Meet the Farmers who won the Padma Shri Award

The prestigious Padma Awards announced on the eve of Republic Day awarded 12 farmers. It’s a proud moment for an agrarian country which hails agriculture as the backbone, that the needed appreciation and honor is delivered to the farmer friends.  

Here is the list of farmers who have been selected for the Padma awards 2019

1. Rajkumari Devi 

Widely known as the Kisan Chachi, Rajkumar Devi belongs to the village of Anandpur in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. She isn’t an astrologer but her acquired expertise has made her quite proficient in assessing soil quality and helping farmers get profitable harvests. She cycles through villages giving tips about kitchen farming and mobilizing women to form self-help groups. Rajkumari has also set up 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.  

2. Kanwal Singh Chauhan 

Hailing from Haryana’s Aterna, Kanwal Singh has also been awarded by the Prime Minister earlier. Though a trained lawyer, he prefers to work in fields more than in courts. He is widely known for cultivation of mushrooms and baby corn. Thousands of farmers from all across the globe have shown interest to learn his techniques of baby corn cultivation. 

3. Vallabbhai Vasrambhai Marvaniya  

Vallabbhai Vasrambhai from Junagarh, Gujarat started farming since the age of 13. From 13 to 96 years of age today, he has dedicated his life to farms. He has expertise in growing carrots. Just qualified fifth grade, he proves that not all knowledge is academic in nature. Marvaniya is the recipient of the ninth National Grassroots Innovation Awards (2017) for his innovation “Madhuvan Gajar – Improved Carrot Variety”.  

4. Kamala Pujari 

The tribal woman from the Kotapur district of Odisha is famous for preserving local varieties of paddy. She is also known for persuading villagers in her area to give up the use of chemical fertilizers and adopt organic farming practices. She had been recently selected by the Patnaik government in the State Planning Board of Odisha. 

5. Vasrambhai Jagdish Prasad Parikh 

Known across for organic farming and cultivation of cauliflower, Jagdish Prasad holds his name in the Guinness book of World Records. Belonging to Sikar district in Rajasthan, he has received many awards in the past. 

Parikh is recipient of the 1st National Grassroots Innovation Awards (2001) for his innovation “Ajitgarh Selection – a new Cauliflower variety”. He had amazed people by growing a cauliflower of 15kgs. 

6. Bharat Bhushan Tyagi 

Bharat Bhushan Tyagi is a renowned name in the agricultural space. A Delhi University graduate, he is known to be amongst the pioneers of organic farming. Hailing from a village in Bulandshahr, Tyagi has developed a state of art research and training center in his native village in Uttar Pradesh. He has received numerous awards including the Progressive Farmer Award by the PM. 

7. Ram Sharan Verma 

Staying in Daulatpur village, Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Saran Verma devised his own hybrid and tissue culture technique. The progressive farmer’s ways have increased Mr. Verma runs “Hi-Tech Agriculture & Consultation” at Village Daulatapur.  He has imparted knowledge to a lot of farmers for free. The three fold mantra of this farmer is technology, quality and crop rotation. He grows different variety of crops, majorly banana, potato, tomato and wheat. 

8. Yadpalli Venkateshwar Rao 

Yadpalli Venkateswara Rao has gained recognition for his work in promoting organic farming since 2005. He publishes ‘Rythu Nestam,’ a monthly, has a website, and a mobile application for farmers. It promotes millet foods. Belonging to Kunnur in Andhra Pradesh, Rao has been engaged with farming since childhood. 

9. Babulal Dahiya 

Aged 75, Babulal Dahiya belongs to Pithorabaad in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. He is acclaimed for his organic farming techniques. After retiring as a Postmaster, Babulal practiced organic farming on his 8 acre land. He has collected 110 traditional varieties of rice till date. These varieties can be cultivated without huge supply of water. 

10. Hukumchand Patidar 

The man behind Swami Vivekananda Agricultural Research Farm, Hukumchand Patidar does organic farming in Jhalawar, Rajasthan. His story was covered in Satyameva Jayate. Resident of the Manpura village, he started organic farming in 2004 and serves as an inspiration to many. Experiments with various crops are done on his farm, majorly, wheat, barley, gram, fenugreek, coriander, garlic are grown on his farm. Apart from India, his produce is exported to countries like Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, France and Korea. 

11. Sultan Singh 

Sultan Singh, 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. 

12. Narendra Singh 

Belonging to Israna village of Panipat, Haryana, Narendra Singh has around 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. 

Congratulations to all the inspiring farmers!!! We are really proud of you!!!