UP’s computer engineer opts for dragon fruit farming in barren lands, reaps huge profit

Hailing from Chilahua village under Allahganj police station, Atul Mishra completed his BTech in computer science from Chennai. Despite this, Mishra did not peruse for a high-paying job and decided to experiment with dragon fruit cultivation.

To try something new, he brought a few saplings of the dragon fruit, also called Pitahaya, from Maharashtra’s Sholapur in 2018 and planted them on a barren land owned by his family.

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Following the success, I have expanded the fruit farming on five acres of his land. “There are another seven acres of barren land of our family in which dragon fruit would be grown next season,” PTI quoted him saying.

Currently, Mishra has employed three men and a woman to help him cultivate dragon fruit on a large scale. Now, apart from growing the fruit, he is also selling saplings of the dragon fruit to farmers coming to him from many states, including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

A tropical fruit native to Mexico and Central America, dragon fruit is grown in different parts of Maharashtra. It is also grown in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

After the crop is cultivated between May and until December, Mishra sells them at a handsome profit in Delhi’s Azadpur mandi.

Inspired by Mishra’s success, nearby farmers have started reaching him for assistance. Meanwhile, Chief Development Officer Shyam Bahadur Singh promised assistance.

With PTI inputs.

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