At a time when many a farmer in Wayanad district is keeping his paddy field fallow owing to huge losses, T. Praseed Kumar from Sulthan Bathery is scripting a different story — one of hard work, perseverance and fine imagination.
The 45-year-old farmer’s journey to success began after he got a handful of paddy seeds from a friend in Gujarat.
‘Krishna Kamod’, the Basmati rice variety for which he got the seeds, is known for its taste, colour and aroma. Enticed by its violet chaff, he first cultivated it on just a cent of land.
Gradually, in a period of seven years, he expanded the cultivation to one hectare and last year, Mr. Kumar harvested about 2,500 kg of the rice.
And instead of selling the rice in the open market, he sold the seeds to farmers at ₹200 a kg.
He had spent ₹85,000 for the cultivation last year and got returns to the tune of ₹5 lakh.
Buoyed by the success, Mr. Kumar tried his luck this season with Black Jasmine rice, a medicinal rice variety from Assam that is violet in colour.
100 kg of seeds
He spent ₹25,000 on cultivating it on 50 cents of land and harvested 400 kg of the rice. “I have sold 100 kg of the rice seeds to farmers at ₹400 a kg and some traders, who have been selling premium varieties of rice online, have offered to procure the remaining quantity of rice at ₹500 a kg,” Mr. Kumar added.
Mr. Kumar acknowledged the timely assistance provided by T. Girija, project director, Agricultural Technology Management Agency, Wayanad, for the cultivation.
He had also received an incentive of ₹20,000 from the Agriculture Department.
‘“As there is a huge demand for the seeds of rare rice varieties among the farming community in the country and pesticide-free rice from the elite class of society, I am trying to tap the huge potential,” Mr. Kumar said. The Black Jasmine variety has huge demand from supermarkets in the country as well as abroad, he said.
Mr. Kumar has also launched a website to market the seeds.
“This rice variety [Black Jasmine] seems quite suitable for the district, though its market is yet to be tapped properly in the State,” Sebastian Joseph, Assistant Director, Agriculture Department, Wayanad, said.
However, many farmers had come forward to cultivate the crop as it fetched a better price in the market, he added.
Mr. Kumar’s farm had been selected as a ‘demonstration plot’ last season to promote the rice variety.
The farmer has also dabbled in the cultivation of a spectra of rice varieties.