Ravi Prakash Maurya, a former journalist from Mansoorpur, Uttar Pradesh, by no means imagined that his profession would take a flip towards farming. Nonetheless, after his father’s passing in 2016, Ravi returned to his ancestral village and determined to pursue agriculture, looking for a path that felt extra related to his roots. It was throughout this time that he found the potential of black crops — crops like rice, wheat, tomato, turmeric, ginger, and, most notably, black potatoes.
Ravi’s journey into farming started with black potatoes, a novel selection with deep purple pores and skin and flesh. He sourced them from a farmer in Rae Bareilly, intrigued by their exceptional well being advantages. These potatoes are wealthy in antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins, that are recognized for his or her disease-fighting properties.
“A kilo of tubers (underground stem or root of a plant) can yield round 15 kg of potatoes,” Ravi shares, describing how he rapidly noticed the potential for this nutrient-packed crop.
Beginning with a small patch of land, Ravi grew black potatoes utilizing conventional farming strategies and farmyard manure. With an preliminary funding of round Rs 6,000 per bigha, he was in a position to produce a yield of roughly 90 quintals.
Though the harvest of black potatoes is smaller in comparison with common potatoes, Ravi believes that their excessive demand and premium costs make them a worthwhile choice for farmers. His focus was on each rising these potatoes himself and educating different farmers about the advantages of black crops.
Quickly, phrase unfold, and Ravi’s ‘black potatoes’ gained reputation. Overwhelmed with orders, Ravi has already provided these distinctive tubers to greater than 500 farmers throughout 15 states. Along with offering seeds, he provides invaluable steerage to assist farmers succeed. He’s obsessed with sharing his information and highlighting the well being advantages of black crops, together with advocating for sustainable farming practices that would assist enhance soil well being and yield.
At the moment, Ravi is named the ‘Black Potato Champion’ — a person serving to 1000’s of farmers to develop crops that improve each their well being and their livelihoods.
Edited by Khushi Arora
