SwaminarayanTrust startsbamboo plan-tation withArtison

Swaminarayan Trustof Gujarat has al-

ready started largescale plantation of“Katanga” bamboo.Apart from the earningsfrom bamboo planta-tion, the intention of theTrust is to contribute to-wards the revival of thedeteriorating nature.With this noble inten-tion, the trust is alsopromoting bamboo plan-tation in local farmingcommunity resulting inlarge numbers of state’sfarmers also adapting tobamboo plantation.

SuccessStories

Ajit SeedsMaharashtra

Ajit Seeds of Au-rangabad, Maharash-

tra started bamboo plan-tation on lands withmoderate soil- alkalinity.They have tried variouscrops in the sameplaces, but have notbeen successful. Lastyear they replaced cottonby bamboo on 30 acresland. This effort was verysuccessful as the bam-boo seedlings showedexceptional growth. In 11months the seedlingsreached an averageheight of 10 feet. Nowthey are planning to ex-tend the bamboo planta-tion further on the re-maining land-patches.

ARTISON FAMILY AND A NEW SAGAOF GREEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTCREATING A GREEN SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY IS AN EARNEST ENDEAVOUR

OF ARTISON FAMILY. THIS MODEL IS A MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT

AFFORESTATION AND HELP FARMERS SHIFT TOWARDS A SECURED YET

INCREASED INCOME FROM AGRO-PRODUCE. TO SUCCESSFULLY

IMPLEMENT THE MODEL, WE PARTNER WITH FARMERS IN THE ON-FIELD

PLANTATION OF BAMBUSA BAMBOS, AN INDIGENOUS SPECIES AND ONE

OF THE HIGHEST DENSITY BAMBOOS OF THE WORLD. OUR BUY-BACK

AGREEMENT ENSURES A LONG-TERM SECURED INCOME FOR THE

FARMERS.

DebopamMukherjee

Founder,Artison Agrotech

Artison has established direct outreach to 14,900 villages in 3 States.

Artison’s founder

Mr Debopam Mukherjee

with the Honourable Chief

Minister of Maharashtra

DEWAS FACTORY: Artison Agrotech has set up itsfirst Glue Board production unit on 4 acres land in

Khatamba village, Dewas (45 km from Indore). Tosupport production, Artison has already started

buying green bamboo from the farmers.

INDORE OFFICE: Artison’s Corporate Office is inIndore and is functioning since a long-time. Thisoffice is a demonstration of how future corporateoffices with bamboo and bamboo-based boards canbe made a reality.

DEWASFACTORY

INDOREOFFICE

In the last 3 years, ArtisonAgrotech has established strong-hold in three (3) states. Artisonhas significant presence in:

l 21 districts, 140 tehsils cover-ing 10,150 villages in MadhyaPradesh.

l 12 districts, 60 tehsils covering3,000 villages in Maharashtra.

l 35 tehsils covering 1750 vil-lages in Gujarat.

Currently

Artison’spresence can be

felt in thousandsof villages of

Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,

Gujarat andRajasthan.

Local farmers visited the Dewas unit with Artison’s founder Mr Debopam Mukherjee

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2018-19

ARTISON family willsource bamboo from

the farmers to produceParticle Board and MDF.The Madhya Pradeshgovernment has alreadyallocated 174 acres landin Dharampuri Tehsil,near Dhamnod, to Arti-son to set up the manu-facturing unit. This isthe first unit in theWorld to manufactureParticle Board and MDFfrom 100% bamboo. Inaddition, the Maharash-tra government has allo-cated 200 acres land inWardha, near Nagpur forthe subsequent unit. Allthe engineered boardsand products will bemanufactured in accor-dance with the Interna-tional standards. ArtisonAgrotech intends to em-ploy approx. 25,000 peo-ple in the productionunits. Including indirectemployment, the totalemployment figure willbe more than 2 lacs.

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WHAT IS AGRO-FORESTRY INTER-CROPPING MODEL

Agroforestry intercropping model ie the commercialmodel of agriculture is the most suitable for

cultivation of Bambusa Bambos, an indigenous bamboospecies which is the highest density bamboo species of the

world. Many agro-scientists and agro-experts have highlyappreciated this model. According to this model two

adjacent bamboo seedlings are planted at a little distancefrom each other. The land in between the gap is then used

for cultivation of traditional crops such as soya bean,wheat, bengal gram, onion etc.

After 3 years of plantation, when the bamboo

forms canopy, the farmer could grow shade-

loving crops such as turmeric, ginger, alovera,

asparagus and many other vegetables and

flowers along with the bamboo plantation. This

will provide substanderd revenue to the farmer

per acre apart from the big return from

bamboo plantation.

Bamboo The Crop of The futureBAMBOO PLANTATIONAT NOMINAL EXPENSEBamboo plantation is not avery expensive one. Bamboousually doesn’t have problemwith pests, therefore it does-n’t incur the cost of pesticide.Bamboo clump are best suit-ed to stop soil erosion causedby monsoon water. In additionit is renowned for bringingback fertility to the land. Theexpected life of bamboo is 70-80 years. Therefore, once itsettles the seedling can sur-vive for 6-7 decades andcould be an avenue of en-hanced farming income with-out any further investment.

WHY DO PLANTATIONWITH ARTISONArtison Agrotech is committed to farming of Bam-busa Bambos. We need it for commercial usagehence we are joining hands with farmers for itsplantation. Before providing the bamboo seedlings,Artison makes buy-back agreement with the farm-ers. Artison is contractually obliged to buy bamboofor forty years at a predetermined price.

Bamboo price- MSP of sug-arcane as per year 2017

(Rs. 255/quintal )

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Bambusa Bambos is anindigenous specious of

India and the highest densi-ty bamboo of the world.Day-by-day, its cultivation isbecoming a profitable busi-ness. The reason being thedemand for bamboo world-over is increasing exponen-tially. This generation ofdemand has influencedfarmers in many countriestowards bamboo plantation.Entrepreneurs are alsocoming forward to take ad-vantage of the situation.Bambusa Bambos is thefirst choice for bambooplantation because of itssuperior quality to substi-tute timber. The expectedgross income of a farmerfrom its plantation is 2- 4lac Rs per acre per year. Incomparison to the earningsfrom any conventional crop,this earning is substantial-ly high. Therefore planta-tion of Bambusa Bambos isa risk-free recourse to afarmer for a lucrative re-turn.

BAMBOO GROWS ONALL TYPES OF LANDBamboo can grow on alltypes of land. The presenceof moderate amount ofmoisture in the soil is con-ducive to its growth. With lit-tle effort, bamboo can begrown on black cotton soil,red-soil, stony soil and earthwith substantial amount of“moorum”.

MARKET COMING TOYOUR FARMYARDOnce a farmer partners Arti-son in bamboo plantation, hedoesn’t need to worry aboutselling his bamboo crop. Simi-lar to the famous and suc-cessfully implemented AMULModel of Gujarat, this bambooplantation model is a long-term relationship between thefarmer and Artison, where inaddition to the pre-determinedprice, the farmer will also geta share of profit as bonus.Bamboo plantation, harvest-ing, logistics and green bam-boo processing will create agood number of employmentsin the village level. And we fellproud to state that theprocess has already started.

UNIQUENESS OF BAMBOOReceding forestlands are re-sulting in unavailability oftimber. In such condition,the big multinational compa-nies are looking forward tobamboo as a superior tim-ber substitute. Comparing bystrength to weight ratio,bamboo is better than steel,once crystallized and henceit can be taken into usage insome places instead ofsteel.

PLANTATION MODEL PRODUCTION & EXPOR T MODEL

BAMBOO

BUSINESS AND

THE BEGINNING

OF A NEW GREEN

REVOLUTION

Whenever we hear the word“business”, we quickly

link it with prosperity. That iswhy connecting “bamboo” with“business” has become an im-portant factor. Over time, thegovernments have understoodits importance too and for thefirst time in the history, the an-nual budget for the year 2018-19has apportioned Rs 1290 croresfor bamboo cultivation. Thestep has been complemented bythe Central Governmentthrough law reforms. Bamboois taken out from the purviewof the forest department andhas been given the status of“crop”. Government must becommended for these necessarysteps to commercialise thebamboo industry and encour-age bamboo entrepreneurship.Now the farmers should seri-ously consider the profitabilityof bamboo cultivation andadopt it asap.This whole process signals thebeginning of a new Green Rev-olution. By joining it, we willnot only contribute bringing in-ternational recognition to-wards the bamboo trade in In-dia but also will work towardsthe conservation of environ-ment.

n BHOOMIKAKALAM

PLANT GROWTH FROM

DRIP IRRIGATION GOODBAMBOO STANDING TALL ONSTONY TERRAIN

Farmer Kishore Jaat planted bamboo on apiece of farmland with stony soil. He plant-

ed 1000 seedlings on 3 acres land. The mostimportant thing is that the land on whichbamboo seedlings were planted had been ly-

ing unused for years. MrJaat explains that on hear-ing about Katanga bamboocultivation, he showed in-terest and got into it. Hisland soil was red moorumtype with stones strewn onit. He engaged labours to

clear the stones, used drip irrigation from thebeginning and that helped bamboo to growfast. Arhar (yellow chick-peas) Crop takenwith intercropping model: Mr. Jaat also addsthat he adopted inter-cropping model andplanted Arhar with Katanga Bamboo. He gotunbelievably high yield of Arhar three timesin one year.

BAMBOO WILL ENSURE A SE-

CURED ANNUAL RETURN

Farmer Sunil Sharma planted 1000 plantson 3 acres land. The age of the plants is

currently 19 months and they are now 12 to15 feet tall. Adopting agro-forestry methodol-ogy, he planted bamboo in 15 * 8 feet mod-

el. So far he has takenwheat, chana (horse-gram)and soybean from thespace allotted for inter-cropping. With this, thefarmer has received in-come from traditionalcrops from the same farm-

land before bamboo harvest. Sunil Sharmatold that he decided to try-out bamboo plan-tation to ensure a secured income for 40years. He mentioned that due to thechanges in weather pattern in the last fewyears, the expected returns from the tradi-tional crops are going down.

LEFT THE PROFESSION OF A

DOCTOR TO START BAMBOO

CULTIVATION

Doctor Abhishek Bishnoi is one of the ear-ly-adopting farmers who took up the new

model of agro-farming. Vishnoi, a dentist byprofession, planted Katanga bamboo on 3

acres. Since July 2017,other crops, following inter-cropping model, are beingtaken regularly with bam-boo. During the discus-sions, Vishnoi shared hispast experience that the

traditional crops are costing more and thereturns from them are diminishing. He waslooking for a solution to this problem and asrecourse, under the guidance of the ArtisonAgrotech, planted Katanga bamboo. Hisplants are now 19 months old.

COTTON WITH BAMBOO – A SUC-

CESSFUL INTERCROPPING MODEL

Mr. Mukesh Lalwani name is one of therenowned and respected names among

the business community of Jalgaon. Mukeshalready had different varieties of bamboo on

his fields and he alsoearned sizable profitthrough the sale of bam-boos. But in the absenceof a right buyer, he wasunable to increase hisprofit. He saw a good in-come opportunity in the

company. Bamboo farming project and heplanted 4500 Katanga bamboo seedlings onhis Sirsoli farm. Now he is staunch supporterof bamboo plantation and taking the bene-fits of intercropping model by planting cottonwith bamboo.

INFORMATION ON

FARMER PRODUC-

ER ORGANIZA-

TION

The company is in theprocess of forming a

Farmer Producer Organi-zation (FPO). Artison en-

courages the farmer mem-bers of the FPO to be in

constant contact with oneanother and share his ex-perience of bamboo plan-

tation, especially the prob-lems associated, so thatevery farmer could be

benefitted from this initia-tive. The group organises

farmer-meeting everymonth on the demo-plotswith bamboo plantation.

Prospective Farmers visiting Bamboo Planter’s Farm inDhule District, Maharashtra

Artison’s Founder Mr Debopam Mukherjee during a Farmer Meeting.

Artison’s representative providing information on bambooplantation during a Farmer Meeting.

Kids seminar on Environment and Bamboo Plantation onSwaminarayan Trust’s Farmland, Jaunpur, Ahmedabad

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Comparative Study: Bamboo Cultivation Is Beneficial To Traditional FarmingWhether the land degradesas a result of bamboo farm-ing? Bamboo farming does not makethe soil quality poor. In factbamboo prevents soil erosion.Furthermore we promote inter-cropping with bamboo. A goodinter-cropping yield is an ampleproof that bamboo doesn’t de-grade the land. In addition ver-mi-compost formed under thefallen bamboo leaves is consid-ered the best organic fertilizer.

Whether bamboo consumesmore water and whether itsroots go deep to pull morewater from the ground?

It is just a misconception thatthe roots of bamboo go deep inthe ground to pull more water.In fact, the thin roots of bamboousually go to 4 feet depth. There-fore these roots bind soil. Whenbamboo is cultivated in inter-cropping model, it consumes themoisture that is not utilised bythe traditional crop.

How many bamboo seedlingscan be planted in 1 acre andwhat is the expected expense?Artison promoted this planta-tion model in order to developbamboo for industrial use. Onone acre, 350 seedlings are plant-ed in 15 feet x 8 foot model. As

per this model, farmers cangrow other crops on the 15 feetinter-row section. After 4 yearsof plantation, expected annualyield per acre is 70-100 MT. Forbamboo plantation, the farmerhas to spend for only one singletime yet he could get a securedincome for 40 years. Unlike thetraditional crops, the cost ofbamboo plantation is less too.

How long does it take to getthe bamboo-crop ready forharvest? The harvest of bamboo cropcould start before 4th & 5th yearof plantation. Each bambooclump is expected to generate 6-

7 shoots (green bamboo culm)every year.

What will be the approx.weight of one bamboo pole? The weight of Katanga bamboocould be 70 – 90 kgs and theheight may go up to 70 feet.

At what price Artison willbuy back Katanga bambosabamboos bamboo? As mentioned on the contract,Artison will buy back bamboofrom farmers at a rate of Rs255/- per quintal and it willgrow 3% year-on-year. Theagreement between both theparties is for 40 years.

Artison family ismoving forward

with the mission tocleanse the environ-ment, support the liveli-hood of the farmers andprovide employment topeople especially at therural level. These days,the youth usually ex-pects to get good em-ployment opportunitiesonly after coming to thecities. However, leavingfriend and families tothe villages and migrat-ing to the cities, is not aguaranteed route to suc-cess. In fact failure toestablish happens fre-quently, yet the migra-tion away from the vil-lage doesn’t stop. Tostop the tradition of mi-gration ArtisonAgrotech is creatingemployment entrepre-neur opportunities forthe youth at the village

level. However Artison’sinitiative creates em-ployment opportunityfor the urban youth too.A mentally dejected un-employed young personfeels blessed once he be-comes a cog in Artison’semployment generationplan and works hisheart out towards thesuccessful implementa-tion of the plan. In addi-tion, through thechance to interact withpeople from all strata ofthe society, he gets thechance to develop him-self personally and pro-fessionally. Whoeverwishes to join ArtisonAgrotech, can visit anynearby office of thecompany and submithis/her details & aspira-tion. Artison believes inthe energy of the youthwill continue to createnew opportunities for

A REVOLUTIONARY INITIATIVE BY ARTISONTO CONNECT AGRICULTURE WITH IT

ARTISON AGROTECH IS COMMITTED TO PUT INTO WORK ITS PATH-

BREAKING INITIATIVE TO CONNECT AGRICULTURE WITH COMPUTER.

ACCORDINGLY THE PROCESS OF CAPTURING FARMYARD DATA OF

TRADITIONAL CROPS, INTER-CROPPED ITEMS AND BAMBOO PLANTATION

OF ALL THE PARTNERING FARMERS HAS STARTED. THIS IS A UNIQUE

INITIATIVE TO HELP CROP CERTIFICATION, PREDICT ANNUAL CROP YIELD

THAT WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS

PARAMETERS ON THE YIELD PER ACRE.

n Through an innova-tive mobile application,Artison’s representativewill capture farmer’sdata such as his picture,aadhar card, bank de-tails, GPS co-ordinatesof his farmyard, infor-mation regarding inter-cropping and the nameof nominees.nInformation of previ-ous crops and theirplantation acreages willbe codified.n Through this app thefarmers will be in-formed, well in advance,the tentative time of

harvest. Therefore thefarmer will have time toprepare for the harvestactivities.n This application is amobile based one.Therefore, any post-in-spection suggestion byArtison’s representativealong with the timelineand/or measure of im-plementation could beviewed on the mobile. Itwill be also easy for thefarmers as he could doevery necessary data up-load/download throughthe mobile.nMost Importantly: In

case the bamboo showsany symptom of diseaseand the field visit of theagronomist is arranged,then a message regard-ing the meeting timeand date will be commu-nicated to the farmer onhis mobile. This wouldbe beneficial for thefarmer as he could bepresent on-site to have aface-to-face discussionwith the agronomist.n The suggestions givenby the agronomist couldbe seen by the farmer onhis mobile so he neednot memories the same.

For further information please visit our website http://artisonagrotech.comor e-mail us to : info@artisonagrotech.com

career@artisonagrotech.comArtison founder Mr Debopam Mukherjee at the farm of Ramchandra Patel(Kharkalan) where growing worlds highly density bamboo ‘bembusa bembus’

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The Marching Steps of Our Youth