Retired Honorary Army Captain Lekh Raj Sharma is 91 years old and has a sparkling passion that even young ones find difficult to adopt.
He travels all the way from Chandigarh to his native village, Nari in Una district of Himachal Pradesh every week, to look after his mushroom cultivation that he has developed in the premises of Vikas Sadan.
He spends three days a week there. He monitors growth of mushrooms and assists local women in packing of newly-reaped mushrooms in 200g packets.
He started this cultivation process in two lots, in which he procured 500 bags of ready to grow button mushrooms. He watered these bags and set the temperature to make sure these grow and nurture properly. He also makes sure that no mushroom is whitened by using hazardous chemicals for making it look appealing. His idea of production is different than what we usually see in the markets.
Mushrooms take a few weeks to two months for growing and nurturing. One bag could give 1.5-2 kg button mushrooms, that means 500 bags could provide 1000 kg mushrooms.
“The process has not been that easy”, he said while talking about different challenges he has gone through in this entire process. “While I was thinking of this cultivation, many people warned me about losses that I am going to face. However, my zeal always remained high. I was clear in my goals that I have to create a suitable model that can help farmer in getting better incomes and price of the crops.”, he further told.
He started this venture in September 2018, and after facing a few initial losses, his initiative is finally making profits.
One of the major problems is the presence of middlemen between producer and farmer, because they buy their produce at lower rates and sell it to consumers at a higher rate.
“A lot of of money gets wasted in doing so. Someone has to take the call and help farmers reach out to the markets where they can deal with their consumers directly”, says Sharma.
With the harvest season coming to an end, he has already made the plans for next season. He plans to skip summers as it would require high costs for air conditioners. Thus, he has taken the challenge of growing mushrooms with the double target of 1,000 units during the Monsoon Season.
He is also searching for avenues who want to collaborate with him to make this initiative economically sustainable.
When asked when is he going to stop working, he said “if I sit at home and do no good to others, how will I reach 100?”
He has been able to work all these years successfully because of his sons Devinder Sharma and Sudhirendar Sharma’s constant support. Devinder is in agriculture and food policy business. Since the last ten years, he has been working as an agriculture correspondent, in order to bring together farmers leaders. He writes columns for them and delivers lecture and bring in front their problems, while Sudhirendar is a water expect who works in the direction of solving crucial environmental issues.
My father is my inspiration. While people of his age are chanting prayers, my father is constantly working towards providing a better life to those who are in need of it. He would soon be 92, but I have never seen him giving up. He says, “I am a soldier. A soldier cannot die in bed, he is the one who keeps going on”, shares Devinder.
He also tells about his father’s favourite Shakespeare’s quote that says “Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.”
My father is retired, getting his pension and living his life comfortably. But he doesn’t want all this. He wants to step forward and empower people like him.
While signing off, he says “There are about 5,910 voters in Punjab and 5,916 in Haryana who have crossed the age of hundred. Haryana has over 89,000 senior citizens between the age of 90 and 99. However, we never get to hear about them. My father is a voice for them. He clearly proves that you are never too old to bring a change.”
Image Credits – Agri Cafe
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