The Agrarian Heroes

The agrarian country proudly awarded the prestigious Padma Shri to twelve farmers on the eve of Republic Day. It hailed agriculture The agrarian country proudly awarded the prestigious Padma Shri to twelve farmers on the eve of Republic Day. It hailed agriculture as the backbone of the country and gave the occupation the much need appreciation and honour.

Out of 12, four of the awardees used traditional methods of farming to bring about a change.One of them was Rajkumari Devi, widely known as Kisan Chachi who belongs to a village of Anandpur in Bihar’s Muzzafarpur district. She cycled through the village, giving pointers about kitchen farming and encouraging women to form self-help groups. With her expertise in assessing the quality of soil which helps in increased harvest, she runs a non-profit organization that not only picks fresh produce from the SHG-run farms nearby but also employs women to make agriculture-based products.

Kamala Pujhari is also one such inspiring woman whose efforts and persuasion made people in her village adopt organic farming practices instead of the excessive use of chemical fertilizers to increase productivity. Hailing from a tribal village of Kotapur district in Odisha, Pujhari is famous for preserving local varieties of paddy.

A 75-year-old retired postmaster, Babulal Dahiya of Pithoragarh in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh,is acclaimed for his organic farming techniques. Babulal practised organic farming on his 8-acre land. He has collected 110 traditional varieties of rice to date. These varieties can be cultivated without a huge supply of water.

The man behind the Swami Vivekananda Agricultural Research Farm, Hukumchand Patidar does organic farming in Jhalawar, Rajasthan. Despite, 40 per cent losses during the initial years, he didn’t give up and completely adopted organic farming and now his production is being sent to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, France, and Korea. Also, many international students come to his farm to learn the nuances of organic farming.

Haryana’s Kanwal Singh Chauhan, for his baby corn and mushroom farming, was also one of the awardees. He has also been awarded by the Prime Minister earlier. Though a trained lawyer, he chose to work in fields. Thousands of farmers, from across the globe have shown interest in his baby corn techniques.

Starting from the age of 13, Vallabbhai Vasrambhai Marvaniya has been in the agriculture industry for around eighty-three years. Having studied until fifth grade, Marvaniya proved that all knowledge cannot be academic and has gained expertise in growing carrots. Jagdish Prasad, another one of the recipients holds his name in the Guinness Book of World Records and is known for his organic techniques and cauliflower agriculture.

Progressive farmers who have adopted advanced technology and scientific methods into cultivation such as Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, Ram Sharan Verma, Venkateswara Rao Yadlapalli have also been awarded.

In the animal husbandry sector, the awardees were Sultan Singh for fisheries and Narendra Singh for dairy breeding.Sultan Singh, a resident of the Butana village in Karnal has adopted several technologies like re-circulatory aquaculture technology. He started breeding catfish and has reared shrimp in adverse climatic conditions. He has been awarded for his hi-tech and highly profitable fish farming methods. Belonging to Israna village of Panipat, Haryana, Narendra Singh, a resident of Israna village of Panipat, Haryana, has approximately 150 cattle at his dairy farm. He started with 10 animals around 20 years back and today, people from all around the globe visit his dairy farm to learn about his dairy breeding.

Given the deterioration of soil profile with the excessive chemical uses, these farmers have created a mark in history by preserving nature as well as increasing the harvest of the farms.