Ms. VeikhochongMisao believes in being the first. She is the first farmer from Dimapur to adopt intercropping in that area with turmeric and upland rice, along with planting bananas on the boundaries as a border crop. This has helped her earn a steady income even inthe off-season. She has also seen success in planting on slopes in double rows. This move not only ensured more produce, butalso helped keep soil erosion in check and save on labour time and input costs. All this hard work resulted in a whopping 414.29% rise in benefit to cost ratio (yield/ cost of cultivation). Her contributions have been acknowledged with the ‘Best Farmer Award’ from ICAR during 2011 East Zone regional agricultural fair. She has influenced the mindset of 4 women who have decided to take strides in her direction.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Ms. VeikhochongMisao by awarding her with KrishiPrernaSamman 2012 (राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार)

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Mr. UmeshBhai by awarding him with Krishak Samrat Samman 2012 (क्षेत्रीय पुरस्कार - पश्चिम)

Ms. Munni Devi is a trendsetter, embracing newer technologies and disseminating the same among her fellow farmers. She experimented with organic fertiliser (Zime) in her field with tremendous success. Zime, slowly releases nutrients in the soil improving the uptake efficiency of the plant, resulting in better quality and higher produce. Also, the use of Zime helped her bring down chemical fertilisers costs, alongside, the benefit ofthe soil remaining nutrient enriched for longer. She has also been successful in transplanting 20 day-old papaya, with earthing up done 25 days after transplanting. A practice which has not only seen good produce with low crop mortality, but also further savings on man-hours spent and labour costs. The result was a 166.67% increase in benefit to cost ratio (yield/ cost of cultivation).

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Ms. Munni Devi by awarding her with KrishiPrernaSamman 2012 (क्षेत्रीय पुरस्कार – उत्तर)

Ms. HarshaRamesh Ganeshpure grew roses under controlled conditions using shade net. This led to a superior quality yield, reduction in weed and pest infestation, and a sharp fall inlabour and input costs. Apart from this, she has also put to practice drip irrigation, organic farming and fertigation that are proven to have positive impacts on costs and time. This has resulted in an 80.72% increase in benefit to cost ratio (yield/ cost of cultivation). With more than 20 women adapting to her ways, she has been honored with ‘Bharat KrishakSamajKrishiGauravSamman’,

‘DoordarshanSohardiKrishiSamman’ and the ‘KrishiBhusanSamman’.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Ms. Harsha Ramesh Ganeshpure by awarding her with KrishiPrernaSamman 2012 (क्षेत्रीय पुरस्कार - पश्चिम)

Ms. Shivaleela Ganiger took a small decision that in turn made a big impact. She decided to use drip irrigation and Soybean as an intercrop between her Sugarcane crop. The result was a rise in farm produce by 20,000 kg per acre with an additional 800 kgs of Soybean yield. Plus, Soybean further ensured reduction in weed costs. And upon harvest, the Soybean was re-incorporated into the soil to add to its organic content. She also effectively integrated farming with dairy to support the organic farming of Sugarcane. The animal waste generated was re-used in her farms, which as a result helped bring down spends on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and furthermore, helped save on time. She saw a 158.50% rise in benefit to cost ratio (yield/ cost of cultivation) this year.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Ms. ShivaleelaGanigerby awarding her with KrishiPrernaSamman 2012 (Regional Award - South)

Mr. Rahul Kumar took it upon himself to change the fortunes of the farmers in his village. He used intercropping with pulses and optimum spacing to add value to his produce: 125 cm between rows, alongside, ridges of 30 cm width each, with two rows of sugarcane planted on either side of the ridge. The outcome was clear: savings on weed management and fertiliser costs, improved length and girth of sugarcane, and the wider spaces resulted in less rotting of sugarcane. Intercropping with pulses helped conserve moisture content and minimise weed growth. The Pulses upon harvest were ploughed back in to the soil as green manure. The overall result was a staggering 246.29% rise in benefit to cost ratio (yield/ cost of cultivation), savings on weed management, lower labour and fertiliser costs, and compressed crop duration. He has been previously presented the ‘Mahindra SamriddhiSamman’ in 2009 -10. There are as many as 10 farmers, who now endorse his way of thinking.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Mr. Rahul Kumar by awarding him with KrishiYuvaSamman 2012 (राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार)

Mr. Pappu Yadav induced life into his land by introducing System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technology. This resulted in a healthier, better quality produce, alongside, saving on crop duration. He has also used vermicompost as an organic fertiliser to reduce spends on chemical fertliliser, enhance soil quality, and conserve its moisture content. There are as many as 10 farmers following suit.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Mr. Pappu Kumar Yadav by awarding him with KrishiYuvaSamman2012 (क्षेत्रीय पुरस्कार - पूर्व)

Mr. Brejesh Desai is passionate about farming. He built his own tractor and a tractor-mounted sprayer. His invention had an immediately effect; yields shot up by 550kgs acre, incidents of pest and weed infestation reduced, and labour costs and hours came down. He has also used organic fertilisers and a rotavator for land preparation. This meant better pulverisation of land, amplifying the crop’s nutrient intake and a massive 40 % decrease in land preparation costs. Overall, an impressive 122.12% increase in in benefit to cost ratio (yield/ cost of cultivation).

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Mr. BrejeshBhai Desai by awarding him with the KrishiYuvaSamman2012 (क्षेत्रीय पुरस्कार - पश्चिम)

Mr. Silambarasan is a chemistry graduate involved in agriculture since 2007. He was inspired by M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) to implement System of Rice Intensification - A new method of rice cultivation and also took advantage of soil testing for fertiliser application. These methods helped increase his yield by 900 Kg per acre, while reducing his cultivation costs. This led to an 80% increase in benefit to cost ratio (yield/cost of cultivation).

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Mr. BrejeshBhai Desai by awarding him with the KrishiYuvaSamman2012 (Regional Award - South)

The KrishiVigyan Kendra, Baramati operating under the watchful eyes of the Agricultural Development Trust has implemented the use of polythene mulching in Tomato on the fields of 30 farmers. The challenges were to overcome the shortage of labour during transplanting and weeding stages, higher incidence of pest infestation during rainy season, and increased viral vulnerability. Their solution was Polythene mulching, that helps control weeds (lower spends on pesticides), minimizes labourrequirements, conserves soil moisture, and in case of heavy rains reduces crop losses from wilt & fruit rot diseases.

Another practice introduced by them is cover banana bunches with skirting bags of a thickness of 80 micron at full emergence. These bags are tied to the upper end of the petiole of bunch with the lower end kept open. The same being tried on the farms of 300 farmers. This helps protect the banana bunches from scorching sunlight, preventing formation of black spots, in the process also protecting them from pest attacks and fungal infections. Also, during rainstorms bunches are sheltered against mud.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of KrishiVigyan Kendra by awarding them with KrishakSahyogSamman 2012 (राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार)

The Nand Educational Foundation for Rural Development, an NGO under The International Rice Research Institute, Manila cultivated two stress tolerant varieties of rice: Swarna Sub1 (tolerance levels to withstand floods for more than 2 weeks ) and SahbhagiDhan (a drought tolerant rice variety that produces high quality grains). Swarna Sub1 helped bring down labour costs and superseded the output of its parent variety Swarna by a whopping 1.35 ton/ha. SahbhagiDhan delivered an output of 3.5 ton/ha as compared to 2.5 ton/ha obtained from local varieties, net returns of Rs. 25900 per hectare (as against Rs. 14900 Rs per hectare from NDR 97), and helped save 10 days oflabour.

The Nand Educational Foundation for Rural Development also implemented a programme to revive Kalanamak, one of the finest rice varieties dying out due to farmers' preference for high yielding varieties and infestation by Neck Blast disease. Kalanamak's germ plasm was improved to develop two improved Kalanamak genes - K3131 & K3119 that yielded 1.5 - 2 tons more than traditional Kalanamak varieties, helped save on time and input costs as per the study of 250 farmers enrolled in the programme.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Nand Educational Foundation for Rural Developmentby awarding them with KrishakSahyogSamman 2012 (उप विजेता पुरस्कार).

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, PUSA sought a solution to the limitations of basmati rice production. Basmati rice is known to be highly susceptible to Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB). Their solution: a variety of basmati that’s resistant to Bacterial Leaf Blight. Branded “Improved Pusa Basmati1”, this variety is developed by linking two genes Xa21 and Xa13 and transferring them on to Pusa Basmati1. The result was an 11.9% increase in yield owing to complete resistance to Bacterial Leaf Blight as seen by the farmers of Western UP, Rajasthan, and Gujarat where this innovation was implemented.

Another one of their innovations tested successfully is the world’s first mustard developed through tissue culture – PUSA Jai Kisan. With itssomaclonal variations, it is preferred by farmers over the parent variety, Varuna due to its bold (larger than usual sized) seeds and a higher yield potential. The outcome was a 40% increase in oil content, maximum yield (36 q/ha) as observed by the farmers of Western UP, Punjab, and Haryana where the innovation was tested. Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, PUSAby awarding them with KrishakSansthanSamman 2012 (राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार)

The Vivekananda Parvaitya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, set up by the National Council of Agricultural Research has been instrumental in developing a new “dual purpose†variety of wheat VL Gehun 829. This new type of wheat has been developed with a unique characteristic; it has the ability to produce green fodder in the early vegetative phase, and grain and straw at harvest. This resulted: in double the yield compared to conventional Gehun as observed by 90 farmers adopting this innovation (grain yield: 55q/ha as against 27.42 q/ha, straw yield: 80 q/ha as against 42.70 q/ha and green fodder yield 70 q/ha). Not only this, there was an also an overall increase in return on production, along with, a significant rise in the crop value (net returns: 140,800 Rs per hectare as against 25,950 Rs per hectare). Savings on time and labour costs, availability of fodder during winter are alsoadded advantages.

Another innovation effected by them is the introduction of short duration Pigeon Pea line ICPL 88039 as variety VL Arhar – I to fill in the demand - supply void of perennial pigeon pea, leading to shorter crop duration, savings on time, and labour and input costs for 119 farmers who put this innovation to use.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Vivekananda ParvaityaKrishiAnusandhanSansthan by awarding them with KrishakSansthanSamman 2012 (Runner up Award)

KVK, Dehradun, one of the KrishiVigyanKendras of GBPUAT (Pantnagar), took to the villages to help them gain commercial benefit from growing vegetables. They did so by developing poly tunnel technology for commercial nursery production of vegetables, identifying high yielding varieties in the area, helping farmers raise poly tunnels on their fields, supplying quality inputs (10 lakh vegetable seedlings of Brinjal, Tomato, Chilli, Cabbage and Cauliflowerdistributed to farmers), and also helping farmers market their produce. The result was savings on labour, input costs and abridged crop duration. The Brinjal (Eggplant) varieties like Anamika and Chaya showed a remarkable 64% rise in produce as compared to traditional varieties, with even the Cabbage varieties displaying a marked improvement in output (604 q/ha as against 455 to 500 q/ha) as seen by the 16 farmers who adapted this technology.

The KVK also sought to help Litchi farmers. They did so by introducing farmers to canopy management. Canopy management helps maintain optimum plant density, is an effective way of rejuvenating old litchi orchards, improves shelf life of the fruit, makes application of agricultural inputs easier, lessens thelabour requirement, and even the post-harvest losses are reduced. The resultis an astounding 100% increase in productivity (from 4000-6000 to 12000 kg/ha) as witnessed by 100 farmers who put the method to practice.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of KVK Dehradun, a subsidy of GBPUAT (Pantnagar) by awarding them with KrishakShikshaSamman 2012 (National Award)

The KVK also introduced improved TNAU Turmeric boilers. Traditionally, boiling Turmeric consumed a lot of time, labour and fuel. And if boiling process was not uniform, quality of Turmeric would be affected. The improved TNAU Turmeric boiler with a 16 q/day capacity and power requirement of just 10 kg firewood/ batch helped overcome all these problems and bring down labour and water costs by 50%, electricity costs by 30%, and fuel costs by 40% as experienced by 165 farmers who tried the boiler.

The KVK also introduced improved TNAU Turmeric boilers. Traditionally, boiling Turmeric consumed a lot of time, labour and fuel. And if boiling process was not uniform, quality of Turmeric would be affected. The improved TNAU Turmeric boiler with a 16 q/day capacity and power requirement of just 10 kg firewood/ batch helped overcome all these problems and bring down labour and water costs by 50%, electricity costs by 30%, and fuel costs by 40% as experienced by 165 farmers who tried the boiler.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of KVK Dharampur, Tamil Nadu by awarding them with KrishakShikshaSamman 2012 (Runner-up Award)

IFT 1 – Application of botanical pesticide in paddy

Kalyan Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Purulia applied botanical pesticide, Parasi, on standing Paddy crop and achieved remarkable success.

• Rise in yields by 600 kg/ acre
• Cost of cultivation down to Rs 15900/ acre from Rs 16000/acre
• Improved soil texture
• Sustainable method of controlling pests

IFT 2 - Refined land preparation practice for moisture conservation in Sugarcane

It has also helped sugarcane farmers with land preparation practices so they could conserve soil moisture.

• After harvesting of Sugarcane, Green Gram was sown at the onset of monsoon
• Pods were harvested in the months of August and September, leaving the entire plant residue to increase soil’s organic content
• From September onwards farmers were asked to plough their lands by opening furrows in the afternoon and leaving them overnight to store dew. And to ladder their lands in the morning
• As soil is clay in nature, ploughing and laddering help increase its moisture content

• 10,000 kg/ acre increase in produce
• Additional family income of Rs 30,000/ ha

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements Kalyan Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Purulia, West Bengal; a division of Ramkrishna Mission Lokasikha Parishad, Kolkata by awarding them the ‘KrishiVigyan Kendra Samman 2012’.

IFT 1 – Direct seeding of Rice with drum seeder

• 12% more produce - from 6188 kg/ha. to 6820 kg/ha
• Cost of cultivation down by Rs 9000/ acre due to savings on labour cost and fuel
• Increase in net returns by Rs 15,000/ ha

IFT 2 – Mechanisation in Groundnut

They also tried mechanisation in Groundnut – sowing seeds with a tractor drawn seed drill and harvesting with a tractor drawn Groundnut digger.

• 7.23% and 9.68% more yield in Kharif and Rabi seasons respectively
• Cost of cultivation reduced to Rs 3000/ acre from Rs 5750/ acre
• Amount of time taken to complete the work was three times lesser

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable RASS - Acharya Ranga Krishi Vigyan Kendra; a division of Rashtriya Seva Samithi by awarding them the ‘Krishi Vigyan Kendra Samman 2012’.

Dr. R. S. Paroda is the most decorated personality to be honoured at the Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards 2012. Over the years, he has put in his heart and soul into strengthening the national agricultural research system in India, Central Asia and the Caucasus. And in helping establish the Asia Pacific Seed Association and the Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions. He was instrumental in setting up three of the largest and most modern national gene banks in the world.

In the past, he held several important positions like Chairman, Governing Board of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); Member, Policy Advisory Council of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR); Secretary, Government of India in the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE); and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Under his leadership the ICAR and DARE have attained new heights through infrastructure expansion and long-term programme and policy formulation. He has also chaired the Global Forum on Agricultural Research from 1998 to 2001. And had a global role in the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research that contributed immensely to the prosperity of farmers and the development of agriculture.

He has received numerous awards for his unparalleled contributions to agriculture – the ‘Padma Bhushan’ presented by President of India; ‘Outstanding Research Partner’ award, presented by ICRISAT; and the ‘Norman E. Borlaug’ award.

Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards is proud to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Dr. R.S. Paroda by awarding him the ‘Krishi Shiromani Samman 2012’.