: 60-YO Farmer Earns Lakhs Blazes a Trail By Making His Own Clothes! #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture Each year, India produces an average of 5,770 thousand metric tonnes of cotton making it the worlds highest

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60-YO Farmer Earns Lakhs Blazes a Trail By Making His Own Clothes! #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture
Each year, India produces an average of 5,770 thousand metric tonnes of cotton making it the worlds highest producer. The first evidence of cotton use was found in India and Pakistan, and dates from about 6,000 B. C. Scientists believe that cotton was first cultivated in the Indus delta.
One among the indigenous cotton farmers is 60-year-old Surendra Pal from Dhingwali in Fazilka, Punjab, who has been cultivating cereals, pulses and oilseeds as well. In 2012, he began processing the cotton to make natural garments.
Surendra, who completed his education till Class 10, says that in his village people would either get into the army or would get into agriculture and cultivate their family land. Speaking to The Better India, he says, “Like a few others in my village, I also tried to get into the Indian army but was unable to and that steered me into agriculture. � Given that Surendra lived in a joint family and had a large area of land already under cultivation, it was only a matter of joining them.
“I was always inclined towards natural farming and never felt the need to use any chemical fertilisers. Even when I did use chemical fertilisers, it was of very small quantity. Since 1992, I have been practising organic and natural farming. �
Surendra Pal
On the family land, Surendra has been cultivating fruits like tangerine and guava and also cereals and pulses like wheat, bajra, jowar, maize, sesame and cotton. “A majority of our own family needs are taken care of with what we grow. Now, we also make our own clothes,� he says.
Journey of cotton cultivation
A look at the cotton and the end product.
Speaking about the cotton cultivation, Surendra says, “I have been cultivating cotton in my 4 acres of land. While indigenous cotton was cultivated in North-India and then spun on chakras to make cloth, that process is long gone now. Today, farmers growing indigenous cotton are a rare breed. Most farmers cultivate a hybrid variety ‘Bt Cotton’ but Surendra says he has never planted hybrid cotton.
“One of the major reasons why cottonseed was harvested was the livestock. Besides the green fodder and mustard cake that they are given, cottonseed is also part of their feed. Once the cotton plant is harvested what is left behind is the cottonseed that is used as cattle feed. “Even though farmers are now feeding their cattle with the hybrid variety of cotton, that is not good for the cattle and therefore the reason to grow indigenous cotton in an organic method is even more relevant,� he says.
Cotton is sown in the month of May and cultivated by October. To cultivate cotton the land needs to be well ploughed.

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