Page:Sharad Joshi - Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage.pdf/82

 region onions, potatoes, jowar and groundnuts were the main crops. Every morning at six Joshi would leave his house on a scooter and reach Ambethan, about 40 kilometers away, around seven. Sometimes Leelatai would accompany him; in which case he used to drive his jeep. Late evening Joshi would return home. During the day he was occupied getting his farm ready and also talking to other villagers, understanding their life. In the beginning, Joshi put up a compound to his plot. The land was full of rocks and was uneven; which was the reason he got it cheaper. For several years it was not cultivated. He also started digging two wells. Fortunately he struck water pretty soon. Land was levelled and pipeline fixed to circulate water wherever needed. He built a two-room farmhouse for his future stay. He had kept a sleeping bag there which he had brought from Switzerland; just in case he had to spend a night there, which he sometimes did. A shed was constructed to put up farm equipment, manure and ready farm produce along with a closed store room. After several rounds to the Electricity Board Office he managed to get an electricity connection. For emergency, he also bought a telephone connection; the first in that area. Starting from scratch was quite a battle for Joshi who had already crossed the age of forty. A lot of planning and investment was needed to dig out big rocks with the help of blasting, dividing farm in plots for different crops, to build bunds in-between plots, to construct internal roads or making fence. Biggest need was for workers. He needed at least hundred workers daily on the site. For some jobs, contractors were arranged who would have their own workers. But they too needed supervision. While digging, long snakes having thickness of a man’s wrist used to come out angrily. They were being uprooted from their ancestral abodes. Men were scared while working. There was one called Natha Hands in Soil

Q

77