Sehore Farmer’s Indigenous Wheat Variety Wins National Award for Crop Innovation

Ramprasad Bisaria, a 58-year-old farmer from Sehore district near Bhopal, has been honoured with the National Plant Genome Saviour Award by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPV&FRA) for his work in preserving and developing a drought-resistant indigenous wheat variety known locally as “Sharbati Kanak.”

The variety, which Bisaria has been cultivating and selectively breeding for over two decades, has shown 18% higher yield in low-rainfall conditions compared to commercially available hybrid seeds. It also has a lower water requirement, making it particularly suited for rain-fed agriculture in Madhya Pradesh’s semi-arid Malwa Plateau region.

Agricultural scientists from ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, who evaluated the variety said it carried unique genetic traits not found in any commercial or registered variety, making it highly significant for national crop diversity preservation efforts.

Bisaria received the award at a ceremony in New Delhi and was presented with a citation and ₹10 lakh in prize money. He said the recognition would go toward building a small community seed bank in his village so neighbouring farmers could also access the indigenous seed. “I am just a custodian of what my forefathers gave us,” he said.