54 mins ago
Fazilka Farmer Turns Debt Into Sheep And Agroforestry Success
Harbhinder Singh Sandhu is a farmer from Fazilka who faced several serious farming problems.
Waterlogging destroyed his family’s kinnow orchards, and delayed sugar-mill payments helped create heavy debt.
Cotton diseases and the Covid-19 pandemic caused more losses in later businesses.
Instead of quitting, he looked for farming activities that could survive difficult conditions.
He planted trees and crops together through agroforestry.
He also started raising sheep after buying eight animals in 2021.
His farm now has nearly 1,000 sheep and sells animals for breeding and meat.
Sandhu’s three children help manage the farm while also studying or working in other professions.
The farm also trains other farmers and employs about 20 people.
Harbhinder Singh Sandhu overcame waterlogging, crop failures, delayed sugar-mill payments and a dairy setback after accumulating Rs 5-6 crore in family debt.
He expanded agroforestry from five to six acres in 2018 to around 30 acres over six years.
After visiting the Central Institute for Research on Goats in 2021, he began commercial sheep farming with eight sheep costing about Rs 70,000.
ARU Sheep Farm now has nearly 1,000 sheep, including about 600 breeding animals and 400 seasonal grazing sheep.
The farm reportedly earns Rs 50-60 lakh annually from animal sales and Rs 45-50 lakh from agroforestry, while training 50-60 farmers weekly.
- Who
- Harbhinder Singh Sandhu, his three children and workers at ARU Sheep Farm.
- What
- Sandhu developed a farming model combining sheep breeding and rearing with agroforestry after earlier agricultural setbacks.
- Where
- Khippanwali village in Fazilka, Punjab, India.
- When
- He formally entered farming in 1994, began agroforestry in 2018 and started commercial sheep farming around 2021.
- Why
- He sought farming activities that could withstand earlier problems, including waterlogging, delayed payments, crop disease and rising dairy costs.
Key facts
- Farmer
- Harbhinder Singh Sandhu, 53, who holds a BSc in Agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University.
- Sheep herd
- Nearly 1,000 animals, including about 600 breeding sheep and 400 seasonal grazing sheep.
- Agroforestry area
- Expanded from five to six acres in 2018 to around 30 acres over six years.
- Sheep-farm revenue
- Sandhu says animal sales generate Rs 50-60 lakh annually.
- Agroforestry revenue
- Tree harvesting and related plantation activities generate Rs 45-50 lakh annually, according to Sandhu.
- Farm workforce
- The operation employs around 20 people, mostly women.
- Training activity
- ARU Farms trains 50-60 farmers every week in sheep breeding, feeding and management.
Quotes
Harbhinder Singh Sandhu
Fazilka farmer and founder of ARU Sheep Farm
“Although I come from a family of big farmers, I have shown a way forward for the farming community, especially small and marginal farmers with one or two acres. They can start sheep farming with 10 breeding sheep and one male and potentially earn 10-20 times more than from wheat and paddy.”
indianexpress.com
“The family’s kinnow orchards were the first casualty of waterlogging, so I started growing sugarcane. Production was not an issue, but delayed payments from sugar mills left us short of working capital and eventually burdened our family with Rs 5-6 crore debt”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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