Name : Dhirajlal Virjibhai Thummar
District & State : Amreli, Gujarat
Category : Agricultural (General)
Award : National
Award Function : 5th National Grassroots Innovation Awards
Award Year : 2009
Innovation Description
A new wilt resistant groundnut variety has been developed by a farmer Dhirajlal Virjibhai Thummar (38). This early maturing variety also gives higher yield than other locally popular varieties.
Dhirajlal lives in a joint family with his mother, wife, children and the families of his two younger brothers. Due to his father’s ill health and financial constraints, he had to leave studies after class tenth and take charge of the family’s 50 bigha land and the cattle. With five wells and a bore, the land is well irrigated where the family grows groundnut, cotton (BT and Shankar varieties), sorghum, wheat and vegetables. Sorghum is grown primarily for the cattle and vegetables for own consumption. His village, with a population around 2500, is predominantly agriculture based where the farmers mainly grow groundnut, wheat, sorghum, pearl millet and cotton