The interviews and reporting for this story had been carried out in January 2025.
Think about a childhood the place the jungle was your playground, a world of limitless surprise and hazard. A world the place farming was a distant dream, and survival trusted what the forest offered. This was the truth for younger Sarbeswar Basumatary, rising up within the distant reaches of Chirang district, Assam. Right this moment, at 62, he is not only a survivor, however a trailblazer, incomes the Padma Shri for his revolutionary work in agriculture.
With eight siblings — 5 brothers and three sisters — life in Panbari, in Assam’s Chirang district, was troublesome for Sarbeswar. His dad and mom, who labored as labourers on development websites and at landowners’ houses, did their greatest to care for his or her kids, however assets had been scarce.
“On days after we received fortunate, they’d discover some work, however in any other case, we needed to depend on the forest and the goodwill of others,” Sarbeswar tells The Higher India. “Our village was a small settlement on the sting of a forest. Due to the forest animals, we couldn’t domesticate any meals for ourselves; as they’d destroy the crops. We solely had two decisions: both change into a labourer or head into the jungle to gather wild potatoes.”
Since there was no idea of a market, Sarbeswar’s household needed to ask the landowners or wealthier folks for rice; “And that’s what we’d eat. I grew up consuming that khichdi.”
Desirous to study, he overcame a number of challenges to attend night time college however needed to discontinue after class 5. On the age of 15, survival had taken priority, and Sarbeswar took up a job at a native forest guard’s workplace; right here, he spent a few yr, taking good care of poultry.
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Later, he moved to Bokakhat, about 200 kilometres away from his residence, to work at a forest guard’s home.
“Our dad and mom tried to supply for us the most effective they may in these circumstances however to do something greater than survive, we actually needed to work onerous,” he says.
In the hunt for higher prospects, like lots of his friends, Sarbeshwar additionally went to work at a coal mine in Meghalaya, incomes each day wages of simply Rs 2 to Rs 4 a day. Whereas it was sufficient to cowl his personal bills on the time, not a lot could be left to ship again residence.
“It is regular for somebody who has earned Rs 1 to consider methods to make it Rs 2, to determine methods to double it. Everybody tries to do this. Many individuals work actually onerous, however not everybody manages to interrupt out of that cycle. I used to be fortunate that I used to be capable of,” he admits.
‘I knew I’d by no means be a landowner’
Sarbeswar by no means gave up on the thought of enhancing his state of affairs. Within the face of adversity, he made a promise: “Thirty years in the past, I made a promise to myself. I noticed landowners being revered. We had nothing to our title — no land, no work — we didn’t obtain that respect. My solely objective was to do one thing that may earn my household and me that honour.”
“I knew I might by no means be a landowner, nor would I change into extraordinarily rich, however I promised myself I might work tirelessly to earn that respect. That’s what formed me into the individual I’m at the moment — my character, my work, and my dedication,” he provides.
Within the early Eighties, within the midst of rising in-state tensions, the folks in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Area, together with Sarbeswar’s village, started claiming forest land as their very own. With no different place to farm, they took issues into their very own arms, turning the jungle into usable land for cultivation. Sarbeswar, too, turned concerned in clearing and making ready the land for farming. He leased a 12-acre plot.
With no formal coaching however a robust willingness to study, Sarbeswar started farming with conventional strategies. “I did what I noticed different elders doing — rising eggplant, chilli, Assam lemon, and different greens,” Sarbeswar recollects. Nevertheless, the strategies proved inadequate, and the land lacked the fertility wanted to maintain a worthwhile farm.
“Preliminary hurdles like insufficient funds for funding into agriculture, lack of correct services, and lack of awareness of scientific strategies had been all the time current. Chirang was a backward space,” he admits, reflecting on his early challenges. “However I learnt an ideal deal about agriculture whereas engaged on that leased land. After years of engaged on different folks’s land, I purchased a small piece of land in 1995.”
Desirous to study extra, an impromptu go to to the agriculture division, in 1998, turned a turning level for Sarbeswar. From there, he started working intently with the division, studying about agriculture, enhancing yields, discovering methods to extend his income every season, and most significantly, intercropping.
Venturing into built-in farming
Widespread in Assam, the areca nut crop takes years to begin yielding. Even once they do, the yields are sometimes not as excessive. “As a substitute of relying solely on one crop, I had learnt about intercropping and the way it may very well be useful, even needed, in at the moment’s world,” says Sarbeswar.
“Because the variety of folks in a household will increase, the land retains getting smaller. To outlive, we have to develop a number of crops annually, and have harvests in each season,” he explains. He initially grew arecanuts, however over time, added three to 4 extra crops like bananas and turmeric, to make sure a gentle earnings all year long.
“Our income improved quite a bit. I saved attempting new farming strategies and realised that intercropping was the important thing to success,” he provides.
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Right this moment, Sarbeswar’s farm spans about 9 acres, with an extra 15-16 acres of leased land the place he practises built-in farming, mixing fisheries, piggery, and sericulture. In 2003-04, he embraced horticulture as effectively with the steerage of the horticulture division.
His nursery has 70,000-75,000 saplings, and is devoted to coaching different farmers. His focus is on serving to his fellow farmers undertake higher practices and enhance their livelihoods.
His farm expanded in each dimension and productiveness, and he continued to experiment with new crops, together with pineapples and different fruits. He additionally travelled to locations like Odisha, Kolkata, and Andhra Pradesh with the horticulture division of Assam, to review superior farming practices.
Sarbeshwar’s 32-year-old nephew, Purno Boro, a devoted farmer, has been studying extensively from him and making use of these classes to his personal 16-acre farm. “Bananas are a serious crop on my farm, however I additionally develop papayas and areca nuts,” Purno shares. “We’ve discovered that by utilizing intercropping methods year-round, our income almost double.”
A passionate learner, he recurrently watches YouTube movies to increase his information. “Since I didn’t safe a authorities job, farming turned the most suitable choice for me. Having somebody like Sarbeshwar to information me has been essential in my household’s monetary stability,” he says. For the upcoming season, Purno has planted cacao on 4 acres, intercropped with areca palm timber, and has additionally launched king chilli alongside watermelon.
Bringing fish farming into the combination
Sarbeswar’s dedication to enhancing his farming practices led him to hunt out coaching and information from numerous sources. In 2007, he attended a week-long coaching offered by the fishery division, which opened his eyes to the potential of integrating fish farming with agriculture.
“The soil we had wasn’t very fertile, so it wouldn’t yield good crops. We thought that if we created a pond with fish in it, it would yield higher outcomes,” he explains.
Sarbeswar determined to include aquaculture into his farming practices, utilizing a mixed 2.5 acres of his land for 5 totally different ponds. These ponds are residence to fingerlings, and he practices pisciculture for about 10 months annually. Initially, Sarbeswar tried to reap the fish at the usual six-month mark however discovered the income to be unsatisfactory.
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“Zooplankton, hydroplankton — these smaller water creatures, are important for the fish. They’re very helpful for his or her development, or else the fish received’t thrive. Provided that we had been making synthetic ponds, we determined to make use of these to assist the fish develop,” he provides, emphasising the care he took to make sure his farm’s success.
By adjusting his method, he additionally discovered that combining crops like turmeric, banana, and oranges, and promoting cultured fish, all collectively, may yield higher outcomes. For every pond (roughly 0.4 acres), he can generate as much as Rs 1.6 lakh in income, yielding a Rs 1 lakh revenue. Along with fish, crop cultivation in and across the ponds generates round Rs 70,000 in spending and a Rs 1 lakh revenue.
The significance of schooling and neighborhood help
One in every of Sarbeswar’s core beliefs is the significance of schooling in farming. He stresses the function of younger, educated people in modernising agriculture. “Lately, younger persons are very progressive and lively. I wish to encourage these well-read people to get into farming and use tried and examined, scientifically backed strategies,” he says. He believes that whereas conventional farming strategies have served their objective, they’re not sufficient to realize the most effective leads to at the moment’s ever-changing atmosphere.
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Sarbeshwar was awarded the Assam authorities’s third-highest civilian award, the ‘Assam Gaurav’, for the yr 2022-23, and in 2024, his extraordinary journey was honoured with the celebrated Padma Shri award.
Reflecting on this recognition, he says, “I’ve obtained numerous respect, love, and admiration. Right this moment, I even have my very own land. However regardless of these accolades, I imagine I will really feel actually fulfilled if I proceed serving to others, educating them on higher farming methods, and dealing to enhance their lives.”
As Sarbeswar continues to information others in agriculture, he stays dedicated to making sure that farming turns into a sustainable and revered career for future generations.
Edited by Arunava Banerjee, Picture courtesy Sarbeswar Basumatary
