung, sheep manure, selfmade curd, and vegetable waste. This combination has a excessive dietary worth that helps the plant develop.”
“In a develop bag, I combine 50 p.c of this combination together with 50 p.c soil for the Miyazaki mango,” he shares.
All of the manure that he makes use of additionally comes from the cows that he has domesticated in his residence. “We feed them wholesome natural meals to get produce from them too,” he shares.
He provides, “As for the bugs, I’m strictly towards utilizing any form of chemical pesticides as a result of they’re dangerous to the vegetation. I solely use a combination of neem oil and spray it on the vegetation.”
Each 30 days, the Miyazaki Mango is given the combination to maintain it wholesome.
Lobo is planning to make use of the present mango plant as a mom plant to make extra of them.
“I don’t intend to promote the fruit anymore. It’s for my household and mates to devour. Nonetheless, I’ve began making mini vegetation for others to purchase and take a look at rising. I’ve made 25 this yr and have already offered 13 out of them,” he says.
The vegetation are available for purchase for Rs 2,500 if you’re a gardening fanatic like Lobo. You may attain out to him at 96110 12451.
(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All Photographs Credit score: Joseph Lobo)
