Summary:
Shimla, Oct 10 (PTI) Shakuntala Sharma, an apple grower from Theog in Shimla district, has a reason to rejoice.
Apples produced in her orchard with natural farming technique fetched an unexpected price of over Rs 100 per kg this year.
"The moment a buyer in the local market Dhamandri saw the label of "Natural Apples" on my boxes, he instantly said he would purchase all at this price.
I saved Rs 50,000-60,000 on the cost of cultivation also with non-chemical Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF), which is a big benefit,” she said.
The woman farmer is practising SPNF on land measuring 10 bigha, including an apple orchard on 5 bigha.
The buyers of natural vegetables also come to her doorstep and give her good price.The SPNF method is based on inputs made from desi cow"s dung and urine and some locally available resources.