Two women harvest capsicum at a farm in Sundargarh. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal.

Rourkela, Sept. 2: A vegetable revolution is silently happening in Sundargarh district, typically known for its industries, including the Rourkela steel plant.

In the past three decades, there has been a growing change in the mindset of the residents as more and more educated youths are getting into farming. Visit the local markets and you will realise this.

Vinod Pradhan, 22, a graduate from Badgaon area of the district, comes with his produce loaded on a mini transport vehicle to Rajgangpur. He decided to join his father after completing his studies. And today, both of them earn handsomely by selling the vegetables that they produce on their three acres.

“It is not easy to manage a land this big with scarce manpower. All of us in our family, including my grandmother, help out,” said Vinod.

Today, vegetables produced in the district are finding their way to national market. Capsicum, cauliflower, broccoli and bush beans are sent to places such as Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur or nearer home to Bhubaneswar.

Roshan Sahu, 28, a resident of Nuagaon, who frequents Jhirpani and Bisra weekly markets, feels proud that his produce is being supplied to places outside the state. “Middlemen source capsicum from me and my fellow producers and send it to Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bengal,” he said.

Whether it is Vikash Agarwal, in his forties, at Nuagaon producing watermelon or graduate Dusmanta Swain, 25, producing broccoli at Gurundia for Bengal, they are all part of a small but growing tribe of educated vegetable growers. This is fast becoming a profession for which they are passionate.

As Vinod said: “I love it very much. Farming has given me the opportunity to stay with my family instead of being in an alien place in search of a profession for which I have no passion.”

However, most of them lament that there is no cold storage facility for which they sometime go for distress sale. Ramesh, who, this year produced watermelon for the first time, said: “Cold storage facilities in the district will save us from distress sale.”

District collector B.S. Punia agreed that the district badly needed cold storages.

“The government gives 50 per cent subsidy for setting up cold storages under the National Horticulture Mission. Interested persons may come forward. Three parties have shown interest in this regard.”

Punia also said that the district administration was going to sensitise upcoming entrepreneurs about setting up cold storages.