raipur a septuagenarian couple in state has created a history of sorts for themselves by turning their hobby into a roaring business postretirement 73yearold roshanlal agrawal and his wife kaushalya devi 70 turned amateur horticulture farmers cultivating strawberry raspberry broccoli and baby corn on their 15 acre farm earning lakhs besides providing employment to locals in surajpur in north chhattisgarh the couple has been at it for a decade now of the 15 acres listed fruits and veggies are grown in seven acres fetching an annual turnover of around rs 70 lakh agrawals also cultivate baby corn and sweet corn round the year they also sell around two quintals of beetroot everyday initially they displayed their farm produces in agriculture exhibitions winning awards at local agriculture fairs and demand for their veggies motivated them to convert it into a commercial venture an immensely satisfying one i started farming and took no assistance from established farmers or consultants the idea of growing strawberry clicked after i visited a strawberry field in mahabaleshwar and tasted it there now i am growing it successfully by adopting plastic mulching and drip irrigation methods he said kaushalya said no matter how technically sound you may get for farming and get equipped with skills and latest methods one has to spend ample time in observing plants and working in the field with labourers one has to take care of it just like a baby she said roshanlal avoids use of pesticides but protects plants from insects and diseases by spraying homemade mixture of neem leaves which are soaked in water for 20 days with cow urine for maintaining soil fertility manure of cow dung and vermin compost is used the cool climate and soil conditions of surajpur turned favorable for growing strawberry and broccoli our fields are visited by researchers and students of agriculture universities agrawal said he pointed out that consumption of these veggies and strawberries are higher in raipur bilaspur and korba but the market is more promising in neighbouring states and metro cities now he has installed a new polyhouse on his farm and is excited to use the temperature and humidity controlled dome to take his farming one level up