Small farmer Rinku Devi is from the Sheela village under Simaria Block of Chatra. She used to grow tomatoes and cauliflower but never got a good harvest. For the last two years, she has been cultivating marigold in about an acre of land.
The initiative was taken by the State Rural Development Department, to promote women living in the remote areas of Jharkhand to cultivate marigolds by providing saplings and other support required for it, making them self-dependent.
Farmers who used to be involved in traditional farming with minimal profit have started taking up marigold cultivation, drawing nearly 1.5 lakh profit per acre every year in Jharkhand.
"I have been cultivating marigolds for three years. Earlier, we grew tomatoes and cauliflower that required more investment, but they never gave a good yield and we ran losses as the plants would die very often," said Rinku Devi.
She added that traditional farming required more pesticides and fertilizers, resulting in either no profit or huge losses at the end of the season. "Marigold cultivation is profitable as it requires less investment and gives better harvest with a lot of profit. It also does not require any hard work between plantation and harvesting," said Rinku Devi.
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