As brilliant lights shone on Ravindra Metkar whereas he stood on the rostrum at Lal Bahadur Shastri Nationwide Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), recollections of his life’s challenges flooded his thoughts.
Ravindra, who grew up in a small village within the Amravati district of Maharashtra along with his father working as a peon and three siblings, had a difficult childhood. At 16, he started poultry farming, and now, at 55 years outdated, he discovered himself standing earlier than younger Indian Administrative trainees at LBSNAA in Mussoorie, sharing his inspiring success story!
Yearly, LBSNAA hosts visitor lectures from distinguished civil servants to advise younger IAS trainees on the workings of the administration. On 7 March, 2023, Ravindra was invited to handle 189 trainees.
“I used to be the primary farmer from Maharashtra invited to LBSNAA. It was a proud second for my household and me. I had the chance to work together with future IAS officers who will function mukhiyas (district magistrates) throughout the nation, and the residents in these districts will develop into like their households,” he tells The Higher India.
“Farmers make a big contribution to the district’s productiveness. So IAS officers ought to concentrate on their real-life challenges and perceive what farmers anticipate from them when they’re posted within the districts. I received a chance to assist the trainees perceive this,” he provides.
Beginning with simply 100 poultry hens, Ravindra now owns 1.8 lakh hens on his 50-acre farm in Amravati. We sat down with him to know his experiences as a poultry farmer and the way he managed to realize this feat.
Organising enterprise at 16
To beat monetary constraints, Ravindra labored at a chemist’s retailer that may earn him Rs 5 per day. “We didn’t personal any ancestral land. Our monetary situation was very poor. I keep in mind going to school on foot as I didn’t have a bicycle. I used to restore outdated torn garments to put on to school,” he shares.
Alongside his job at a chemist’s retailer, he ventured into poultry farming after seeing his neighbour’s success, who owned a 400-hen poultry farm. So in 1984, when Ravindra was simply 16, he began poultry farming. And to assist him kickstart this, his father gave him Rs 3,000 from his provident fund.
After getting a 15-day coaching from the federal government division, he arrange a poultry farm with 100 hens on a kachha (mud) slab in his home. Having no prior expertise, he needed to promote eggs and broilers at a low value in comparison with the market.
Step by step, Ravindra was capable of broaden his small enterprise. He went from having 100 to 400 hens inside 10 years.
On this interval, Ravindra accomplished his grasp’s in commerce in 1992, and 4 years later, received married. “Since we got here from an impoverished household and I used to be a farmer, many households rejected me for his or her daughters. Solely after a whole lot of assurances from others was I capable of get married,” he remembers.
In the meantime, Ravindra purchased an acre of land in Amravati. With a financial institution mortgage of Rs 5 lakh, he expanded the farm with 4,000 hens. “By then, I began incomes nicely from the enterprise and received my kachaa home renovated. Quickly after, I expanded the farm to 12,000 hens,” he says.
However his happiness was short-lived. In 2006, India witnessed an outbreak of chook flu that took a toll on the poultry enterprise. “It was the primary chook flu within the nation. Individuals had been scared to devour broilers and eggs. They even pressured poultry farmers to kill their birds. I bought 16,000 broilers for Rs 2–3 per kg, which had been earlier bought at Rs 50–60 per kg,” he says.
“However fortunately, I already had purchased 15-acre land to practise farming. So for these two years, I continued to earn by rising fruit and veggies like oranges, soybean, and tuar dal (pigeon pea),” he provides.
In 2008, he took a mortgage of Rs 25 lakh from a financial institution and restarted the enterprise with 20,000 egg-laying hens. “With income, I saved on growing the birds at my farm. As we speak, I’ve 1.8 lakh hens,” says Ravindra, who has been doing poultry farming for the previous 4 a long time.
He shares that he now earns as much as Rs 60,000 per day by this enterprise.
Sharing learnings with new IAS officers
Through the years, Ravindra superior his farm with improved applied sciences like indoor vertical farming, greenhouse farming, automated watering, drip programs, distant sensing irrigation programs, and natural farming.
“I’ve employed solely 50 staff to handle my poultry farm unfold throughout 50 acres. A lot of the work is automated. For instance, from amassing eggs from broilers and giving feed to poultry birds, to amassing their excreta, the whole lot is ensured utilizing machines,” he informs.
Curiously, in 2013, he was chosen by the state authorities as one of many 80 progressive farmers to be despatched to Europe for a 10-day journey to know the nitty-gritty of increasing the farming enterprise with equipment.
The following yr, he was conferred with the Vasantrao Naik Award by the Maharashtra Authorities. Later in 2021, he acquired the Modern Farmer Award from the Indian Agricultural Analysis Institute (IARI).
In 2022, Ravindra was additionally conferred with the celebrated Jagjivan Ram Abhinav Kisan Puraskar by the Indian Council of Agricultural Analysis (ICAR).
It was due to these awards that Ravindra says that he was capable of set up an id and free himself from corrupt officers on the grassroots. “Many native officers used to come back to me to get hens and eggs without spending a dime frequently. If denied, they’d provoke neighbours to complain in opposition to me for unhealthy odour coming from my poultry farm,” he says.
Apart from this, he provides, “Normally, the Authorities broadcasts compensation when farmers expertise crop losses. For this, patwari (village registrar) is appointed to survey the harm. Within the course of, they search a share within the compensation quantity. If anyone refuses to present the quantity, they take away their names from the record.”
Ravindra says he was capable of spotlight these challenges in entrance of IAS trainees at LBSNAA. He additionally suggested them to not depend on junior officers solely, and to go to farmers’ websites on their very own to know the challenges on the grassroots independently.
“Farmers won’t be able to progress with farming alone. After sowing, it takes 5 months to generate earnings from the crop. Throughout this era, they’re left with none means to earn. So, officers ought to encourage farmers to undertake parallel companies like poultry farming, mushroom farming, silk and cattle rearing, and vermicompost enterprise to spice up their earnings.”
Ravindra shares that it was essential for him to place ahead the farmers’ expectations to those future officers, and to have the ability to have acquired this chance felt like a fantastic achievement. “At LBSNAA, reputed officers lecture the IAS trainees. And that day, a farmer was capable of take the stage. I hope with my work, youthful generations don’t really feel hesitant to hunt a profession in farming,” he says.
Edited by Pranita Bhat; All images: Ravindra Metkar.
