Special request to bureaucrats:
Sirs, is there any way you can help Mr Dadaji though government funds? If so, can someone take initiative on this to alert relevant authorities? He is a Forbe list scientist but struggling to feed his family. Please read the story to understand.
Dear friends,
Sorry for bugging you again? You must be wondering to see my email – again this fellow asking for money.
Yes, I am. This time to help this remarkable personality Dadaji Khobragade (can I call him Dr, why not for his achievements though he is semi-literate?) of Maharashtra.
Please read the story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Farmer-named-by-Forbes-is-landless-today/articleshow/6933299.cms
I am proposing Ambedkar Award to this remarkable scientist. He is the enventory of the best yielding rice, but still living in penury, unable to feed his family and educate his children. He feeding us with his remarkable discoveries.
If others do not recognize him, why not us, in our small way? FFEI is ready to honor him with Rs. 10,000. That amount is a disgrace for a person of his stature. So, if more donors join us, we may present him a bigger purse.
So, again I am coming to you with a begging bowl. Please let me know.
I am working with Mr Lalith Kandhare of Human Horizons group to help this great personality.
Please come forward with your contribution.
With regards
Benjamin Paul Kaila
From: Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com>
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Cc: Dalit Group <dalit@yahoogroups.com>; Dalit-international <dalits-international@yahoogroups.com>; DalitCOnference <dalitconference@googlegroups.com>; OfficersForum <officersforum@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:34:35 AM
Subject: Re: D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination
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From: lalit <lalitkhandare@yahoo.co.uk>
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:11:21 AM
Subject: [HumanHorizons] Re: D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination
Do you have his contacts, we can help raise funding to develop his research lab?
--- In humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk, harishandra khobragade <hdkhobragade@...> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â JAI_BHIM!
> I have made a mention of Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade's research in my thesis for Ph. D. entitled " Botanical Studies in the Early Buddhist Literature" after interviewing him at his hut and taking necessary photographs. It is as follows:
> Â
> "In 1983 Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade noticed a rice plant in his field that had yellow coloured rice in the three spikes (inflorescence). He preserved the yellow grains and grew them and the subsequent seeds till 1989. The varieties discovered by him are known as HMT, DRK and Nanded. Second prize in National Innovation Foundation's Third Grassroot Award was conferred on him by the Honourable President of India, AVul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam on January 5, 2005."
> Â
> Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade's is a victim of caste discimination. Had he been born in upper caste he would have been given all facilities for research. Now he is handicapped for want of infrastructure like land etc.. Our nation is not utilizing his latent talent.   Â
>
> With Metta,
> Dr. H. D. Khobragade
> --- On Mon, 11/29/10, Pravin Khobragade <pkhobragade@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: Pravin Khobragade <pkhobragade@...>
> Subject: [HumanHorizons] D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination
> To: "humanhorizons" <humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk>, "Dr.Deepak Raut" <drdeepakraut@...>, tembhurnes@...
> Date: Monday, November 29, 2010, 10:01 AM
>
>
> Â
>
>
>
> Dear all,
>
>
> JAI BHIM,
>
>
> Copied below are two articles:Â
>
>
> (1) from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Farmer-named-by-Forbes-is-landless-today/articleshow/6933299.cms
>
>
>
> Farmer named by Forbes is landless todayMazhar Ali, TNN, Nov 16, 2010, 06.01am IST
>
>
> CHANDRAPUR: Forbes' lists evoke awe. Those who figure in the publication's pantheon are super achievers, and, more often than not, super rich.Â
>
> Dadaji Khobragade has made it to a Forbes' list. The magazine recently named him as one of the seven most powerful rural Indian entrepreneurs, whose "inventions are changing lives" of people across the country. For good reason too: Khobragade revolutionised paddy farming by developing the highly successful variety of paddy â€" HMT rice â€" that gives 80% more yield than conventional varieties and has become a household name.Â
>
> But Khobragade is hardly your run-of-the-mill Forbes' millionaire. He is a landless labourer fighting poverty in the remote Nanded (Fakir) village in Nagbhid tehsil. Seventy and struggling, he can barely make ends meet.Â
>
> The irony couldn't be more acute: Although the variety invented by him is cultivated over lakhs of hectares across the country, Khobragade doesn't even have an inch of land in his own name. HMT rice is sold at around Rs 3200 a quintal, but Khobragade had to sell his three-acre land because he didn't have money to fund his son's hospitalisation. Khobragade has a rack full of awards but his grandson could not pursue his polytechnic course because the family couldn't afford the modest fees.Â
>
> Khobragade is barely literate but was always gifted when it came to farming. Despite no formal education in agriculture â€" he has studied only until Class III â€" Khobragade began experimental breeding of a new variety of rice. After years of trial and error, his variety gave him a much higher yield compared to that of conventional one. In 1989, the yield with the newly developed variety was so astounding that, the demand for his variety skyrocketed in no time.Â
>
> "I began my experiments with the conventional 'Patel 3' variety of rice. After five years of continuous study and research, I succeeded in developing the one that is now known as HMT rice," Khobragade said, evidently recalling the story with mechanical ease.Â
>
> However, the name of the variety â€" HMT â€" happened quite by accident. While people took their bumper paddy harvest from the seeds given by Khobragade for sale in the APMC market yard, the authorities asked for the name of the variety.Â
>
> One of Khobragade's companions suggested the name of HMT, the brand of wrist watch he was wearing at the time, and the farmer innocently accepted it. The demand for HMT variety skyrocketed. In 1997, Khobragade alleged that the Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) was commercialising his variety and had started selling it with the name of PKV HMT rice. The agriculture university had claimed that it had 'purified' Khobragade's variety.Â
>
> Nevertheless, Khobragade got several awards, including the Rastrapati award, state government's Krishi Bhushan award and the award given by National Innovative Foundation for his contribution in the field of agriculture.Â
>
> However, despite the fame and awards, Khobragade's financial condition continued to deteriorate. He lives an impoverished life with his wife, son, daughterin-law and three grandsons with his small earnings.Â
>
> "I had to sell my land for the treatment of my son. The small and only help came from the father-in-law of my son, who bought 1.5 acres of land in the name of his daughter. At present, I carry out my research work in this small piece of land owned by my daughter-in-law," Khobragade said.Â
>
> Khobragade had asked 10 acres of land on lease from the district administration and had forwarded application in 2008, but he says nothing has come of it so far.Â
>
> He said he had come to know about the Forbes' list only through scribes."I'm happy that my efforts have been recognised," he said. Tehsil agriculture officer, Nagbhid, DV Wahane said,"His request for 10 acres of land on lease has been approved. But the allotment is withheld due some procedural reasons. I would soon take up the issue with the tehsildar" said Wahane.Â
>
> Khobragade hopes that this promise isn't hollow. But he has every reason to be skeptical of the government's intentions: the gold medal he had received as part of the Krishi Bhushan award had turned out to be made of silver.
>
>
>
>
> (2) from http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2007/01/05/indian-dr-carver-khobragade-facing-discrimination-caste-virus-001mh2007/
>
>
>
>
> Indian Dr Carver, Khobragade : facing discrimination, Caste-virus 001MH2007
> 05jan07
>
> Khobragade’s story parallels Dr. Goerge Washington Carver of the U.S.A who had done a staggering amount of work on agricultural plants but had to face a lot of discrimination because he happened to be black.  D R Khobragade is a Buddhist ( ex-Untouchable who got converted to Buddhism after Dr Ambedkar) and inventor of High yielding rice variety HMT which Indian is proud of internationally. Following is the news piece from The Hindu published in 2004.
> SIXTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade is a farmer with a grouse. He is a celebrity in Vidarbha for developing a variety of rice called HMT, which is now grown over a large part of the region. A native of Nanded village in Nagbid tehsil of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra, a decade ago, he selected and bred a variety of rice, mystifyingly named HMT, which has become popular in neighbouring States as well.
> However, his efforts have gone largely unnoticed by the agriculture research establishment. He is a man with little means and has to work for daily wages to support his seven-member family. He sold his two acres after his son fell ill and now cultivates three acres given to his son by a relative.
> In 1994, a rice breeder from the nearby Sindewahi rice station, a part of the Punjabarao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth at Akola, took five kg of HMT seeds from Khobragade saying that the rice station wanted to experiment with it. In 1998, a new variety was released in the State called PKV HMT after the researchers “purifiedâ€� the seed they had obtained from Khobragade. “Now these new seeds are sold for Rs. 1,200 a quintal. What have I got out of all this? The government wants to deprive me of any credit and the variety they claim to have released is exactly like mine â€" I don’t think there is a difference,â€� said Khobragade.
>
>
> Pic1: The inventor of High yeilding HMT rice D. R. Khrobragade from Nagbhid
> Â
> When it first hit the market, HMT fetched double the price of other varieties on sale, farmers said. Its popularity prompted the scientists at the University to release PKV HMT after pressure from the farmers who wanted the seeds. It fetches a higher price than most other rice varieties due to its short grain and good eating and cooking qualities.
> Khobragade is undeterred by this lack of respect for his work and continues to make new selections and breed them. So far, he has developed six new varieties of rice. He proudly displays each variety which he has carefully framed and labelled. One variety is mildly scented and he has named another DRK after himself. The average yield of all the new varieties is about 15-16 quintals per acre.
> Activists working on preserving farmers’ rights said that the establishment did not want to recognise the farmer as a breeder. In 1983, Khobragade noticed a variation in the paddy growing in his field, which was planted with Patel 3, a popular variety at that time. He started collecting the seeds of the plants which were different and kept those seeds aside. Soon, he began distributing this new variety to other farmers.
> Bhimrao Shinde, a large landowner in Nanded village, was the first to take one quintal of seeds from Khobragade and grow this variety which did not even have a name. “I got 90 bags from four acres, and when I took this variety of rice to the market, the dealers said they had not seen it before. They asked me the name and I did not know what to say,� said Mr. Shinde. “At that time HMT watches were very popular and suddenly someone decided to call it HMT and the name stuck,� he added.
> The village of Nanded has many brick and tile houses, an improvement over thatched huts. This prosperity is due to HMT rice, local villagers claimed. It is the top variety in the region, according to Shinde, who has been growing it every year since 1990. Its popularity has spread to Andhra Pradesh and even other States like Madhya Pradesh.
> The officials at the Sindewahi rice station which is part of the Punjarbrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth at Akola, claim that they have purified the local HMT variety and released it under its new avatar called PKV HMT. The samples of this new variety are proudly displayed in the small office of the rice station. G. R. Shyamkuwar, a junior plant breeder, said that the PKV HMT selection gave a yield of 40-45 quintals per hectare â€" much more than the local HMT variety. “I don’t know the origin of HMT but we got the seeds from a local farmer,â€� he said. He refused to admit that the farmer could have selected and bred this variety.
> Jacob Nellithanam, an activist with Kisani Samvardhan Kendra, an Indore-based organisation, which has been campaigning for the conservation of indigenous genetic resources, said, “Farmers have been selecting varieties that are promising and adapted to the local climate and soil conditions for several years. That is how there is so much diversity. In this case, the farmer has selected a variation of Patel 3 and it became popular because it had certain qualities. The new variety â€" PKV HMT â€" released by the University, is from the same seed that was selected by Khobragade who also observed it for a few generations and checked for stability of characteristics.â€�
> He said this had to be seen in the light of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000, which creates monopoly property rights on plant varieties by establishing breeder’s rights which is legally protected and equivalent to patents. The main opposition to the WTO agreement is the patent on plant varieties. It can become a property right which can be used by seed companies, and plant breeding will move from the farmers domain to the property of companies through various mechanisms, he added.
> A. D. Bhombe, Assistant Professor, Botany, at the Punjabrao Deshmukh college of Agriculture at Nagpur, who was earlier a senior rice breeder at the Sindewahi rice station, said the original selection of HMT was made by the farmer. “We felt that this HMT was mixture and it needed to be purified. The seeds were collected from this farmer and we purified it. Farmers cannot maintain individual plant selections over the years. In the farmer’s method, there is some chance of natural crossing.�
> In eastern Vidarbha, HMT is a popular variety and improved varieties occupy almost 80 per cent of the total area. In 1999- 2000, the Nagpur division comprising Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli accounted for 6,88,000 hectares of rice area. Maharashtra has a total of 14.8 lakh hectares under rice, according to the economic survey, 2000-2001. The division accounts for the second largest rice are in the State after the Konkan region.
> Ashish Kothari, Coordinator of the Technical and Policy Core Group to formulate the government’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and founder-member of Kalpavriksh, a 20- year-old environmental action group, said that India was signatory to the Biological Diversity Convention in 1993 which commits it to protect indigenous resources and knowledge. In this case, the University should have sought the consent of the farmer â€" it is not merely enough to give him a letter, it has to be informed consent â€" and the benefits, if any, from the variety should also accrue to him.
> A revised version of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000, is now before Parliament. A new section on farmers’ rights has been added but activists feel that instead of simplifying the issues, the bill complicates them. It is still not clear how a farmer’s variety will be registered, according to a report by the Public Interest Legal Support and Research Centre (PILSARC), New Delhi.
> The bill has laid down what developed countries and breeders want. Khobragade, among the many farmers who have not even heard of the Bill, then is no exception in this scheme of things.
> He may select and breed a million varieties but they will remain “impure� selections in the eyes of scientists. He may also not be in a position to claim his rights. Unless there is a radical change in thinking, protection of farmers’ rights will remain merely on paper.
>
> --
> Thanks and Regards,
>
> Dr. Pravin H Khobragade
>
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