Bengaluru: Gopal Dutt Upreti is 47 years old. He hails from Uttarakhand. 

He is a civil engineer and used to work in a construction company in Delhi for 14-15 years. 

But after spending so much of time in Delhi, he got thoughts of moving to his village Raniketh. There, he decided to take up farming. 

Once he made up his decision, there was no looking back for him. 

On his land of 8 acres, he grows vegetables. Today, he has a turnover running into several lakhs. 

Interestingly, his name also features in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

He has to his credit, growing the tallest coriander plant with a height of 7.1 feet (2.16 metre) using traditional Himalayan farming techniques.

As reported by Hindustan Times, the reading goes thus: “The tallest coriander plant is 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) and was grown by Gopal Upreti (India) in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand, India, as measured on 21 April 2020. As an organic farmer, Gopal grows coriander every year. Using traditional Himalayan farming methods brings its own challenges. As the coriander is grown without using a polyhouse or any artificial covering, the crop is sometimes exposed to the harsh Himalayan weather conditions”.

Gopal also grows organic apples. 

The website quotes him further as, “I came back and started focussing on organic farming over four acres of land. As of now, I have over 2,000 apple trees in my orchard. On the sidelines, I also grow garlic and coriander.” 

But life was certainly not smooth for him even as he grew organic apples. Though he grew a number of them, he didn’t get enough customers to sell them. 
That is when he decided to invest time in researching about how to market his produce. Initially, as he gave details about his produce, many were sceptical, but as days wore on, he got a favourable response. 

Today, he earns handsomely as stands as an example of sheer grit and determination.