Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharad_Anantrao_Joshi
He was born in 1935 into a family with no connection to farming. A commerce graduate from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, he served in the Indian Postal Service, and later did an eight-year stint with the United Nations in Switzerland. He chucked his job, and invested most of his savings into a 27-acre farm plot near Pune in 1977. He wanted to learn first-hand about rain-fed farming, his approach was scientific, and he kept meticulous accounts. He discovered that despite so-called state support, farming was just not remunerative. For Rs 100 of income, the farmer’s total cost, including his own labour, was around Rs 180. There was thus a net negative subsidy. [source]
Books: Down To Earth. | Visionaries of a new “Bharat”
This website contains a considerable amount of information on Sharad Joshi.
As Rajya Sabha member, he had moved a private member’s bill to get the word socialism dropped from the Preamble to the Constitution.
An early website on Angelfire.
A summary of his early work: Visionaries of a New “Bharat” – a short book about Sharad Joshi’s work
Documents/ resources on Sharad Joshi, Shetkari Sanghatana and Swatantra Bharat Party
Cornelia Lenneberg’s study of Sharad Joshi’s work in 1988
Shetkari Sanghatana founder Sharad Joshi passes away
Sharad Joshi: A Liberal Giant Passes Away
Sharad Joshi, the only MP who opposed reservation for women in Parliament is no more
Dec 11, 2017: Shyam Ashtekar, Sharad Joshi’s Marshall Plan, in the Mint
June 14, 2017: Ajit Ranade, Remembering Sharad Joshi: The jeans clad farmer, in the Mint
Dec 28, 2015: Madhu Purnima Kishwar, Sharad Joshi’s Lakshmi Mukti Campaign in Maharashtra: Freeing the enslaved goddesses of wealth, in Swarajya
Dec 21, 2015: Manuwant Choudhary, Why farm leader Sharad Joshi was a beacon of hope for the India’s liberals, in Scorll
Dec 17, 2015: Ashok Gulati, Sharad Joshi: The man who shunned freebies, sought free markets for the farmers, in The Times of India
Dec 14, 2015: Mint, editorial, Indian Agriculture and Sharad Joshi’s ideas
Dec 14, 2015: Kashmira, Mr Sharad Joshi passes away, in Freedom First,
Dec 14, 2015: Madhu Purnima Kishwar, Remembering Sharad Joshi: A life devoted to the farmers of India, in Swarajya
Dec 13, 2015: Neeraj Hatekar, Sharad Joshi: The Outlier in Mumbai Mirror
Dec 12, 2015: Seetha, Sharad Joshi: A clear headed champion of economic freedom for farmers, in Swarajya
The National Front government of V.P. Singh which replaced Congress convened the Standing Advisory Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Sharad Joshi. Its conclusions were set out in a policy document entitled the National Agricultural Policy: Views of the Standing Advisory Committee (July 1990)
Some old photos
Some videos: