Shri. L Narayana Reddy, the legendary organic farmer, a role model and an inspiration to many in the farming sector, passed away on 14th January 2019.
Born into a large farming family, Shri Narayana Reddy got into farming, after making a living involving himself in odd jobs, for a brief period. With sheer hard work and dedication, he excelled in getting record yields. Disillusioned with the consequences of conventional high external input agriculture, in early seventies, Narayan Reddy started to look for alternatives. Highly inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka’s “One Straw Revolution”, Narayan Reddy switched to natural farming methods.
He had a great passion for learning. He was forever reading, learning, experimenting and constantly adding value to the ‘knowledge’ on organic farming. He had immense clarity of thought and tried doing things differently. He was keen to share his knowledge. His farm was always buzzing with visitors, which ranged from novices to scientists. He was the first choice of learning for visitors from abroad.
He had immense passion to share knowledge and wisdom. He was highly articulate in several Indian languages and extremely competent in sharing his experiences in English too. He was a columnist in LEISA India magazine for more than a decade. Full of practical wisdom, Narayana Reddy Column is extremely popular among readers. He also shared through his regular columns in local newspapers.
He has travelled widely across the country and abroad, interacting with thousands of farmers and NGOs. Being fearless and sharp in expressing his views clearly, made him the most sought after special invitee for several national and international seminars and policy discussions in diverse media.
He is a rare combination of excellence, intelligence, acumen and a passion for sharing his knowledge. An extremely hard working person, Shri Narayan Reddy was uncompromising and adopted a simple life style. His demise has caused a great vacuum in the farming sector.
