Udupi: Mumbai-based journalist, businessman finds success in farming in his home village

Katapady: Often people migrate to big cities that offer greater opportunities in search of greener pastures. However, a former journalist and a business owner living in Mumbai decided to move back to his village and transformed himself into a self-sufficient farmer.

Harish Raju Poojary served as the editor of Stardust magazine in Mumbai for 15 years before deciding to open a fast food joint at a mall in Mulund (West). For 20 years he ran a successful business, but the unexpected lockdowns during the COVID pandemic forced him to shut the doors of the restaurant for good.

It was in these circumstances that Harish decide to return to his roots and shift from the big bustling megacity to his birthplace in the humble native village of Mattu in Katapady. He took up agriculture as a profession with a dream to achieve self-sufficiency.

In the 6 months, he has transformed his fallow, barren fields into lush greenery. Various crops now grow on the farm including Mattu Gulla, cucumbers, to name a few. Instead of hiring farmhands, Harish himself tends to the crops to keep the costs low. He has blended the traditional knowledge learned from his brother with the modern agricultural methods to earn bumper yields.

Harish says he uses only organic manure for his crops. Manure from the poultry farms as well as digested onion peels is used in his farm. This organic manure helps in not only providing nutrients to the plants but also restores soil health.

When other farmers are finding it difficult to prevent animals from raiding the fields, Harish is using a novel way to keep them away. Used and old sarees are tied to poles all around his fields to keep wild boars that attack the fields. So far the method has worked wonders for Harish.