Progressive Farmer – Mr. Anand Kumar Thakur

Mr. Anand Kumar Thakur, S/o Late Yugal Kishore Thakur, was born in Pathsara, Piyar, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, on January 2, 1953. He decided to pursue farming after completing his graduation. He frequently makes advancements in farming and shares his knowledge with other farmers. He has been urging other farmers to use sprinklers for irrigation and is doing it himself. He supports mixed cropping and is preserving several extinct crops and pulse germplasms.

He has embraced an organic farming method and is advocating the use of vermicompost, Jeeva Amrit, and other techniques for growing fruits, vegetables, and other crops. He is a progressive farmer who has implemented Front-Line Demonstrations for several crops of different institutions such as Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, ICAR-IIWBR etc. in Pusa, Samastipur, and Bihar. He is raising vegetables, oil seeds, and pulses while instructing farmers to apply nutrients following soil testing using bio-fertilizers and has demonstrated that by using bio-fertilizers, production costs can be reduced. He is leading the farmers in his community and has attained the position of a pioneer.

His contributions have earned him many awards and recognition. He received the Abhinav Kisan Puraskar in 2017 from the Vice Chancellor of the DRPCAU in Pusa, Bihar. A certificate for Progressive Farmers-2010 was awarded to him by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi. The ASM Udyan Ratna Award-2023 was given out by the Lt. Amit Singh Memorial Foundation in recognition of his substantial contributions to the adoption of technology that increases farm productivity and profitability. For the implementation and popularization of "Weather-based warnings in sowing and spraying operation in vegetable crops," the ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad, presented the Best Farmer Award for 2023. Also, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (ICAR), Karnal, awarded him with the Innovative Farmers Award in 2023.