Subhash Sharma
A Yavatmal farmer who has practised and taught chemical-free natural farming for 30 years, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
Subhash Sharma has spent more than thirty years showing that farms can thrive without chemicals. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri, from Maharashtra [1].
A farmer’s experiments
Sharma was born on 13 December 1952 in Yavatmal, Maharashtra [2]. On his farm he developed methods such as contour farming with intercepting furrows, which store rainwater and help recharge groundwater [2].
By giving up chemical fertilisers, pesticides and weedkillers, farmers using his methods cut their costs and raise the organic carbon in their soil, from about 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent, improving fertility [2]. Mixed cropping, crop rotation and trees along field edges help keep pests in check naturally [2].
Teaching others
More than two lakh farmers, scientists and extension workers have attended his training, farm visits and workshops [2]. Agricultural universities in Maharashtra, Punjab and Odisha have recognised his work, and he spoke at a 2018 national conference on doubling farmers’ incomes [2].
His honours include Maharashtra’s Vasantrao Naik Krushi Bhushan award (2002) [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Subhash Sharma — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 12 October 2026.
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