WEALTH CREATOR FROM FARMLANDS

Sarbeswar Basumatary, a man of humble beginnings in a secluded Assam village, has carved a name for himself in the field of agricultural innovation with his diversified farming method that advocates that land must never lie fallow, writes Prasanta tve ASSAM N the quiet corners of Panbari village, nestled in Assam's Chirang district, a story of extraordinary resilience and transformation unfolds.

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Sarbeswar Basumatary, a 62-year-old farmer, embodies the spirit of the proverb 'If a man works hard, the land will not be lazy.' His journey from impoverished beginnings to becoming a beacon of progressive farming is a testament to his unyielding spirit and innovative approach to agriculture.

Basumatary's early years were marked by hardship. Growing up in Panbari, a village on the edge of Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, he faced constant threats to his crops from wild animals. Monkeys, bears, elephants, and boars frequently strayed from the park, wreaking havoc on his fields. The situation seemed nearly hopeless until a series of fortuitous events began to shift the balance in his favour.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the region was embroiled in political turmoil. The All Bodo Students' Union's push for a separate homeland led to encroachMazumdar ments on the park's land. As the park boundaries receded, Basumatary's agricultural land, once vulnerable to wildlife incursions, was protected from further destruction. This marked a crucial turning point.

"A man, who had encroached upon 60 bighas of land ap८८ proached me with a proposal that if I clear the jungle, he would allow me to grow crops on the land for two to three seasons and keep the harvest. I readily agreed, hoping it would help me get out of poverty; he evicted me after I had cleared the forest," Basumatary recalled.