Meet the father daughter duo from Odisha conferred with the Padma Shri for agriculture

A father and daughter duo from Odisha had made waves by being conferred with India's fourth-highest civilian honour - the Padma Shri - for their work in agriculture. Radha Mohan and her daughter Sabarmatee have been credited with transforming a degraded piece of land into a vast food forest using only organic techniques.

Wanted to rejuvenate wasteland

According to media reports, Sabarmatee along with her father who is a retired economics professor, wanted to rejuvenate a wasteland only using organic techniques. For the purpose, they bought a piece of land interiors of Nayagrah in Odisha despite warnings that it would not wield anything by neighbours. 

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At present, that one-acre land has transformed into 890 acres of forestation with three rainwater harvesting ponds and 500 varieties of rice. The forest is also home to nearly 1000 species of plants. Talking to media, Mohan and his daughter revealed that all this was achieved only using organic soil and water conservation methods.

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Both of them also opened Sambhav which something of a resource centre for nationwide farmers aiming to educate them about organic farming techniques and exchange seeds. The organisation has reportedly successfully grown t-clove beans, jack beans, black rice and sword beans amongst others till now. Describing their journey, Sabarmatee said that they accepted the challenge and stayed committed to their decision to the cause. She added that they named their journey ‘Sambhav,’ from impossible to possible.