How farming made Salim Kumar a ‘billionaire’ and earned even Mammootty’s praise

Legendary actor Salim Kumar, who passed away on Saturday, June 6, was known among Malayalees worldwide not just for his iconic performances but also for his off-screen persona. Besides being renowned for his unfiltered commentary on various topics, as well as his vocal political affiliation to the Congress party, he was also known for his penchant for agriculture.

Fascinatingly, his affinity for farming went beyond mere verbal expressions or appearances at related events; Salim was actively involved in agriculture for a long time, even owning farmland in his native areas in Kerala. Though he didn’t hail from a farming family, he came to recognise its greatness over time, particularly through his several visits to prisons.

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The philosophy behind Salim Kumar’s soil obsession

Salim Kumar once remarked that, although he had visited jails often in the capacity of an artiste, he had never seen a single farmer there, perhaps because they lacked the “knack” for harming others. He believed that farming was as creative as writing a story or directing a film, if not more.

“No one can become a Tata, Birla, or Ambani through farming. However, in terms of satisfaction, farming makes us billionaires. Watching a seed sprout and grow into leaves, flowers, and fruit… the boundless joy of touching nature spreads through the heart like a canopy. Nothing else in the world can provide that,” Manorama Online quoted the actor as saying about his agricultural philosophy.

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“There were always enough vegetables in the backyard of our ancestral home for a curry — yams, taro, ridged gourds. Shrimp and ridged gourd were the ‘national curry’ at our home. That interest eventually led me to farming. If you look at the financial accounts, farming is a loss. But the satisfaction it provides cannot be matched by anything else,” he added.

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Having practised the centuries-old traditional Pokkali cultivation for a long time, he was concerned that the method was on the verge of extinction and thus produced a documentary on it. He consistently practised paddy cultivation for six months and shrimp farming for the remaining six months in his fields.

Why Salim Kumar sent his wife to agricultural university

To ensure their farm was looked after in his absence, Salim sent his wife, Sunitha, to the Agricultural University to study farming. Although uninterested at first, she became an even greater expert in it than he was after completing her studies, the actor himself once attested. Even when he was struggling with health issues due to liver disease, farming kept Salim energetic.

Interestingly, even Malayalam megastar Mammootty once lauded Salim Kumar for his obsession with farming. Pointing out that Salim balanced both farming and acting for about 10 to 15 years, Mammootty noted that after a point, he was no longer interested in taking acting assignments because of his passion for farming.

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When Mammootty lauded ‘sincere farmer’ Salim Kumar

“I am also a farmer by name. I also grow peppercorns and cardamom, among others. But I don’t farm directly. I have land where farming is done, but I haven’t had the chance to work in the soil. Salim Kumar, in contrast, is a very sincere farmer. We often discuss farming. He is of the opinion that agriculture is easy and profitable. My family also did Pokkali farming (the one Salim does) on our ancestral land, though we called it Chettivirippu. Now, there are fewer farmers in our state,” Mammootty shared while taking part in Kairali TV’s Kathir Award 2025 in the presence of Salim Kumar.

Remembering the comedic legend, people close to him told news agency PTI that Salim Kumar owned agricultural land in his hometown of North Paravur and Vypin, where he cultivated Pokkali rice and vegetables. He was also involved in fish farming. They shared that the actor often spoke publicly about agriculture and farmers’ issues.