Satrughan Meher of Orissa's Katmunda Village has become a big inspiration for many unemployed youth here since he independently established a variegated mango plants nursery in 1994.
Satrughan Meher of Orissa's Katmunda Village has become a big inspiration for many unemployed youth here since he independently established a variegated mango plants nursery in 1994.
Disappointed with his job-hunting for a long time, Satrughan Meher once vowed to be a successful entrepreneur. He developed a mango saplings nursery, named after his mother's name 'Yashoda Meher Nursery' that was spread over nine acres of land.
Satrughan's determination and assistance provided by the District Horticulture authorities have paid off well. His "Yashoda Meher Nursery", today spreads over 45 acres of land and employs more than 30 villagers.
"After getting my graduation degree, I failed to get a job. But I didn't lose hope and decided to set up an orchard," said Satrughan, owner of the plant nursery.
"I started setting up my nursery in 1994 and got my firm registered with the Horticulture department in 2004. That year I produced 2,000 mango saplings which grew to 40,000 in 1995 and 80,000 in the following years. In 2007, I have sold at least 150,000 saplings till date," he added.
Today, students from different colleges and institutes also visit Yashoda Meher Nursery to seek lessons in grafting and motivation from Satrughan.
The mantra behind the success of Yashoda Meher Nursery has been a wide variety of mango saplings with a higher surviving rate on transplantation that Satrughan developed through grafting.
Grafting is a method of plant propagation widely used in horticulture where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. It is most commonly used for the propagation of trees and shrubs grown commercially.
Yashoda Meher Nursery has 20 varieties of delicious mango breeds that are marketed in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh besides Orissa.
"After completing my matriculation, I was looking for a job. However, I have seen the success of Meher's nursery and I too decided to join it. I earn rupees 70 per day," said Charan Singh, an employee at the nursery.
Considering Satrughan' enthusiasm, Balangir horticulture authorities also provide multi-faceted assistance to him.
