Neeraj Kumar Prajapati, popularly known as "The Bicycle Man of India" and "The Bicycle Man of Agriculture" today added another feather to his cap by completing his 4,200 kilometres journey from Kashmir to Kanyakumari(K2) Mission Millets (M2) Promotion Cycle Ride as scheduled. He undertook this unique mission on the eve of the International Year of Millets celebrated throughout the year 2023.
1,11,111 kilometres to promote organic farming: In fact, the Kashmir to Kanyakumari bicycle ride is his second such feat. The first part of the ambitious project was to cover 1,11,111 kilometres on his organic bicycle with the primary objective of raising awareness about organic farming, hitherto unheard of in India or elsewhere across the globe. An alarming proportion prevalence of Cancer in Bhatinda triggered him to undertake the hitherto unheard journey and that too on a bicycle. His earlier cycle mission was launched in April 2019.
A native of Sonepat district in Haryana: Neeraj Kumar Prajapati is a native of Sonepat district in Haryana. He studied for a B Tech Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) at the RustamJi Institute of Technology BSF Academy Tekanpur Gwalior MP. In a candid conversation in the city before cycling to Kanyakumari, he found time to have a peep into his flashback- " My whole family is dedicated to the welfare of the country. My father served in the Border Security Force (BSF) for a tenure of 22 years. It was the family members who inspired me to do social work and serve the nation...
...Decided to drop out: In 2014 I joined the B Tech course in Electronics and Communication at Defence Academy College in Gwalior and in the first semester itself, I and my friends decided to do something unusual which has not been tried before. I went to Pune for an international competition to understand Robotics and with the support of other two friends formed a team and initiated a project on Automation to participate in another international competition. We designed some products in the fourth semester and were contemplating registering for the patents which became an issue in the college. Although I paid fees for the fifth semester on the 02nd but decided to drop out of college on the 06th...
...Maintenance of Data continues: But I continued to keep meeting people and as usual, like earlier I continued to keep the data like whom I met and the outcome of the same. To date, I have the practice of having a record of the persons met, the gist of the discussions, their visiting cards and photos. After the drop-out, I came to Ludhiana in 2017 to officiate as an Export Consultant. To get the assignments done for designing we started importing several components and that was when the idea of imports and exports was ingrained...
...Plea to become a Cancer Consultant: Meanwhile, I slowly began to understand the nuances of becoming a consultant in the Paper industry and Automation industry. It was during this period some farmers pleaded with me to become a consultant for Cancer, on hearing which I was taken aback. I was puzzled and didn't understand what they meant. On asking, they informed me that among the train commuters from Bhatinda in Punjab to Sri Ganganagar and Bikaner in Rajasthan, 75 per cent of them happen to be Cancer patients...
... Overuse of Pesticides, Fertilizers and Chemicals: The suggestion was more puzzling as the peasants blamed agriculture to be the root cause for the spurge in Cancer cases. I wondered if agriculture is being practised in the whole country along with Haryana and Punjab, why then Cancer cases are so rampant in these two states? It was later clarified that the overuse of pesticides, fertilizers and chemicals was the sole cause of the Cancerous growth...
...Beginning of Bicycle riding: The new development devastated me disturbing a lot. I started visiting the farmers of nearby villages to understand their woes. In a way, it was the beginning of my bicycle journey like never before. I used to get up early in the morning to go to places about 30-40 kilometres away and return late in the evening. This exercise went on for a year. I was intrigued by institutions like ICAR, Agriculture universities and Research stations all over the country and not coming to the rescue of the growers. It was at this juncture that I resolved to have a tour of the whole country to understand the problems first-hand and on the ground...
...Farmers pushed from pillar to post: Thanks to the resolve to cycle the country many peculiar problems came to light. If the peasants went to the agriculture-related institutions seeking some help, they were made to go from pillar to post under the pretext, ours is the Entomology Department, you better go to Pathology one. And if one asked whether he could grow apple plants, they would hit back claiming that they did not know as there has been climate change all around...
...74 Universities, 106 ICAR Institutes and 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras: Thanks to my resolve to cycle the country as part of the ambitious project to cover 1,11,111 kilometres to create awareness about organic farming I got a golden opportunity to visit 74 Agricultural universities, 106 ICAR Institutes 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and CSIR Institutes and interact with the scientists, experts and administrators. These visits helped me gather vast data to be worked on".
Red carpet welcome all along: Neeraj Kumar Prajapati is delighted that unlike earlier he is given a red carpet welcome across the country and prior arrangements are well made en route to Kanyakumari. After the K2 journey, he is planning to tour the country to spread awareness about Floriculture.
Accolades galore: Neeraj Kumar Prajapati, within a few years, has become a household name among the peasant community, agricultural institutions, academicians, scientists, bureaucrats and politicians. Some of his accomplishments include the following:
*Brand Ambassador at the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management.
*Appreciation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
*Appreciation from the Director of Agricultural Production and Farmers Welfare, Kashmir.
*Appreciation from the Director of the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management.
*Appreciation from the Deputy Director General, Agricultural Extension of Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
*Appreciation from the Ambassador of Chile in India.
*Income Tax Appreciation Letter from the Director General, National Academy of Direct Taxes.
*Appreciation from the Counsellor of Agriculture at the Netherlands Embassy in India.
*Guest of Honour, 77th Indian Revenue Service Trainee Officers, National Academy of Direct Taxes.
*Chief Guest Annual Sports meet of 76th batch IRS.
*Honoured by the Union Agriculture Minister, Govt of India.
*Vice President India at BRICS International Forum Russia.
*Organic Farming Advisor to Fruvetech Pvt Ltd.
*Brand Ambassador at Harit Pradesh Agro Foundation.
*Recipient of the Gangotri Udyamitra Award at the Indian Society of Horticultural Research and Development.
*Honoured at the 1st Organic North Expo at the Department of Agriculture, Govt of Assam.
*Honoured at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Meerut.
*Maru Ratna award at Desert Environmental Conservation Organization.
-Manohar Yadavatti
Best wishes and prayers for Neeraj. May god bless him with very happy, healthy and long life to take up many such expeditions to promote organic farming, millets, floriculture and entrepreneurship to improve the farmer's situation in the country...
ReplyDeleteThe article is full of facts and meaningful. I really appreciate this man,s effort to bring awareness among agricultrists. I wish him every success in his endeavor. Krishna itnal pune.
ReplyDelete👌😊
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