The Padma Shri is a civilian award presented by the Government of India to individuals who have made significant contributions to their field of expertise. The award is presented in various categories, including Arts, Social Work, Literature and Education, Medicine, Science and Engineering, Sports, and Others.
Agriculture is one of the categories included in the Others category. The Padma Shri award in the Agriculture category is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of agriculture in India. This may include farmers, researchers, scientists, or anyone else who has made notable contributions to the advancement of agriculture in India.
Some of the notable recipients of the Padma Shri award in Agriculture include Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, a renowned agricultural scientist and the father of India’s Green Revolution, and Dr. Gurdev S. Khush, a plant geneticist who played a key role in developing high-yielding rice varieties that helped increase food production in Asia.
The Padma Shri award is a prestigious honor in India and is a recognition of an individual’s contribution to their respective field.
Shri Cheruvayal K Raman
Indian tribal farmer from Kerala’s Wayanad district is Cheruvayal K. Raman. He is regarded as the protector of precious seeds. He is renowned for saving over 55 rice varieties on his little farm in Kammana despite having no background in traditional sciences like agriculture or botany. Raman began farming on 40 acres of land that his uncle had given him. He received the fourth-highest civilian award in India, the Padma Shri, from the Indian government in January 2023.
Shri Patayat Sahu
For his exceptional contribution to agriculture, Patayat Sahu, a farmer given the Padma Shri award for 2023, grows pharmaceuticals using organic methods. Patayat Sahu’s work has also received acclaim from PM Modi.
Shri Nekram Sharma
Nekram Sharma, the only Padma Shri recipient from Himachal in 2023, received the fourth-highest civilian honor for his exceptional work in agriculture, particularly natural farming and resurrecting the customary “nau-anaj” intercropping practice.
Shri Tula Ram Upreti
Tula Ram Upreti, 98, of Assam Lingzey hamlet in Pakyong district is the only nominee from Sikkim for the Padma Shri award in 2023.
Upreti has been cultivating paddy and other vegetables without using fertilizers for the past eight decades as an organic farmer, carrying on Sikkim’s tradition of organic farming.
Even after being 90 years old, Upreti has continued the “tradition of his forefathers in farming.” His relatives assert that he only stopped for good five or six years ago owing to persistent knee issues.
