Knowing Sitaram:
Having been born and brought up in a family with its roots firmly held in a rustic setting, my interest in agriculture sprouted at a young age. After finishing my master's in Microbiology, I swayed away towards a career in the Pharmaceutical sector. In this endeavor, I learned team building skills and effective sales. I also got promoted to key positions and received several accolades and awards. Though I enjoyed my work, I had a persistent urge and inclination towards farming.
The Newton Moment:
The distress experienced by the farming community, from suicides to their unfruitful migration to cities, had a profound impact on me as a teenager. I tried deciphering the reasons behind this escalating tragedy. I could see certain unaddressed issues like the depletion of water resources, increasing input cost, lack of proper market linkage, etc. I put myself in their shoes and realized that small and marginal farmers were struggling to feed several dependent mouths in their family as well as make a livelihood at the same time. That is what struck me as my life's calling!
Ignited Minds:
It was in the year 2009 that I left my job and started farming on a small land in my native village of Aitipamula in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh, but this action didn't seem to satiate my heart’s desire. So, I decided to broaden my work towards building farmer communities in order to take up sustainable agriculture on a large scale. At this juncture, I joined hands with a few like-minded people, made numerous field visits, attended training programs on organic farming, and also mobilized a few farmers and agricultural experts to join the cause. Over a period of time, these efforts took a rough shape of the Grameen Mall Foundation.
Focus Areas:
More and more farmers started showing interest in sustainable agriculture. The foundation took initiatives to support, educate, train, and assist small and marginal farmers to revive traditional farming practices. As a microbiologist, I was pulled towards the conservation of agri-biodiversity and initiated the conservation of indigenous seed and started promoting community seed banks to support the farmer groups. My approach is to organize and promote collective farming practices.
Challenges Encountered:
Though I faced challenges like a lack of understanding of sustainable agriculture, addressing the unorganized structure of the farming sector, they only propelled me to work more vigorously to realize my long-term goal. The statistics of the Grameen Mall, though modest, show my dedication and commitment to the promotion of sustainable agriculture and seed conservation.
Vision Board:
My aim is to pass the cultural legacy to future generations. Similar to entrepreneurship, I aspire to nurture ‘agri-preneurship’ amongst small-scale farmers and self-help groups to support themselves. We have built ‘BEEJ PATASHALA’ - to provide quality extension services in backward linkages and forward linkages based upon the “seed to shelf” principle. We want to localize value addition of the crop along with marketing opportunities is my larger vision.
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