Turning it around with pickles

In a rare display of innovation, an Udaipur farmer managed to not just cut losses on his farm produce but also managed to make a neat profit.

Lachhiram Jat, a farmer from Udaipur switched from jowar and mustard to plant 695 lemon trees on his 17 acres of land. After six years of care, 649 of these survived to give him a bumper produce this year. But when he reached the mandi at Udaipur to sell the produce, he was in for a rude shock. "I managed to get Rs 35 per kilo for my crop the first day. But before the week was over, all the broker was offering me was seven rupees per kilo," said Lachiram.

Speaking to DNA, he said, "Rather than settle for a distress sale and incur losses, I returned home with the produce unsold. I consulted a professor of agriculture to know the preservation techniques and got down to making lemon pickle."

"Lachiram is an innovator. He has established an industry in his house. Its exemplary," said Dr Gajendra Kumar Mathur, former professor of Agriculture.