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Plight of farmer scientist |
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He is a farmer-scientist and an institution by himself. He is a green campaigner, a crusader for pro-farmer issues. But unable to clear the debts he has decided to stage an indefinite strike in front of the residence of state agriculture minister, from October 9, to urge the government to ‘bail him out’. Mr. Abdul Khader Imamsab Nadakattina, aged about 50 years, in Annigeri Village in Dharwad district (Karnataka State, India), has developed about 15 agro-related low-cost technologies, helpful to farmers in several ways. He is neither an agricultural graduate nor an engineering college product. He is simply a farmer with lot of innovative ideas and concern. His farm is a lab for him. He grows mainly tamarind in his16-acre farm. Mr. Nadakattina’s innovations include tamarind seed separator, automatic seed-cum-fertilizer sowing machine, automatic lifting cart, fuel saving boiler etc. Since a farmer has done the inventions, their utility and adaptability need not be doubted. He has implemented many water and soil conservation methods, which are showing promising results. He has been organizing awareness programmes on afforestation also. But his quarter-century research and innovations in farm technologies ultimately ended in a huge sum of loan (about $45,000) for which he has mortgaged his farm to a bank. Mr. Nadakattina has submitted a good number of memorandums to various government bodies and public institutions, seeking financial assistance but in vain. Now it is the question of ‘pay or perish’ for him. In a desperate move, he has decided to stage an indefinite strike in State capital, Bangalore from October 9. The concept of ‘farmers first’ approach has been catching up world over. But do the concept really mean anything to a humble farmer like Mr. Nadakattina? For more information about Mr. Abdul Khader Nadakattina, please contact: |
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