Bengaluru: Prakash Chand Rana is a retired Army colonel. He retired in the year 2007. Since then, he has taken up farming. 

Today, 12-14 years down the line, he continues to farm in a blissful manner and earns lakhs as profits.

People fondly call him the Turmeric Man of Himachal Pradesh. 

He says, “When I came to the village after retirement, I saw that people were getting bored with farming. Most of the youth were migrating. The few people who were doing farming were also doing their work. In such a situation, I decided why not do commercial farming so that people can be connected with employment and prevent migration”.

After cultivating turmeric, this is what he has to say: “Unless the farmer insists on value addition, he will not get good profits. By selling raw turmeric or by selling any such product directly, there will be limited income. So I insisted on processing. Started making powder from turmeric. Launched some pickles. Similarly, from next year onwards, started the cultivation and processing of garlic, ginger, chilli and medicinal plant. Other farmers of the village were also linked to this. I bought their products myself and started processing and marketing”.

What sets him apart is his love for integrated farming. He grows multiple crops that include ginger, turmeric and garlic. Apart from these, he grows guavas, mangoes, lemon, kidney beans and corn. 

He adds, “I also do fisheries and poultry farming. The advantage of this is that the food needs of the chickens are fulfilled by the corn and the food needs of the fish are from the faeces of the chickens. Similarly, you do not have to depend on outside resources for fertilizer and water. That is, every product in this model meets each other's needs. This reduces expenses and increases profits. Manpower is also saved”.