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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade: Rural Inventor Who Revolutionalised Rice Farming Breathes His Last -Jaideep Hardikar

Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade: Rural Inventor Who Revolutionalised Rice Farming Breathes His Last -Jaideep Hardikar

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published Published on Jun 15, 2018   modified Modified on Jun 15, 2018
-News18.com

Dadaji was active until last year when he would make at least one visit to his farm every day. The veteran stopped working when his body would no longer back up his mind and his ideas.

Nagpur:
He fought for his rights but could never quite get his due.

Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade, the inventor of HMT-Sona and ten other popular rice varieties died on Sunday at the Search hospital in Gadchiroli. The Dalit farmer, who won global acclaim for his innovations, had suffered a crippling paralytic attack a month ago.

He is survived by his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.

The 80-year-old had been unwell for the past six months. He was frail and his listening capabilities were hampered.

For his work and farm innovations, Dadaji earned a lot of goodwill and support from many quarters including institutions and individuals. This was something that kept pushing him to work, even in his old age.

Dadaji was active until last year when he would make at least one visit to his farm every day. The veteran stopped working when his body would no longer back up his mind and his ideas.

During his childhood, he reared the village cattle and could never go to school. As an adult, he invented 11 popular rice varieties that occupy vast stretches of paddy land in central India.

HMT-Sona gives an average yield of 40–45 quintals per hectare and has short grains, high rice recovery and good aroma. The variety is now marketed in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Chinnour, Nanded-92, Nanded-Hira, Vijay-Nanded, Dipak-Ratna and the latest DRK-I and II, were some of his other finds with an average yield of about 20 quintals per acre in rain-fed conditions.

For many years, the octogenarian lived in a dingy hut in Chandrapur’s Nanded village. A few years ago, with the money from his awards and help from a few people, Dadaji built a house that also became his seed godown. Awards, medals and citations would hang by the walls in a room.

He first shot to fame when he accused the state-run Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) for taking credit for the brand that he had originally bred on his farm and given to the university scientists. This was in early 2000s.

While Dadaji claimed the PKV had appropriated his variety, the PKV held that sourced it from him and significantly improved the variety with their scientific inputs. The issue remains unresolved till date. PKV never officially gave Dadaji his credit in its varietal release proposal.

The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) recognised his work in 2003-04 and the Maharashtra government gave him the Krishi Bhushan and Krishi Ratna awards for his innovations. One of his varieties called Chinnour is akin to the Basmati of the north. He named his latest variety after himself: DRK.

In 2010, Dadaji’s name figured in the Forbes list of top seven Indian rural entrepreneurs, after it was picked up by the IIM-Ahmadabad professor and founder of the Honey Bee Network Anil Gupta. Dadaji could not make any sense of what it meant. “I am happy, but I don’t know what it means to me and to my fellow farmers,” he said.

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News18.com, 4 June, 2018, https://www.news18.com/news/india/dadaji-ramaji-khobragade-rural-inventor-who-revolutionalised-rice-farming-breathes-his-last-1768753.html


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