A green success story unfolds on farm at Pedda Kurumapally village in Telangana

If bad loans, crop failures and low yields hover like dark clouds over agriculture, organic farmers like Mavuram Mallikarjun Reddy are the silver lining. A native of Pedda Kurumapally village in Karimnagar district of Telangana, Mallikarjun is the only one from the State to receive the Jagjivan Ram Abhinav Kisan Puruskar from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The award was given to him for cultivating different types of crops through organic farming. A day after receiving the award in Delhi, Mallikarjun is back at his experiment ground: the farms. His wife Sandhya says the buzz of the past month is new to the family. “Many friends and relatives who chided his decision to quit his job and move back to the village are now appreciating his success. It feels happy to reap the benefits of hard work and innovation,” she says over a phone call.