Narayanappa, a farmer hailing from Mallapuram village in Kalyanadurgam mandal of Anantapuram district, received the Karmaveer Chakra Award on Monday.
The award was handed over to him by iCONGO president Etu Chopra at a programme held at Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad. It was given in recognition of his efforts in earning through the ‘Any Time Money’ (ATM) model developed by Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS).
Mr. Narayanappa was reportedly convinced when RySS officials urged him to opt for the ATM model and cultivatevarieties of vegetables, instead of depending upon a single crop. Subsequently, he cultivated leafy vegetables, radish, carrot and beetroot in his 45 cents land; he earned from the first crop of leafy vegetables within 25 days of cultivation.
He said that he earned ₹10,000 during first cutting, and another ₹10,500 in the second cutting of leafy vegetables like coriander, green sorrel, etc. In the second month, he earned ₹7000 for harvesting radish; ₹12,500 and ₹18,000 respectively for two separate harvests of carrots. In the subsequent month, the income through beetroot was ₹12,000 and ₹9,000.
“In a way, I am receiving income every month, which was not the case earlier, when I used to depend on a single crop,” he explained
