The crops I tried, the mistakes I made and the lessons that now guide every new planting.
When the Soil Said “No”
Guava - In 2019, I visited a few guava farms, learned the basics, and decided to try it myself. I planted 250 guava trees with Allahabad Safeda and Taiwan Pink varieties.
The plants grew well. For the first year, I removed all the flowers to help them grow stronger. When the yield finally started, the real challenges began: Birds damaged the ripening fruits during sunrise and sunset. Since I wasn’t present on the farm every day, it was difficult to control them Without using pesticides, fruit flies became a major issue and spoiled the fruits
What looked promising became difficult to sustain, and I eventually had to remove all the plants grown for an year.
Papaya - Towards the end of 2019, I tried papaya farming with 600 Red Lady plants. With organic manure and regular care, the plants grew well and flowering started.
I used buttermilk as a natural pesticide, and the yield was good. By early 2020, the fruits began to ripen.
But then came an unexpected challenge. There was no strong local market in Mandya, so I had to transport the produce to Mysore. This was during the COVID lockdown. Inter-district movement was restricted, and the vehicle couldn’t pass through.
The entire effort collapsed, and I had to cut down all 600 plants with fruits on them.
Sapota (Chikoo) - Along with guava, I planted around 250 sapota saplings. These young plants needed shade to survive.
At that time, the coconut trees were still small and couldn’t provide enough cover. Without proper shade, most of the plants couldn’t sustain.
Okra - After a few setbacks, I moved to vegetable farming and planted ladyfinger.
Since I avoided chemical weed control, managing weeds became difficult. This affected the yield, and the results were not as expected.
Pumpkin - I didn’t stop experimenting. I tried pumpkin next, planting seeds myself. The plants grew well, and the yield was strong.
By then, the soil had improved with organic practices, and the pumpkins grew quite large.
However, in the market, smaller pumpkins fetch better prices. The larger ones were valued less, which made it difficult to sell profitably.