Ranchi: In Chaura village of Murulsudi Panchayat of Kasmar block located in Bokaro marigold flowers are not only spreading fragrance in the air but the lives of women farmers who are involved in its cultivation are also being enriched. Lilu Devi is one of those women farmers who has changed the life of her family by cultivating marigold flowers in just a few months. Lilu Devi started cultivating marigold flowers with just a few thousand rupees. Four months after that she made a profit of more than one lakh rupees.
Lilu Devi said with the help of the state government she got training in marigold flower cultivation. With the help of the government, she brought five thousand marigold flowers of hybrid breed from West Bengal. In this work, her son Laguna Kisku and other family members are also extending a hand in earning good income. Lilu Devi, along with other farmers of Kasmar block, were very disappointed due to the lack of production as expected from the traditional cultivation of paddy and tomato crops for the last two years. Many farmers made up their mind to plant a new crop. During this time, women were motivated by the government to take up multigrain farming.
Lilu also showed interest in this and all the family members also agreed. After this she started cultivating marigold flower by getting loan from the government. Along with this, mixed cultivation of mustard and arhar was also done in the field and this experiment was successful. The farmers are very happy with the income coming from the cultivation of marigold flowers. Apart from Bokaro, their flowers are sent to Ramgarh/Bokaro where merchants buy flowers. There is good profit in the cultivation of this crop.
A garland made from a plant of only one and a half to two rupees is easily sold in the market for 10 to 12 rupees. A garland sells for 20 to 25 rupees in a festive environment. In this way, with the efforts of the state government, farmers are enriching their lives by spreading fragrance in their lives by cultivating flowers along with traditional farming. Bokaro DC Kuldeep Chowdhary said that Marigold and other flowers are being cultivated by women in various blocks/panchayats of the district due to this they are becoming independent.