Of a farm in Hebbal

The building that once housed the office of the Hebbal farm, behind the Karnataka State Seeds Corporation building. Photo by author

Hebbal, once a small village, has now been engulfed by Bengaluru. It has also become infamous for traffic jams on the Hebbal flyover. Until the 1980s, it had maintained its serenity.

While travelling from Enayathulla Mehkri Circle to Yelahanka, one would pass through Hebbal. The road was narrow, but trees of mahua, mango, ficus, tamarind, spathodea and others lined either side, making for a pleasant journey. The veterinary college and agriculture college buildings were the only prominent structures to be seen. Occasionally, a passing train would stop the traffic near the railway crossing at Hebbal.

Past the railway track was the Hebbal tank on the left and paddy fields to the right. The Hebbal tank was home to several water birds such as jacanas, stilts, purple moorhens, coots, grey heron and little grebes. One could sometimes catch a glimpse of brahminy kites swooping on fishes near the waste weir at the northern end of the tank.

After crossing the tank bund, one could not have missed the Parsee Tower of Silence which was surrounded by jacaranda trees enveloped with blue flowers when in bloom, and the row of factories beyond it.

Hebbal has a history dating back to 750 AD. There is also a theory that the tree Pterocarpus marsupium, locally called vengi, which was abundant near Hebbal, influenced the region being referred to as ‘land of vengi’ or ‘vengalur’, which eventually became Bengaluru.

Over the years, Hebbal remained a small, non-descript village. Yet, it was prosperous due to lands surrounding the lake being fertile enough to grow vegetables and fruits.

A new identity

Post 1905, Hebbal got a distinct identity in the princely state of Mysore. It became a centre of agricultural research and education, all because of the effort of a Canadian, Adolf Ludwig Ferdinand Lehmann.

Lehmann came to Mysore in December 1899, upon being appointed Agricultural Chemist to modernise agriculture in the state. In 1900, Lehmann conceived the idea of starting an experimental farm and requested the government to grant him lands in Hebbal.

Over the next few years, administrative difficulties caused a delay in the process. During this time Lehmann did not idle — he started experiments on ragi, fodder grass and other crops on the land surrounding his office.

In 1902, Lehmann requested the government to allot him lands near the new research university (presently Indian Institute of Sciences) that was coming up.

He even requested lands around the Resident’s home (on present-day Residency Road). Both requests were turned down.

In 1903, Sir Krishnamurti, then the Dewan, issued a government order permitting Lehmann to start an experimental farm at Hebbal. Further, he made a provision of Rs 4,600 for this in the budget.

Lehmann marked out 15 acres of dry land and 10 acres of wetlands on the village map and passed it on to the Revenue department. However, no action was taken to acquire the lands for some time.

An inquiry revealed that the Amildar assigned had misread the map marked by Lehmann. He had set out to acquire 92 acres of land, which was resented by the villagers. The allotted budget was also insufficient to pay the compensation for this vast area. When the folly was realised, things were set right. Finally, 31 acres and six guntas of land was acquired.

Lehmann demarcated plots for his experiments and office buildings. He initiated experiments on manuring of ragi, paddy and sugarcane on these plots. He also brought in new implements, attracting the attention of farmers in the area.

In due course, the Hebbal farm became a centre for innovation in agricultural technologies. Often, meetings were held here to discuss new varieties of crops, manures, seeds and new implements. In 1913, an agricultural school was started on this farm. These developments have made Hebbal a household name among the farmers of the state.

Presently, the dry land region of the farm, west of the Hebbal flyover, is administered by the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries University, whereas the wetlands were acquired by the government to construct the flyover, ring road and a park.

(The author is a former dean, Agriculture College, GKVK, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru)