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Agriculture · Assam

From ploughman to farm adviser

At 13, Sarbeswar Basumatary was ploughing other people's fields. Training, practice and a farmers' network turned him into a grower of fruit, fish and silk, and into an adviser to his district's farm bodies.

Sarbeswar Basumataryसर्बेश्वर बसुमतारी
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Born
8 April 1962
District
Chirang, Assam
Field
Diversified farming, horticulture, fisheries, farmer organisations
Honours
Assam Gaurav; several farmer awards; Padma Shri 2024
13his age when he began work as a ploughman
1996the training that changed his path
2024Padma Shri

A ploughman at thirteen

Sarbeswar Basumatary’s story runs from poverty and little schooling to diversified farming. According to his official Padma citation, he was born on 8 April 1962 and studied only up to the fifth standard.

At 13 he went to work as a ploughman in the Bokakhat–Dhansrimukh area. He came back in 1984 and started farming, at first on other people’s land.

The turning point

After buying his own land in 1995–96, a 1996 training at the Bijni Sub-Divisional Agriculture Office became his turning point. Joining the Panbari Banana Growers’ Society, he increased his production of banana, orange and pineapple.

He later trained in fisheries, went on exposure visits to other states and took horticulture training. His farm now combines crop diversity with fisheries, horticulture and sericulture.

A farmer who advises

He has been a member of the Chirang district Fishery Department Advisory Board, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra and sericulture bodies, and worked as a promoter of the Bordosila Farmer Producer Company Limited.

His journey shows that a farmer is not just a beneficiary of extension services; he can be an adviser, organiser and peer teacher too. The 2024 Padma Shri recognises that grassroots leadership in agriculture.

Sources