Davanagere farmer loves sharing his harvest with birds

DAVANAGERE: Sankol Chandrashekhar, a farmer from Shamanur village near here, is living the up to the proverb ‘sharing is caring’ by allowing birds to feed on the jowar crop grown on 3acre land. Making the most of his gesture are sparrows, pigeons, parrots, koels, kingfishers and woodpeckers.
The kind act has also come in for praise from many, who say this is a first-of-its-kind attempt to save the dwindling bird population.
Chandrashekhar, who had also been a councillor at Davanagere CMC, said he spends Rs 20,000 towards buying seeds and fertilisers and paying wages to labourers.
“I may earn Rs 1.50 lakh after harvesting over 50 quintals of jowar. But the sight of birds flocking together for grains is invaluable and gratifying,” Chandrashekhar said, adding: “I watch them twice daily — morning and evening — along with my wife, son and daughter, who all are bird lovers.” Chandrashekhar, who is known for philanthropy, had supplied drinking water to several wards of the CMC when the region was hit by a drought in 2016.