Karsog farmer gets Padma Shri

Mandi, April 7

President Droupadi Murmu had awarded Padma Shri to Nek Ram Sharma, a farmer of Nanj village in Karsog subdivision of Mandi district, in Delhi on April 5. He has been conferred the award for reviving the traditional crop system of nine foodgrains.

Nek Ram says, “It was an amazing experience to receive the civilian award from the President in recognition of my work in the farming sector. It will encourage me to work harder in the farm sector to revive the traditional crop system in Himachal.”

Sharma says, “In 1990, I started an Angora farm, which continued till 1995. I then switched to organic farming to revive the traditional crop system of nine foodgrains. By 2000, I made good progress and developed finger millet, foxtail millet, barn yard, proso millet, kodo millet, buck beat, sorghum and pearl millet. These traditional foodgrains were on the verge of extinction.”

He says, “These nine foodgrains are known as Nau Anaj, which is a natural inter-cropping method in which these are grown on the same piece of land without using any chemical, cutting down water usage by 50 per cent and raising land fertility.”

He adds, “I produced local indigenous seeds of these crops and distributed them to more than 10,000 farmers in six states free of cost.”

Education Minister Rohit Thakur had honoured Nek Ram in Mandi on the occasion of Republic day.