Having a Field Day

KOCHI: At 94, Vidyasagar, is a content man. At a time when Kudumbasree units and citizens groups are rediscovering farming in the state, this nonagenarian stood by the vocation all through its rise and fall. The first Karshakasree Award winner in the state, Vidyasagar single handedly maintained 60 acres of farms till last year. Today he does farming on 17 acres in Malayatoor, growing everything from Tapioca and ginger to rubber.“When I began, in the 70s, labour was still cheap and agriculture was profitable. Through the years people started moving out. Many advised me also to move out. But I knew I could make a living out of this,” says Vidyasagar. For all  his loyalty towards agriculture, he isn’t someone who lived all his life as a farmer, but someone who discovered the profession. The story has its roots in Vidyasagar’s enrollment in the army to fight in Iraq for the Second World War. “We were an agricultural family to begin with. But at that time I was bored with it. I felt there was nothing here, nothing to learn. So when I heard about this opportunity to go to Iraq, I was excited. Without telling anyone in the family I enrolled and before long I found myself in a foreign country,” he narrates.  The young adventurer reached Iraq but his days on the war front were few. The battalion was soon brought to Faridabad. But here too the love for agriculture never sprouted up.“I loved to see the working of machines. I was impressed by the saw mills there. I thought why not use it in Perumbavoor”. This little thought of the young army man soon gave way to the first saw mill in Perumbavoor. With his  saw mill Vidyasagar  set the tune for what would soon turn Perumbavoor into one of the landmarks of the timber industry in the state.It was at this time that Vidyasagar first came to Malayatoor. “I came there to identify the areas from where timber had to be felled. There was no road here at that time. We came on a little wooden boat. This was in 1974. I knew that rubber was grown in several parts of the state. I thought why not do it here too. It would take around 5-6 years to mature but I knew it would work.” That began his association with agriculture and the man who left farming to see the world reached his roots again.After that there was no turning back. He sold his timber factory and since then his life has centered around his farm in Malayatoor. Though he began with  just rubber, soon vegetables and fruits too come in. But it has not all been hunky-dory. There were quite a few times when he lost all his crop owing to rains. In such times it would take years to make up the profit. Markets too have seen a slump, but Vidyasagar does not see this as enough reason for people to quit the vocation. “You can make a living out of agriculture. In Kerala, there are lots of land, especially paddy fields which are lying vacant. Since most of them are little separate pieces of land, it might not be profitable to cultivate them individually. But if a group of people can take up the land, it can surely be profitable,” he says.Like the sawmill in Perumbavoor, in Malayatoor too  many followed suit. Today, the land around Vidyasagar’s farm are dotted with vegetables and other farms. But after decades in farming, at 93,Vidyasagar partitioned his land to his sons. Now they continue what he began during in a little boat trip.