PIB, Feb 28, 2010
This was a farmers’ congregation of different kind in New Delhi! 101 farmers from every single State/Union Territory in India came to VigyanBhawan for being felicitated for their exemplary work in the field of agriculture.In a glittering and high technology ceremony held on February 26, 2010, ShriSharadPawar, Union Agriculture Minister honoured 101 enterprising men and women farmers from remote parts of the country, who by sheer dint of their innovation and hard work have been more than inspirational for others. The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation has documented their success stories in shape of a Coffee Table titled “Harvest of Hope”. This book was released in a gathering where focus of attention was the true life characters from this compilation.Minister of State for Agriculture, Professor K.V. Thomas; Sh. Sunil Tatkare, Finance Minister, Government of Maharashtra and Sh. T. Nand Kumar, Secretary, Agriculture were all present on the occasion. Sh. SharadPawar said that it was a historic occasion when hard working farmers from all over the country were being felicitated in VigyanBhawan and a Coffee Table Book had been written for faceless farmers, which had hitherto remained domain ofdignitaries and celebrities. He lauded the role of these trend-setting farmers who will spearhead this agricultural extension by emulation. Professor K.V. Thomas emphasised the need of highlighting successes of farmers through print and multi-media instead of focussing only on tragic failures. He said that the official structure of Agriculture has to be the friend in the neighbourhood rather than a distant philosopher.Sh. T. Nand Kumar, who was the driving force behind this Coffee Table Book, said that this innovation at the cutting edge and at the intersection of traditional wisdom and modern knowledge has to be lauded. He hoped that the book will motivate other farmers to enhance their skills. The function was which was attended by enthusiastic farmers, attired in their traditional costumes, travelled long distances to reach New Delhi at a very short notice. Some of the farmers, who might not have even seen a train in their life due to sheer remoteness of their village, were specially flown in to New Delhi.BewangLosang from Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh traversed 30 kilometres on foot and then undertook an arduous 8 hour journey to Dibrugarh to be just in time for the function. Mathura Sabarwas flown in from a remote village in Kalahandi District in Orissa, though it was only till some years ago that her family didn’t even have sufficient money to make both ends meet. The Google Earth images of some of these far off villages shown during the function highlighted the difficult topographical conditions in which these farmers have achieved their success.
Farmers from Tamilnadu, Manipur and Lakshdweep who could not make it to the function due to personal reasons, were connected on Video Conference. The concept of one progressive nation was emphasised using a Geographical Information System (GIS) based application in which every State joined one after another (as farmers moved on to the stage to receive their mementoes) to make the map of India
From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and beyond, this book maps more than a hundred success stories of small and marginal farmers who have transformed their lives by adopting new and green technologies in cultivation. Struggling initially against a plethora of problems such as small holdings, &increase in the cost of inputs, or battling ills such as widowhood and natural calamities of Tsunami proportions, these turnaround tales are simply stirring.
As one turns the pages of this book, one comes face- to- face with the hitherto nameless force that nurtures our land. One realizes just how laborious these growers really are, and just how extraordinary their will to improve is, even when all odds appear to be stacked against them. One marvels too at the native intelligence, commonsense and innovative spirit of the salt of the earth, often handicapped by poverty and lack of formal education.
The key to the reinvention of lives towards a rosier future has been, without exception, the acquisition of new and technical knowledge without forsaking traditional wisdom, and an innate ability for intelligent adaptation, given constraints such as weather and location. Here the farmers have taken advantage of the various Central and State government initiatives and tailored the same intelligently totheir geographical location. Certain nongovernmental organisations, especially in states like Sikkim and Orissa have also been very helpful in providing help. These farmers have adopted unique cropping practises raising output in dramatic percentages. Some of these farmers have also joined together in collectively selling their harvest at the best possible ratesby cutting out greedy middlemen.
Drip irrigation, use of neem based pesticides, organic farming and vermi- composting, are just a few of the cost saving measures that also protect the earth, yet improve both quality and quantity of produce. The frugal farmer is wearing a green hat today, in keeping with global concerns about depletion of natural resources and the poisoning of Mother Earth. He is economising not only in water, but chemical fertilizers today, in order that our children stay healthy and never go hungry. For instance, the cotton farmer, plagued by insects that devour the bolls of standing cotton, is reducing chemical pesticides yet tackling the problem by building bird perches on his fields to attract birds that feed on the insects.
The path-breaking interventions covered by the true life stories in this book are not limited merely to crops, but cover the entire gamut of rural vocations. Those with very small holdings have learnt to grow mushrooms or flowers for export such as the oriental lily {lilium}. Others explore avenues as diverse as poultry and fish farming, floriculture and fruit orchards, oilseeds and pulses, and cotton and ayurvedic herb cultivation. One farmer, with the courage for breaking new grounds in Himachal Pradesh has taken to the exotic subject of the cultivation of freshwater pearls.
In keeping with the demands generated by a liberalised economy and a palate hungry for new tastes, farmers are pandering to adventurous urban taste- buds by cultivating new crops like passion fruit, broccoli and strawberries. They have vastly benefited by thus thinking out-of–the–box. Indeed, changes in eating habits have generated new livelihoods for the farmer.
Struck by calamity when all seems lost, such as when the Tsunami ravaged the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it is perhaps ironical that from such terrible circumstances spawns the hope for a better tomorrow. As time has proved, the morrow has indeed been hopeful, for with State assistance, many Tsunami affected farmers have learnt to restructure their lives and homes and are today more secure than even before the disaster struck. Perhaps more than others, the title of this book is to tailor made for them.
Nor are these rural folk stingy in the sharing of this good fortune. Once practically subsisting below the poverty line, the bounties reaped after acquiring the benefits of new technology, are shared generously with the rest of the village, resulting in the benefit of the greater good and establishment of a once impoverished man into a pillar of societyand strength.
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