Mutthanna Beerappa Poojar, who has never gone to school, was a nomadic shepherd who struggled to make ends meet till 1999. He is today one of the prominent personalities in his village and a cult figure among fellow farmers as he earns Rs. 35 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh a year through farming.
Despite being illiterate, Mr. Poojar always dreamt of making it big in life. Even as he moved from place to place grazing sheep, he tried to learn reading and writing informally from others.
But he was gripped by a crisis in 1999 when several sheep died. This forced him to give a serious thought towards buying agricultural land.
“I chose land which was not in good shape, at Kamanahalli in Haveri taluk, as that was available at a very cheap rate and took loans from several people to give some advance amount to the land owner as commitment to buy it. The owner of the land who was happy to find a buyer gave me two years’ time to pay the remaining amount,” says Mr. Poojar, who owns 28 acres.
“Since my time as nomadic shepherd, I have cultivated the habit of sleeping only for about three hours a day as I had to keep a watch on my sheep. This helped me in farming as I just worked throughout the day and night to turn the uneven farmland into a fertile ground and managed to pay the entire amount to the land owner,” Mr. Poojar recounts.
But he was in for a shock as the drought from 2001 to 2004 left him high and dry as all his crops failed. This provoked him to think of sustainable method of farming. He started visiting the fields of innovative farmers and farm experts. “I realised that integrated farming is the key to sustainability,” says Mr. Poojar who has made it big in integrated farming by growing various crops, including banana, paddy, maize, sugarcane, areca, coconut, lemon and chikoo.
He also takes up greenhouse cultivation, apiary, agro-forestry, poultry and owns 900 sheep and 15 cows. This is in addition to the nursery through which he sells plants.
“Since 2004, there has not been even one year when I have gone without income,” he says proudly as he was honoured with the C. Byre Gowda State-level award on the occasion of the inauguration of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru’s Krishi Mela on Thursday. “There is nothing like loss in agriculture if you work hard work and innovate,” signs off Mr. Poojar.
