“I have been devoted to mother nature all through my life. We have a rich history of agriculture and it is everyones’ responsibility to preserve it. I am 83 years old and I have been a full time farmer ever since I was a teenager.

Farming for a long time has been considered to be a poor and illiterate man’s job. This is quite frustrating to me personally because people eat three meals a day yet they don’t respect the farmers.
I studied till Intermediate during those days and later decided to become a full time farmer by profession. We have 12 acres of farm land and I continued my ancestral profession with passion and motive to break the stereotypes associated with farmers. I have done extensive research on various farming techniques and methods for sustainable agriculture.

I grow all kinds of crops in my farm including vegetables, fruits, spices and also few medicinal plants seasonally. I have participated in radio programs based on agriculture in All India Radio as an expert advisor for ecofriendly farming techniques. I mostly practice multi layer cropping and avoid soil erosion. The ground is covered with organic matter and I do not burn the organic waste. This will help in maintaining the bio diversity and it also creates the natural food chains to the ecosystem. The biggest hurdle for everyone of us in the current scenario is the climatic change. When it comes to farming, lack of proper rainfall and also the low ground water levels has been a serious concern.

I would like to give a message to all people – we are a part of nature and therefore we should try and live in harmony with nature in every aspect. We should all be humble enough to realise that we are a part of a system that is bigger than us!”

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