Amayi Mahalinga Naik
Kepu A small village near Adyanadaka in Karnataka. A man was working in a betel nut and coconut plantation there. Own neither house nor land. But seeing his dedication and honesty, Mahabala Bhat, the owner of that garden, gave him 2 acres of land as a reward in 1978. The land was on top of a hill. Totally barren and barren. There is no trace of water. If there was someone like us, we would have left the sound of the land.
But the man dreamed of a betel nut garden on this land; And so begins a quest - of adventures that take on struggles, paths of questioning, journeys of answers and survival...
Then started building a hut for the family at the foot of the hill. The hill was leveled. A wall was built for it. When it comes to water. There was no money to dig a well. Then she decided to dig it herself and started working. Being at the base of the hill, they started digging a horizontal narrow tunnel as per the ancient method of water storage.
Why should everyone struggle so much to know the price of water?, I think sometimes. Not a single drop of water is wasted in Naik's farm. is recycled. Today, Naik's farm has more than 300 betel trees, 75 coconut trees, 150 cashew trees, 200 banana and chilli trees. Totally organic farming, and zero energy consumption.
Even though he is over seventy today, Naik does all the farm work and hard work himself. Yesterday he was awarded the Padma Shri in agriculture.