Social development comprises of various aspects, one of it being its strong power to bring positive transformation in the inhabitants lives. To support this objective, a silent revolution has been going on in the hills of Himachal Pradesh where Hari Krishan Sharma from Serve Himalaya Society has been at the forefront of a movement. A man with great passion and dedication, Hari Krishan Sharma quit the Government Job to follow his heart and is a true Yoddha who has been working for the past 2 decades with farmers in the hills of Himachal Pradesh.

Self Help Groups and Farmer Producer Organizations

An Agriculture graduate by profession, H.K Sharma has been instrumental in the creation of many self-help groups led by women. These SHGs located in different remote locations across the state have empowered women and made them self reliant. Women who were traditionally only involved in household chores are now confidently managing accounts as they find themselves actively engaged in activities like knitting sweaters and caps which are sold in urban market centres like Shimla and Solan.

However, the heart and mind of H.K Sharma lay in promoting traditional agriculture practices which he strengthened in District Shimla of Himachal Pradesh by creating Farmer Producer Organizations with help of NABARD.

Earlier these farmers had to forego a good part of their earning as commission to middlemen who purchased their produce at low prices. With the formation of Farmer Producer Organizations, Hari Krishan Sharma or H.K Sharma as he is popularly known, he has been able to provide these farmers with a platform where they have organised themselves into a group and are able to sell their produce including different kind of vegetables at a better price. These Farmer Producer Organizations or FPOs have been created in Sainj and Theog blocks of District Shimla in which over 125 farmers have benefitted.

Promotion of Organic Farming

Organic food has become a favorite with city dwellers. Luckily, the people in remote areas of Himachal Pradesh have been relishing the benefits of pesticide-free food for long. However, in recent years, the uses of pesticide and insecticide have made it to the hills too with the same being used substantially in Apple cultivation.

Hari Krishan Sharma identified this as a key gap in agriculture and decided to take action on this front too. Being from an agricultural background, he was well aware of the benefits of organic farming. The Government of Himachal Pradesh had launched an Organic Farming promotion scheme under which large tracts of the state were to be covered under organic farming.

This is a three-year process in which the land is reclaimed by advocating organic farming practices. Hari Krishan Sharma began this initiative in the remote region of District Sirmaur, one of the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh. 50 Hectare of land in Village Rajhana in Sangrah Block of the district Sirmaur was initially covered by him under this project. In this, the use of biofertilizers was advocated and famers left the use of pesticides. Initially, there is a reduction in crop yield by motivational sessions where subject experts interacted with the farmers made them work in tandem with Hari Krishan Sharma on this project. Three years of dedicated organic farming agricultural practices eventually earned the farmers the organic farming tag from the Government of India and ever since their product has been selling at a fairly good price in the market.

The same scheme was replicated by HK Sharma in other districts of the state including Solan and Chamba where numerous farmers and villagers benefitted.

As I pen down these words, Hari Krishan Sharma is silently busy in bringing a positive transformation in the lives of people in the tribal district of Kinnaur with his Tribal Development Fund project funded by NABARD. Hari Krishan Sharma is a true Yoddha who has made a mark for himself in the field in the state of Himachal Pradesh and is instrumental in bringing smiles on faces of numerous farmers and community members whose lives have changed for good, ever since they came in touch with Hari Krishan Sharma.

Also read: Story Of Abhishek Boney Singha – Transforming Lives By Enabling Healthy Living

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