“The magic created when experience, determination, and expertise meet.”

As a matter of fate, on one regular visit of Mr. Rajneesh Thakur (Asst. Crop Specialist Brassica & PDS Gujarat), he started discussing some open field fruit crop of Rijk Zwaan that can be tried having good shelf life and high-value returns. Mr. Thakur rightly suggested him to go with the cultivation of Muskmelon (Inthanon). He was also provided with the fruit samples from nearby fields, which he appreciated very much and decided to go with the cultivation of this wonderful fruit.

Keeping the concern of marketing of this fruit in mind, he decided to start with a relatively limited area of cultivation. He first planted around 24 TPC in the 2019-20 season which fetched him good returns and boosted his confidence over the crop and the company. This season (2020-21) he has cultivated around 110 TPC of Muskmelon Inthanon and initial results are coming very well, increasing the happiness of the farmer and confidence in the company. The crop is uniform with good size and shape.

Rijk Zwaan is constantly helping him with the marketing of the produce and providing him technical inputs regarding the crop. He is also being assisted with the grading and packing aspects of the fruit. Two types of packing boxes have been made, one with 5-6kg capacity and the other with 2kg capacity.

Future Planning

Next year he is planning to go for 400 TPC or more, depending on the results obtained both in terms of price and production. But keeping in view of the previous year’s results, the hard work and expertise of the farmer and company, this 400 TPC target doesn’t seem to be an unlikely propagation.