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For the love of plants

Correspondent

Paindi Jani's little farm has all varieties - flowers, vegetables and fruit-bearing saplings

KORAPUT: He is a person with green fingers. For, almost all plants that he wishes to grow survive in his little farm at Semiliguda. Meet Paindi Jani, a tribal from Lunguri whose Maa Gangeswari Nursery has come a long way in the last three years.

He has more than 25 varieties of flowers in his garden. He also grows vegetables and sells them in the nearby market. Saplings of fruit-bearing varieties also find place in his nursery. Farmers from the neighbourhood purchase them. Jani could not pursue his studies as he lost his parents when he was studying in Class V. He was forced to work as a daily labourer to eke out a living. But his passion to tend plants was so intense that he took a piece of land at Semiliguda investing all his savings. Soon, he developed a small garden called Hill Garden Nursery. He could hone his skills after he underwent training in grafting from government agencies at Laxmipur in 1994. His toil did not go waste, as by 2004 he turned out to be a leading farmer in the district.

Real challenge

It was in this year that he had to face another challenge in his life. His landlord wanted to take possession of the piece of land. With no other option, he purchased a piece of land at Lunguri. He had to spend all his savings again to make it cultivable. Help came in the form of a loan from Utkal Gramya Bank which enabled him to dig a well and purchase a pumpset.

Integrated Horticulture Development Project (IHDP) in the district came forward with a financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakhs and helped Paindi develop a nursery under Small Private Nursery scheme, says Krushna Chandra Pani, a horticulturist. Some 12 persons work in his farm and they all stay with Paindi.

A happy man now, Paindi hopes that his son and two daughters who are in school now complete their studies and help him in his endeavour.

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