Bhubaneswar: The agriculture scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Khurda which had recommended the name of the progressive farmer from Balianta, Batakrushna Sahoo, for the Padma awards to the Union government, bestowed him with a warm welcome after his return.
Padmashri Sahoo hails from Sarakana village from Balianta block of Khurda district. Also known as ‘Batta Babu’ in his area, Sahoo is a beacon for the fish farmers of Odisha who inspired thousands of people to adopt fish farming as profession.
Sahoo is an innovative farmer, who converted his farmland into experimental station where most of the technology developed by ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research)-CIFA in aquaculture was tried and tested. It is working as learning centres for thousands of farmers across the state. He owns a fish hatchery producing fish seeds of Indian major carps (catla, rohu and mrigal) serves more than 500 farmers every year.
After his visit to the KVK, post-announcement of the top civil awards, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) Director BR Pillai and KVK-Khurda Head PN Ananth felicitated him for his outstanding work in the field of agriculture and fish farming. SS Singh, Director (Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Kolkata and PP Pal, Scientist from ATARI, Kolkata appreciated the initiatives taken by the progressive farmer.
Sahoo has worked ceaselessly to attain 10 acres of seed farm from one pond over last three decades and converted his farm into a reliable supplier of knowledge and quality inputs to fellow farmers. Sahoo recollected the history of aquaculture development in Odisha and how scientists worked in his farm to try many new technologies. He expressed his gratitude to many scientists for their support in the early phase of his farm development.
He also expressed satisfaction over continuous support provided by scientist of KVK and ICAR-CIFA. CIFA Scientist NK Barik also applauded the contributions made by Sahoo in his sector.