Prime Minister Narendra Modi will felicitate two progressive farmers of Chhattisgarh Prabhat Kumar Chandrakar and Hemkumari Sahu with Kendriya ‘Krishi Karman Award’ at Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan on February 19. They awardees will be given Rs2 lakh cash and a Commendation Certificate. The Chhattisgarh Government will be given a cash award of Rs2 crore for record production of rice in the year 2013-14 for bagging ‘Rashtriya Krishi Karman’ award.
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has invited Chief Minister Raman Singh and State Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal for the ceremony. Chandrakar is a resident of village Barewa, Pandaria Development Block in Kawarda district.Hemkumari Sahu is a resident of village Pahuwara in Durg district. The two farmers adopted modern techniques and increased the rice output by record margins.
Chief Minister Raman Singh congratulated the farmers for their outstanding achievement.This will be an encouragement for other farmers of the State. Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal also congratulated both the ryots. Prabhat Kumar Chandrakar, a BCom graduate, tried for a job but in vain. His entire family was into agriculture. He started organic farming. He entered agriculture in the year 1991 on a nine-acre land. The farmer rose rapidly from 2007. He produced 28 quintal paddy on an acre of land in the initial stages. He produced 95.84 quintal per hectare and became an inspiration for other farmers. He won several Chhattisgarh State-level awards.
Hemkumari Sahu hails from a small farmer’s family. Her land size is about four 4.8 hectares. The initial farm output on her land was 15 quintal per acre and now it is 30 quintal per acre. She formed Bamini Mahila group with 11 farmers and encouraged them for organic farming. She was selected as Best Farmer by the State Agriculture Department in the year 2013-14 under Atma Yojana and was presented a cash prize of Rs25,000 and a Commendation Certificate.