Bhubaneswar: Born into a poor family in tribal-dominated Patraput village of Baipariguda block in Koraput district, Padma Shri Kamala Pujari, 74, who passed away at SCB Medical College and Hospital Saturday following kidney-related ailments, was always fascinated with traditional paddy seeds.
This fascination led to her cultivating paddy in her farmland with a mission that she could preserve the grains for further germination.
Kamala successfully preserved hundreds of indigenous paddies and had also collected several endangered and rare types of seeds including paddy, turmeric, tili, black cumin, and mahakanta.
Often called ‘preserver of paddy seeds’, Kamala’s relentless efforts were duly recognised at the all-India level when she was conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award by the then President Ram Nath Kovind March 16, 2019.
Her hard work and perseverance won her many awards and honours earlier too. She was given the ‘Best Women Farmer’ award by the state government in 2004.
Kamala, who was a keen follower of traditional farming, learnt her basic farming techniques from the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Jeypore. The foundation also helped Kamala to set up a seed bank along with a few other women from her village.
After getting training, Kamala went on to encourage others, including farmers to stop using chemical fertilisers. She formed a group with fellow villagers which conducted door-to-door awareness drives about organic farming in nearby villages.
Her dedication paid off when farmers in Patraput and neighbouring villages in Nabarangpur district stopped using chemical fertilisers.
In 2002, Kamala went all the way to Johannesburg to participate in a workshop on organic farming organised by MS Swaminathan Foundation. There, her efforts towards traditional and organic farming were appreciated by the participants, who had come from across the world,
In 2018, the state Planning Board had taken Kamala as one of its members.
In 2002, a hostel of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in Bhubaneswar was named after Kamala.
She had won Equator of Initiative Award in 2002.
PNN