Praveen Hebballi, who cultivates a small patch of land near Betasuru in Belagavi district in north Karnataka, is a farmer with a difference. The young farmer has been growing multiple crops with the intention of preserving native varieties. His farm has scores of foxtail millet and Jowar varieties. “I was able to procure seeds of around 60 jowar varieties, of which around 45 germinated,” he says.
He works with various agencies like the Indian Institute of Millet Research, University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad, Sahaja Samruddha, an organic farmers association and Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network.
Sadly, he is among the breed of Jowar farmers who seem to be vanishing. Though the great millet is the staple of most families in northern Karnataka, area under the crop is reducing.
