Bhubaneswar: Celebrations began across Sarkana village of Khurda's Balianta block as soon as the news of local farmer Batakrushna Sahoo conferred with Padma Shri spread like wildfire on Saturday. Sahoo was conferred the fourth highest civilian award in the country for his contribution in the field of Animal Husbandry.
In an exclusive interview to OTV, Batakrushna while narrating his journey to success said, it all began for him in the year 1986 when he started pisciculture. Later, without any financial help from the Government, he went on to train hundreds of farmers in spawn production through traditional breeding methods and also began to train students of several colleges in Odisha.
"I started laughing when the official submitted my name as nomination for Padma Shri award. I used to think that there are many brilliant personalities who deserve this award so I won’t get it. It has been six months since my name was sent to Delhi but I didn't tell anyone about this," said Batakrushna.
“I initially thought it was a spam call when someone from the Union Ministry called me to inform about the news," said an amused Sahoo.
Mentioning about the efforts, he said, "The award is the result of nearly 35 years of dedication to farming. I have extended help to many farmers who have shown interest in this and have not charged any fee."
Speaking about his future plans, Sahoo said, "We are planning to begin coloured fish farming project for which the State government has already sanctioned Rs 4 lakh under a loan scheme."
Mentioning about the drawbacks of pisciculture, Sahoo said that fish theft and other creatures who feed on fish are risk factors which one needs to be careful of before planning to opt for it. Sahoo is among 12 eminent personalities from Odisha who will be conferred with Padma Awards this year.
https://youtu.be/1PT_kwHu9HU