Success Story – 01

1.	Name of the Farmer	Mr.A.Ramu
2.	Father name	Mr.Alagar
3.	Gender	Male
4.	Complete Postal address	Usilankottai Village Mugitham post Thiruvadanai Taluk Ramanathapuram Dt- 623 403
5.	Contact Phone Number and E-mail ID.	9965727971
6.	Land & water assets details	7 acres of Rainfed land
7.	Details of Interventions made by the farmer with methodology	His success in milky mushroom production.(Annexure-1)
8.	Outcome	Recognition from the District collector & other officials from state line departments and notified him as a master trainer milky mushroom production
9.	Lessons learnt from the farmers experience	Innovative and progressive nature yields appreciable returns and recognition.

Milky Mushroom ( Mr.A.Ramu ): KVK offers mushroom production trainings to farmers, farm women, rural youths and self help group from its inception. Mr.A.Ramu residing at Usilanakotti, Thiruvadanai taluk is doing rice cultivation in 7 acre of land holding. He visited KVK and participanted in mushroom production training programme. He started a small oyster mushroom unit at his village. Initially he struggled a lot and with KVK’s technical support and guidance he successfully produced oyster mushroom and marketed in and around thondi. For each and every time he has to depend on TNAU for mushroom spawn. In order to meet the spawn requirement, he wanted to start spawn production also. Subsequently he learnt spawn production technologies from KVK. He established a spawn production laboratory in his farm house itself. He faced a big problem during summer in oyster mushroom production and marketing during the higher production period. He wanted to overcome these problems and approached KVK. The KVK scientists suggested him to go for production of milky mushroom which has higher shelflife than oyster mushroom. Based on this he started a small unit of milky mushroom and introduced it to the local people. The robust natures, white colour, taste and storability in normal condition was well appreciated by all the people. Weather condition of Ramanathapuram is suitable for milky mushroom production. He harvested big sized, white coloured mushrooms. He expanded his milky mushroom unit by reducing the production of oyster mushroom and now he is the sole producer of milky mushroom in Ramanathapuram district. Weather condition of Ramanathapuram is suitable for milky mushroom production. He harvested big sized, white coloured mushrooms. KVK has developed him as a master trainer in mushroom production. KVK Ramanathapuram published his work as success enterpruner in Dinamalar daily and ulavarin valarum velanmai. The district collector appreciated his work and visited his farm. The district administration utilized his experience as master trainer to train self help group through mahalirthittam. 

Success Story - 02

1.	Name of the Farmer	Mr.E. Altrin
2.	Father name	Mr.Emanuvel
3.	Gender	Male
4.	Complete Postal address	FEED Trust Victoria Nagar Thangachimadam Ramanathapuram
5.	Contact Phone Number and E-mail ID.	9487405114 9994168623
6.	Land & water assets details	Running small trust for Physically challenged
7.	Details of Interventions made by the farmer with methodology	Prawn pickle production & marketing (ANNEXXURE-II)
8.	Outcome	Marketing on own brand name
9.	Lessons learnt from the farmers experience	Innovative and progressive nature yields appreciable returns and recognition.

Prawn fish pickle preparation (Mr.Altrin): Mr.Altrin of Ramanathapruam district engaged in fish vending at Rameswaram. He is a physically challenged person and he established an NGO named “FEED TRUST’’ for the upliftment of physically challenged person. Initially their livelihood was with sea shell products, as it was not economically sound he had the idea to go for sea food processing and value addition. This innovative nature made him to undergo vocational training at our KVK during 2008-2009 on value addition. Thereafter he himself along with the physically challenged person started pickle production unit from prawn. He labeled the product and wrapped the bottle using polythene film packing blower. He is preparing 2000 number of prawn pickle and he is selling at the rate of Rs.320/kg. The shelf life of prawn pickle is one year. His products are being sold throughout Tamilnadu and also getting orders from abroad. He is earning an additional income of Rs.30,000/month. He is giving employment to 7 physically challenged people.              

Success Story - 03

1.	Name of the Farmer	Mr.O.Meerasha
2.	Father name	Mr.Osali
3.	Gender	Male
4.	Complete Postal address	2/279 , Flat-A New Masque street Perungulam village & post Ramanathapuram-623 523.
5.	Contact Phone Number and E-mail ID.	7200266045
6.	Land & water assets details	( ANNEXURE – III )
7.	Details of Interventions made by the farmer with methodology	Established own IFS farm
8.	Outcome	His farm is taken as a model farm for IFS system.
9.	Lessons learnt from the farmers experience	Innovative and progressive nature yields appreciable returns and recognition.

Integrated Farming System (Mr.Meerasha): Mr.Meerasha is basically a zoology graduate interested in organic farming. He once contacted our KVK for establishment of IFS unit with animal & crop component. The constant encouragement and consultation with KVK made him to go for many innovative ideas. This led him to think about collection of cattle waste (urine and shed wash). Initially he constructed a separate cement tank of size 10X15X6 feet to collect the spent wash along with cattle urine through a pipeline linking between the shed wash outlet and the cement tank.

Collection tank with motorized pumping system: These collected shed wash along with cattle urine is irrigated at weekly interval to enrich the soil organic content. The entire system is motorized to pump-out the collected wash and urine using a separate filter and pipelines fitted with plastic high density hose of different length so as to cover entire cropped area. This reduces the application urea and phosphorous fertilizers which in-turn maintains the organic matter and growth of beneficial microbes in the soil.

Composting Technologies for Self - Employment

Th. M. Abdul Nabik S/o. Mohammed Ali aged 55 years residing at Perungulam village has been in contact with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Coastal Saline Research Centre, Ramanathapuram for the past three years.  He is holding nine acres, cultivating Gingelly, Maize, Green Gram, Black gram, Groundnut, Watermelon (Hybrid), Coconut and Mango seedlings 175 nos, including all varieties.

The farmer underwent the Vocational training in KVK, Ramanathapuram on vermi composting technologies.  Then he started vermi compost production unit with a capacity of 500 tones/year.  He got the financial aid from the Department of Horticulture under National Horticulture Mission with subsidy.  From the total production, 70 percent of the compost was used for his own farm and remaining 30 percent was marketed to the farmers on low cost basis.  He is also supplying his compost to the needed farmers and motivated his neighbour farmers viz. Seenithevar, Murugesh, Malik and others to use vermi compost to enhance the production and soil fertility.

Based on the test results given by TNAU, Coimbatore he tried further to improve the nutrient content by adding Azophos and Rock phosphate.

He stated that the vermi compost is very much suitable manure for coastal area to enhance the production and organic matter of the soil.  Due to application of vermi compost the yield was increased in Coconut as 25 nuts / tree earlier it was 10 nuts / tree.  The size is also increased thereby leading to higher market price that is Rs. 6/nut earlier 3.50 / nut.  The other crops like Groundnut, Green gram, Blackgram and Maize recorded comparatively higher yield and further he stated that the crops remain greenish even during summer. The passers by wondered and asked the farmer about the way of cultivation.

In appreciation of his concerted efforts, he was supplied with Mini mobile Sprinkler unit for Groundnut by the Coastal Saline Research Centre, Ramanathapuram under Part II Plan Scheme free of cost. 

Th. M. Abdul Nabik, Perungulam, Ramanathapuram was selected as a best farmer for southern region after analyzing his potentiality in farming by TNAU and then he received the Best Farmer Award from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during the Farmers’ day  function for the year 2008-2009.

The training on composting technologies by KVK not only motivates the farmer to start self employment, it also enhances the soil fertility of the  farm besides increasing the farm and Home income.  Hence it paves way for improving the socio-economic status of the farmer.

Vermicomposting Technology – A Remunerative Enterprise

B. Radhakrishnan, aged 48, educated upto SSLC is a progressive farmer cultivating Paddy and Pulses crops.  He is a regular subscriber of Valarum Velanmai, Vivasayee Ulagam, Thozhil Ulagam and the regular reader of dailies, farm magazines etc.  He used to visit the KVK Ramanathapuram to get advice from the scientist.  From the literature he came to know the advantages of organic farming. He wanted to produce organic fertilizers in the form of Vermicompost. He approached the KVK, Ramnad.  The vocational training on composting technologies was imparted to him.  The training programme empowered him to get micro financial assistance from KVIC bank through SBI to the tune of Rs.4.00 lakhs. Since the village has more cattle population, it facilitates him to start a composting unit in an area of 2000 sq. ft.  The annual production from this unit is 200t/year @ 40 t/cycle.  Further, he stated that the application of manure to his field improved the status of the soil and kept the plant evergreen even during the drought season.  Hence, the cost of cultivation is reduced to some extent due to application of fertilizers. 

He supplied the manure directly to the farmers, coconut growers of in and around the Ramnad district, Department of Horticulture and also to the primary Agricultural Co-operative Society, Thoruvalur, Ramnad @ Rs. 5 / Kg.  He got a regular indent  from the PACS which motivates him for sustainable production, with the  indent he  planned to extend the size of the composting unit. The intervention of KVK empowered Thiru. B. Radhakrishnan to become Self - entrepreneur in his village.