This postgraduate farmer has perfectly translated his knowledge of agriculture in the field for livelihood, research, training and extension in Himachal Pradesh (HP).
Yussouf Khan, 50, who specialised in Mycology and Plant Pathology, bought land to venture into cultivation of mushrooms and vegetables 18-years back in Una is a leading farmer, now apart from being a field resource person for two of his alma maters- CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University Palampur and Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan.
The undergraduate students from agriculture come to him regularly for exposure visits and even internship for a practical know-how at the end of their course. Besides, he has buyers for his expertise from Bahrain and some other countries for mushroom projects.
“It wasn’t easy. I left the comforts of a big time job in a multi-national for farming and took 27 Kanals land on roadside in Una, where I could find local market. I suffered huge losses due to natural calamities and that time, even the bank refused to bail me out with finances. From vehicle, I had to shift to a cycle for mobility. But I was determined. I struggled and overcame the difficulties. I am satisfied as I keep diversifying to stay to avoid stagnation,” Yussouf told The Statesman.
He hails from Chaukat village in Kangra district and belongs to an average family with his parents subsistent farmers.
At his Khan Mushroom Farm and Training Centre at Nangal Salangri in Una, Yussouf has established spawn lab, the compost units and he produces around 250 kilograms mushroom daily, barring two months in a year. “I focus more on compost units and provide them to farmers across the state and in parts of Punjab,” he said.
He has established six poly houses, where he grows vegetables. The local market in Una gives him remunerative prices.“I have keen buyers here because I produce exotic vegetables, which are otherwise well and keep researching.
I have been producing seedless cucumber and making it available to locals at normal prices. Such cucumber is otherwise available in markets like Chandigarh, Delhi at high price,” said Yussouf.
He recently experimented on hydroponic cucumbers, which are grown in water with nutrients in it.
“I have developed my own formulation with the help of nutrients from Germany and I took first crop of hydroponic cucumber last year,” he said. He said the initial cost of production of this cucumber is high, but the productivity per plant in this is 5-7 kilograms compared with the normal cucumber crop grown in soil.