->Editrite! at 03:51, 23 July 2021

2021-07-23T03:51:29Z

New page

'''Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade''' ({{lang-mr|दादाजी रामाजी खोब्रागडे}}; died 3 June 2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=धान संशोधक दादाजी खोब्रागडे यांचं निधन |url=https://maharashtratimes.indiatimes.com/maharashtra/nagpur-vidarbha-news/nagpur/dadaji-khobragade-passes-away/articleshow/64439489.cms |language=marathi |accessdate=2018-06-11}}</ref> was an [[India]]n cultivator who bred and refined a high-yielding variety of paddy, HMT.<ref name=nif>{{cite web |url=http://nif.org.in/innovation/HMT--an_Improved_Paddy_Variety/286 |publisher=National Innovation Foundation - India |title=HMT - Paddy variety |accessdate=2017-08-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=28 Feb 2019|title=List of certificate issued up to 28.02.2019|url=http://www.plantauthority.gov.in/List_of_Certificates.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}}</ref>

D.R. Khobragade belonged to Nanded Village from [[Nagbhid]] Taluka of [[Chandrapur]] district, Maharashtra.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-06-04|title=Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade: Rural Inventor Who Revolutionalised Rice Farming Breathes His Last|url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/dadaji-ramaji-khobragade-rural-inventor-who-revolutionalised-rice-farming-breathes-his-last-1768753.html|access-date=2020-06-14|website=News18}}</ref>

Around 1983, Khobragade noticed a plant with slightly different appearance and yellowish seeds in his field planted with the 'Patel 3' variety of paddy, which he experimented on in the years to come. The new variety was found giving high yields compared to the varieties available at that time. By 1990, the variety was given a name HMT.<ref>{{Cite web|last=BAVADAM|first=LYLA|date=28 Jan 2011|title=Bitter harvest|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30174227.ece|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211170231/https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30174227.ece|archive-date=11 Feb 2020|access-date=2020-06-10|website=Frontline|language=en}}</ref>

Despite his innovation, Khobragade lived a poor and mostly neglected life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=BAVADAM|first=LYLA|title=Seeds man|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/obituary/article24201227.ece|access-date=2020-06-10|website=Frontline|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Menon|first=Meena|title=Legacy in a grain|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/specials/india-interior/legacy-in-a-grain/article24174246.ece|access-date=2020-06-10|website=@businessline|language=en}}</ref> He got some media attention when Forbes magazine named him among seven most powerful entrepreneurs of India in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anil Gupta Picks India's Seven Most Powerful Entrepreneurs |last=Gupta |first=Anil |work=Forbes |date=2010-04-11 |accessdate=2017-08-21 |url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/11/01/honeybee-network-anil-gupta-opinions-power-10-indian-entrepreneurs_slide_6.html}}</ref>

He first shot to fame when he accused the state-run [[Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth|Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth]] (PKV) of taking credit for the brand that he had originally bred on his farm and given to the university scientists in 1994.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2001-06-17|title=Rice of the rural kind|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/rice-of-the-rural-kind/article27962255.ece|access-date=2020-06-10|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

While Dadaji claimed the PKV had appropriated his variety, the PKV held that they sourced it from him and significantly improved the variety with their scientific inputs. The issue remains unresolved till date. PKV never officially gave Dadaji his credit in its varietal release proposal.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How a Rice Variety Bred by an Industrious Maharashtra Farmer Was Pirated (Update: NIF's Response)|url=https://thewire.in/agriculture/rice-variety-bred-industrious-maharashtra-farmer-pirated|access-date=2020-06-10|website=The Wire}}</ref>

The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) recognised his work in 2003-04 and the Maharashtra government gave him the Krishi Bhushan and Krishi Ratna awards for his innovations. One of his varieties called Chinnour is akin to the Basmati of the north. He named his latest variety after himself: DRK.{{Need-ref|date=June 2020}}

== Awards ==

* First Richharia award for developing HMT and other paddy varieties.<ref name=":0" />
*2005: [[Vasantrao Naik]] Krishibhushan Award.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=वसंतराव नाईक कृषिभूषण पुरस्कार|url=http://krishi.maharashtra.gov.in/1034/Krishibhushan|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-10|website=krishi.maharashtra.gov.in}}</ref>

* 2005: National award for HMT paddy variety at third National Grassroots Innovation Awards.<ref name="nif" />

* 2009: Diffusion award for DRK paddy variety at fifth National Grassroots Innovation Awards.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diffusion DRK paddy variety {{!}} National Innovation Foundation-India|url=http://nif.org.in/innovation/diffusion_-drk_-paddy_variety/68|access-date=2020-06-10|website=nif.org.in}}</ref>
*2010: [[Panjabrao Deshmukh|Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh]] Krishiratna award by [[Government of Maharashtra]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=डॉ. पंजाबराव देशमुख कृषिरत्न पुरस्कार|url=http://krishi.maharashtra.gov.in/1033/Krishiratna|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-10|website=krishi.maharashtra.gov.in}}</ref>

==Notes and References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book |title=Strategies for Sustainable Technologies and Innovations |pages=125–126 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZiPDOnPVUEC&q=dadaji+khobragade&pg=PA125 |last=Kakoty |first=Sanjeeb |chapter=Appropriate technology movement |year=2013|isbn=9781781006832 }}
*{{cite book |title=Any Way You Slice It |last=Cox |first=Stan |pages=161–162 |year=2013 |publisher=New Press |isbn=9781595588098}}
{{external media
| float =
| width =
| image1 =
| image2 =
| image3 =
| audio1 =
| audio2 =
| audio3 =
| video1 =https://vimeo.com/127400150
| video2 =
| video3 =
| model1 =
| model2 =
| model3 =
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khobragade, Dadaji Ramaji}}
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian inventors]]
[[Category:Marathi people]]
[[Category:People from Chandrapur district]]

Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade - Revision history

->Editrite! at 03:51, 23 July 2021