Himachal Pradesh farmer conferred Padma Shri for his contribution to organic farming.

January 28, 2023

Nek Ram Sharma, a farmer of Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award for his distinguished service in the field of agriculture, especially organic farming.
Sharma, the only Padma awardee from Himachal Pradesh, has expressed his gratitude to the government for this achievement.
He has been growing nine different grains through organic farming.
Nek Ram said there is a high need to shun the use of fertilizers in farming.
Praising the ‘International Year of Millets 2023’, Sharma said, “People have become aware after the announcement of the International Year of Millets. Earlier there were fewer diseases when people used to get food products directly from the jungles. Now, in order to earn money, people are involved in unethical practices which are causing a lot of diseases in the farm produce.” The Government of India spearheaded the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution for declaring the year 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’ and the proposal of India was supported by 72 countries.
UNGA declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets in March 2021. January 2023 is the focused-month for the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, and the states of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Rajasthan for conducting events and activities related to the millets year.