Padma awardee Karsog farmer honoured at R-Day function

Tribune News Service

Mandi, January 27

Education Minister Rohit Thakur honoured Padma Shri awardee Nekram Sharma at a Republic Day function here yesterday. Sharma, a farmer of Nanj village in Karsog subdivision of the district, has been conferred Padma Shri for reviving the traditional crop system of nine foodgrains.

Sharma said, “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.”

“In 2016, I met the then Governor Acharya Devvrat, who was also promoting organic farming in the state. He motivated me and I started working relentlessly to promote organic farming in Himachal and apprise farmers about its benefits,” he said.

Sharma said, “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.”

Sharma produced local indigenous seeds of these crops and distributed it to more than 10,000 farmers in six states free of cost.

Palampur: Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor HK Chaudhary also felicitated the ‘University Krishi Doot’ and ‘progressive’ farmer Nekram Sharma. He congratulated Sharma on getting the coveted national award and lauded his efforts in conservation and propagation of traditional crops.

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