Uttarakhand Farmer Receives Padma Shri for Diversification & Innovation in Agriculture

Dehradun, Uttarakhand: Prem Chand Sharma, locally called as AnarwaleSharmaji receives Padma Shri Award for focus on diversified farming in the state by growing high-quality crops organically.

Prem Chand Sharma, a 63-year-old farmer, has been awarded Padma Shri for growing high yield fruits and vegetables organically. He introduced a Maharashtra variety of pomegranate, Bhaguna in Uttarakhand.

Sharma ji belongs to a tribal village, Hatal-Sainj in Tyuni tehsil of Chakrata block of Dehradun. Sharma ji said that he is a school drop and is interested in farming and agriculture since his childhood. He said, “I have been focusing to diversify farming in the state by growing high-quality fruits, vegetables, and grains by organic farming methods.”

His experiments with farming stated in early 2000s when he realized that the traditional way of farming is not that productive. And then, he turned his farms producing millet, maize and paddy into fruit orchards.

And Sharma ji created a nursery to produce saplings of high yielding pomegranates and distributed them among 350 farmers in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.

Sharma ji says, “My work helped farmers of my village to move to the production of fruits and vegetables. In 2013, I formed the Fruits & Vegetables Committee by gathering near to 200 farmer families. And many youths of the village have also joined farming after seeing such progress and earning from fruits and vegetables”

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the award and said, “I want to make our air and food pure as these two are the most important things needed to survive.”