Drumstick Teacher and Biker Seed Saver

Dear Reader,

If I had to list three things I value the most in life, they would be knowledge, education, and passion for a goal. While the first two are obviously needed for even modest success, passion differentiates mediocrity from excellence.

Appa Karamkar, a farmer and teacher in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Solapur district, combines all three values. His knowledge and education guided him away from sugarcane farming after two successive years of extremely low rainfall in the region. Passionate about continuing the family occupation, he found out about drumstick cultivation as it requires little water and fetches high market rates.

Appa told me he clocks a turnover of Rs 8 lakh and spends just about Rs 50,000 per acre annually on maintaining his organic fields. The forest-like farm does not require much care, and he is happy it leaves him enough time to spread knowledge among his students.

Last week, my colleague Anu spoke to Salai Arun, a young farmer, seed saver, and biking enthusiast from Trichy in Tamil Nadu. A workshop by the late agricultural scientist G. Nammalvar changed the course of his life. With just Rs 150 and a second-hand Bajaj Platina bike, Salai set out to collect native vegetable seeds from farmers, tribal people, and seed savers.

After travelling 87,000 km, working on others’ farms and befriending farmers in 15 states, Salai now has a collection of 300 native seeds, including the Siliguri Brinjal, which is eaten raw, an 8-ft bottle gourd and a tiny tomato variety the size of peppercorns. He gives the seeds for free to farmers and takes a nominal amount from others, he told Anu.

His story is interesting, informative and heartwarming, driven by a passion to promote organic farming through native seeds. I enjoyed reading this piece. I hope you will too.

From Odisha, my colleague Niroj wrote about Dhyanchand Soren, who could not find a job during COVID-19 after completing his mechanical engineering. With a lacklustre job market, the engineer started selling traditional Santali clothes and sarees online.

The demand rose quickly. Soon, he ended the online tie-ups and began direct sales to customers. Today, his startup Upal Mart promotes and preserves Santali culture by fusing tribal fabrics and patterns with contemporary designs. He clocks Rs 3 lakh monthly turnover and is happy about popularising tribal clothing traditions.

Our Sunday story is on Vazhakulam, the pineapple capital of India. Over 350 farmers cultivate pineapple in Vazhakulam, Kerala. With its high sugar content and low acidity, Vazhakulam pineapple has received the Geographical Indication or GI tag. During the peak season, 1,000 tonnes of pineapple are transported daily across India and exported to Gulf countries. That's 10 lakh kg. Isn’t that a huge number?

Happy Reading!

Warmly,

Rashmi

Maharashtra farmer replaces sugarcane with drumstick farming; clocks Rs 8 lakh per acre

With Rs 150 and a bike, this farmer saved 300 native vegetable seeds; sells across India

Engineer takes traditional Santali clothing from Odisha to the world; clocks Rs3 lakh monthly turnover

Vazhakulam: The pineapple capital of India