Vasantrao Laxman Mahajan (born c. 1942) is a farmer from

Chinawal Chinawal is a village in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra state, India, in the foothills of the Satpura range with a generally hot and dry climate. The local environment includes neem trees, tree squirrels and graculas in and around th ...

village of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

state of India. He is known for his contribution to revolutionise banana crop production in the Jalgaon district, which has highest productivity of banana in the world.

Personal life

Vasantrao Mahajan was born into Chinawal village of Maharashtra state of India 1942. He has degree of

M.Sc A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in Agriculture. He owns 10 acre land in Chinawal village. He has three sons- Virendra Mahajan, Ajay Mahajan, Yogesh Mahajan. He lives at his hometown Chinawal with his family. His son Yogesh is also a farmer who has received 'Nalla Vazhai' award from National Research Centre for Banana.

Career

After receiving post-graduation degree, instead of going for employment, Mahajan chose to do farming in his Chinawal village. Banana cultivation in Jalgaon district started around 1925. Initially traditional farming methods like flood irrigation, sucker planting etc. were being used to grow banana crops. Water level in wells had dropped from 25 feet to 250 feet which had created scarcity of water for farming. Mahajan successfully used modern methods of agriculture in his farms to conserve water and increase production of banana. Mahajan uses

Grand Nain The Grand Nain banana (also spelled Grande Naine) is a banana cultivar of ''Musa acuminata''. It is one of the most commonly cultivated bananas and a member of the commercial Cavendish banana cultivar group. It is also known as the Chiquita banan ...

and shrimanti varieties of banana to grow in his farm. After his successful experimentation, he arranged thousands of farmer meetings all over Jalgaon district to spread awareness about high-tech methods of banana cultivation. He advocated agronomic practices like

soil test A soil test is a laboratory or in-situ analysis to determine the chemical, physical or biological characteristics of a soil. Possibly the most widely conducted soil tests are those performed to estimate the plant-available concentrations of nutri ...

ing, planting tissue culture plants,

drip irrigation Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surfac ...

to conserve water,

fertigation Fertigation is the wikt:injection, injection of fertilizers, used for soil amendments, water amendments and other water-Solubility, soluble products into an irrigation system. Chemigation, the injection of chemicals into an irrigation system, is ...

which resulted in control of weeds, lower labour cost and increase in per plant yield of banana bunch from 15 kg to nearly 30 kg. In June 2004, a team of agriculture officers from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

visited Chinawal during their study tour of Jalgaon district and met Mahajan. In their report to

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

, the team has described Mahajan's contribution to banana cultivation as "quite amazing".

Honours

In 2003,

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the executive branch of the Indian states of india, state of Maharashtra. The government is led by the List of chief ministers of Maharashtra, chief minister (currently Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024) ...

honoured Mahajan with Jijamata Krishi Bhushan award. He has held positions of Honorary Secretary of Banana Growers Association of India and Director of Agricultural produce marketing committee, Raver. In 2000, he received 'Banana Life-Time Achievement Award' from

Jain Irrigation Systems Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., or Jains, is an Indian multinational conglomerate based in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India. History Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. was founded in 1986 by Bhavarlal Jain. * 1963–1978: Bhavarlal Jain added a dealer ...

. In 2004, he became Management Council Member of National Banana Research Centre,

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

. In 2006, he was selected as member of Extended Education Council Committee in Mahatma Phule Agriculture University,

Rahuri Rahuri is a town and a municipal council in Ahilyanagar district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Geography Rahuri is located at . It has an average elevation of 511 metres (1,676 feet). Demographics India census, Rahuri had a p ...

. In 2011, he was elected as Chairman of Krishi Utpann Baajaar Samiti (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee), Raver.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahajan, Vasantrao 21st-century Indian farmers Banana production Living people Year of birth missing (living people)