Raipur/Women farmer of Bastar region has been honored with Life Time Achievement Award for promoting organic farming in the International Fair on Agriculture and Horticulture organized from 20 to 22 July at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, showcasing the achievements of the government. At the same time, five farmers of Chhattisgarh who have done innovation and excellent work in the field of horticulture have also been honored. Agriculture Minister Shri Ramvichar Netam congratulated and wished the farmers of the state including forest areas in the field of horticulture on getting the award in the international fair.
Horticulture department officials informed here today that Smt. Vedeshwari (Bindu) Sharma, a woman farmer who inspired 1000 women farmers to become self-reliant and promoted organic farming in the tribal dominated remote area of Bastar, was honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award in the said Expo. Under the guidance of Smt. Sharma, who has been awarded the title of Organic Woman of Bastar, 1000 women farmers of village Kokodi and nearby villages of district-Kondagaon have been earning income by adopting organic farming for the last 6 years. It is noteworthy that Smt. Sharma is doing complete organic farming in 5 acres of land, as a result of her hard work, she has been honoured with state and national level awards earlier also.
Yadunanandan Prasad Verma, a farmer of village Malhar of district-Bilaspur was awarded a certificate for doing organic farming of banana, vegetables etc. in 2.5 acres of land for the last 5-6 years. Farmer Lokesh Balkrishna Patade of Jairam Nagar District-Bilaspur, who did excellent work in the cultivation of geranium and promoted its cultivation in the state, was awarded a certificate for technical innovation. Farmer Mr. Jaswant Kumar Sahu of Jai Kisan Nursery, Village Bamhni Charpara, District Rajnandgaon was awarded a certificate for preparing grafted vegetable saplings and innovating in the field of horticulture under his able guidance and tireless efforts. Woman farmer Mrs. Ankita Verma, District-Raipur, who made her name in flower cultivation, was awarded a certificate for excellent cultivation of rose flowers in the greenhouse.
It is worth noting that in the 3-day expo, Chhattisgarh Horticulture and Field Forestry set up a stall and exhibited flowers, fruits, vegetables etc. and departmental schemes, activities and success stories of progressive farmers were displayed through banners. Along with this, mushroom products, processing products, Mahua and Jamun juice etc. were also kept for exhibition and sale in the stall. The main attraction of the stall was the display of detailed information on geranium cultivation, orchid cultivation in poly house, grafted brinjal cultivation, dragon fruit, black pepper and tea cultivation, which remained a center of attraction for farmers from different states to read and get more information about it. The excellent exhibition set up at the Chhattisgarh Horticulture stall was also praised by the special guests and officials who came to the exhibition and it was also honored with an award in the category of “Promotion of Best Horticulture and Farm Forestry Practices”.
