Seth Pal Singh

Sethpal Singh is a farmer from Saharanpur district who showed how small farmers can earn a steady income by diversifying what they grow. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022, from Uttar Pradesh ^[1].

Looking for better returns

Sethpal Singh was born on 5 March 1966 into a farming family ^[2]. Farming his land alongside other work, he found the returns poor, which pushed him to try new crops ^[2].

A new mix

He began growing singhara, the water chestnut, in ordinary fields dug just one foot deep, producing good-quality nuts that sold well ^[2]. He added a fish pond and lotus cultivation for income through the year, and earns well from lotus stems and seeds ^[2]. He grows seasonal mushrooms and turns produce into pickles ^[2]. He has adopted drip irrigation to save water, switched to organic farming and controls pests without chemicals ^[2].

His farm gives him daily income from milk, vegetables and other produce, and jobs for landless labourers in the village ^[2]. Many young people have been drawn to farming by his example ^[2].

He received the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s innovative farmer award in 2012 and the ICAR’s Jagjivan Ram Abhinav Kisan Puraskar in 2015, and serves on several agricultural advisory bodies ^[2].