Know Your Farmer (KYF) Profiles
Babulal Dahiya, Sarjana Manch, Satna.
In a 5 minute conversation, Babulal ji averages 3 utterances
of this phrase, betraying a value-system that prioritizes meaningful community
relations over mere commercial transaction.
That he is a recipient of several State and National level honors for native seed and biodiversity conservation, has to pried out of him.
We met Babulal ji at the Vatavaran Environment Film Festival, Oct’15 in New Delhi where he was showcasing native rice and wheat varieties he has preserved in a 2-acre field gene-bank, developed as a post-retirement project. Of the over 1 lac varieties of rice that the State of Madhya Pradesh was once home to, only ~200 are left (~110 conserved by Babulal ji), mostly due to a preference for non-native higher-yielding hybrids.
He heads the Sarjana Samajik, Sanskritik evum Sahityik Manch in the Parasmaniya Pathaar region of Satna. Farmed by the Gond tribals, the pristine land has been untouched by any synthetic agents either fertilizers or pesticides.
In addition to being a lifelong farmer and retiring as the district Postmaster, Mr. Babulal Dahiya is a renowned Bagheli poet & author. His books form a part of the PhD curriculum at the local University.
Sarjana Manch’s efforts with communities practicing traditional, non-chemical farming are supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) through their Small Grants Program.
When you buy Makka, Red rice, White sesame or any of the Wheat flours from us, you avail the highly recognized, Platinum-class services of Mr. Babulal Dahiya.
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KYF Profiles, is a feature series profiling partner farmers associated with the organic and health foods brand AnnSatya Organic.
www.AnnSatyaOrganic.com
9999-36-20-35, 9654-877-392
Jiddu Chomsky EnterprisesB-975, GD ColonyMayur Vihar IIINew Delhi 110096
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