Water Warrior Ayyappa Masagi

Karnataka agriculturalist, Ayyappa Masagi has been working out ways to best use rainfall and is keen to share what he has learnt over the decades

A good monsoon forecast is a relief to everyone - whether directly involved in agriculture or not. But Karnataka farmer, Ayyappa Masagi, says that with good rainwater usage farmers can have more control of the success of their crops - even in areas that receive low rainfall. This Karnataka agriculturalist has been working out ways to best use rainfall - and is keen to share what he has learnt over the decades.

His journey has been a long one that began when he learnt the value of water was just a child. Ayyappa remembers how his mother's struggles for drinking water made him interested in water. “Reason is my mother,” he said.

“In my childhood, my mother would take me and fetch the water from the stream early morning 3 o'clock. I was born and brought up in north Karnataka. Drought prone area. When the summer comes it is very difficult to get drinking water. If you go early, you get water. If you go late, no water. I was 3- to 4-year-old boy. Then I would put it on my head and one and a half kilometre I would have to walk. She is the motivator.”

After receiving a diploma, Ayyappa worked in Larsen and Toubro for 23 years - before buying 6 acres of land to follow his dream of farming. But he ran into difficulties after a few years.