Success Stories
Ramsinghbhai
Climbing to Better Days with Creeper
In the Katarvant village of Chhota-Udepur, most farmers depend on traditional agriculture, such as paddy, maize, chili, brinjal, and tomato, which has an average economic value.
To address this problem Shroff’s Foundation Trust introduced and promoted creeper vegetables in the area as it has high economic value. Right now SFT is only promoting ivy guard (Tindora) and -pointed guard (Parvar) but there is one farmer who got inspired by the concept of growing creeper vegetables and adopted it.
This story is of Ramsinghbhai from Katarvant village and how he adopted creeper vegetables just by guidance.
Ramsinghbhai 31 is the residence of Katarvant village of Chhota-Udepur districts, he was associated with Shroffs Foundation Trust (SFT) back in 2014 in Rotary E 3 phase-I where his land got leveled in this particular program, where he grew paddy and maize now. He got around 75 quintals of paddy last season from which he was able to earn ₹ 1, 65, 000 and paddy yielded last season 105 quintals from which he was able to earn ₹ 2,31,000.
On his 1 acre of land, he was growing watermelon earlier and it was giving him income also but it was not enough for him to take care of the expenses and he was not satisfied with it. SFT field staff was in touch with him as he was part of earlier interventions so he told his problem to the field staff then they suggested he grow creeper vegetables instead of watermelon as it would give him regular yielding and extra income.
In his words” I was earlier growing watermelon which was not giving me expected result than Sureshbhai from SFT once told me to grow creeper vegetable as it will give regular yielding with less effort and watermelon is seasonal but creeper vegetable will grow throughout the year so I decided to grow creeper vegetables”
He grew Turai (Ridge Gourd) he got 5000 plants from Pavi-Jetpur, a nearby town from Chhota-Udepur. He planted it 3 months back and got 4,000 KG of Turai in the span of 3 months from which he was able to earn ₹ 1, 20,000, he was happy with the result so along with watermelon in 24 Guntha land he grew choli (Black-eyed pea) which is yet to give him yield but he is looking forward to it.
Ramsingbhai’s journey shows how just a little bit of guidance and small shifts in farming practices can lead to meaningful change. What started as an experiment with creeper vegetables has now become a source of alternative income and renewed hope. His story is a reminder that with the right support and willingness to try something new, even traditional farmers can cultivate success.