Ram Saran Verma (born 1968) is an Indian farmer recognized for introducing advanced and more profitable farming techniques to small Indian farmers and rural villages in his state. Verma has received numerous Indian farming awards for his work, and his farming techniques have been studied and replicated across his state. In 2019, he was honored India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.[1]

Biography

Ram Saran Verman hails from Daulatpur village in Barabanki district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.[2] He dropped out of school in 8th grade and inherited 6 acres of farmland from his father.[2] In 1984, he went on a tour of the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab to interact and learn from successful rural farmers and farming experts in those states.[2] Using this experience, he introduced banana cultivation to his fields, which traditionally grew wheat, rice, sugarcane and mustard, and was one of the first farmers to introduce tissue culture farming in the state of Uttar Pradesh.[2] Ram Saran Verma currently oversees farming on 150 acres of land, which directly and indirectly supports circa 20,000 people.[3][2] He conducts free training sessions for agriculturalists from around the country.[2]

He has been called the rural "high-tech farmer" by the Indian media, for introducing advanced farming techniques to improve yields in banana, tomato and potato crops for small rural Indian farmers.[4][2][5] News18 India reported that at a function in 2012 to honour Ramsharan Verma, former Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam called him a "farmer's wizard", and separately, that he had produced "gold from the soil".[6] In 2014, India Today featured Ram Saran Verma as a "Field Revolutionary" and profiled him as one of the "changemakers" influencing India from a micro-level.[7]

He is a recipient of the Jagjivan Ram Kisan Puraskar in 2007 and 2010 and the National Horticultural Award in 2014.[3][2][5]

In 2019, for his services to Indian farming, he was conferred the Padma Shri award, India's fourth highest national honour which was given to 94 people in that year.[1][2][5][8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (India). 25 January 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. This year the President of India has approved conferment of 112 Padma Awards including one duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri Awards.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Exclusive: UP's Award-Winning Banana King Earns Rs 48 Lakh/Year, Becomes Idol For Farmers". The Better India. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2019. Felicitated with 20 awards at the district, state and national levels, including the Jagjivan Ram Kisan Puruskar, his farm in Daulatpur attracts thousands of farmers from within India and abroad.
  3. 1 2 "The Hi-Tech Farmer who serves as an inspiration for farmers across the world". Dainik Bhaskar. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  4. ↑ Sharat Pradhan (13 April 2009). "A Full Round Meal". Outlook. Retrieved 13 February 2019. Barely 50 km from the capital of India's most populous state, in Daulatpur village in Barabanki district, a mini agriculture revolution is taking place. What 41-year-old Ram Saran Verma began in 1996 on a 6-acre plot of land in a remote rural pocket has now grown into an 85-acre empire that feeds hundreds of workers, besides providing indirect employment to many more.
  5. 1 2 3 "Farming magician Ram Saran Verma shines new paths". Rajasthan Patrika. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "Farming changed the fortunes of high school dropout". News18 India. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Changemakers who make a difference in our lives". India Today. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2019. The Field Revolutionary: Verma, who lives in Daulatpur village in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, has devised hybrid and tissue culture techniques to increase the productivity of banana, tomato, potato and mint crops threefold. For the last 25 years, he has been training farmers across India for free-benefiting at least 10,000 cultivators. He is now working on growing red bananas using hybrid techniques.
  8. ↑ "Padmashri for Ram Saran Verma, says will help in promoting hi-tech farming". News18 India. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019. [TRANSLATED] Ramsaran discovered the method of production at a lower cost. In the cultivation of tomato, banana, and potato, Ramsaran worked to create a new revolution. As well as from around the country, agricultural scientists, experts from abroad and also those who take IAS and PCS training in the country also come to see their progressive farming.
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