Sudheesh Guruvayoor, an electrical engineer turned farmer is doing wonders in the desert with his farming techniques. He is also educating both the young and the old about the values of farming and pesticide free organic crops … reports Asian Lite News.
Tell us about your profession and family background.
I am an electrical engineer and I arrived in 1997 to Gulf. Here I worked in Sharjah Electricity as a Supervisor. Frankly, my family was not into farming. My mother was a High School Teacher and my father used to work in the electric section in Sharjah Electricity. Like a typical father, he brought me also into the same profession. I got married in 2002 and after bringing my family to Sharjah, I entered into farming.
Describe how you first started off with farming?
I started farming in a small scale in the balcony of my flat. When I got pesticide free organic vegetables for home, I got inspired to do it in a much larger scale. Furthermore, there was an okra plant which produced a large okra and got a place in ‘Limka Book of World Records’ due to its size. This was a great achievement. Considering this record and the 1 acre farming which by that time I was doing here, I got the 2012 Non Resident Best Farmer award. This made me to pursue further in this field. The recognitions from the community will give any individual interest to strive further and do better. It is during this time, I started to do farming for many families in UAE.
Have you got any other achievements?
Yes, I attempted to score another record while I was farming. I used to collect the used milk tins from the tea stalls and made a seven-and-a-half-meter long model of Burj Khalifa. It took six months to complete. Furthermore, by collecting golf balls the map of India and UAE was made. By completing all three, I bagged the achievement for scoring three records in a day. Following this I got a place in ‘Limka Book of World Record’ for growing a five-inch okra in a two-inch okra plant. In total I received five Limka Book of World Records.
We have heard that you started working for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, tell us about your journey?
After securing the records, I got an opportunity to do farming in an area behind ‘Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority’. I tried to do rice farming there, I used the Keralite variety of seeds named ‘Uma’. By the grace of God, we got a good harvest. Following this, I got an opportunity to become Farm Manager for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. I did five acres of rice farming and three acres of vegetable farming.
Tell us about the community activities that you have conducted in relation to farming?
I wanted the educate the school children about the value of rice that they were having. So in a traditional style, we gathered together for rice plantation and afterwards for rice harvest and processing. Following this, we also did a rice planting and harvest session for differently abled children.
Last but not the least, tell us about your Guinness World Record attempt?
The Guinness record was my latest achievement. We had celebrated this year’s environment day by providing deadly pesticide free curry tree saplings to 5,000 families. Also, we had distributed 4,914 curry tree saplings to students at Indian High School and scored the Guiness World Record for distributing the largest number of saplings.
