It is that time of year again. After battling odds, paddy farmers in Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, are eagerly waiting for another bumper harvest.
Joining some 35,000 paddy farmers in ‘Koythu Utsavam’— the harvest of the ‘puncha’ crop — are 180 students and teachers of St. Aloysius Lower Primary School, Edathua, in Kuttanad.
The school has cultivated 11 rice varieties, including rare and indigenous species, in 4.5 cents of land on its campus. In the coming days, there will be a bountiful harvest of ‘Rakthashali’, a nearly extinct variety of rice with high medicinal value. Apart from farming Rakthashali in 2.75 cents, they have grown Jeerakasala, Koduveliyan, Chomala, Mullankaima, Gandhakasala, Thavalakannan, Mundakan, Kanali, Kanakam and Okkan puncha. A majority of them are traditional rice varieties of Wayanad and largely unknown to Kuttanad.
Inspiration
Sister Lins Mary, headmistress of the school says that the initiative took inspiration from ‘Padam Onnu Padathekku’ project of the State government. “Cooperation from students, parents, and teachers has helped us script a success story,” she says.
To cultivate different varieties of paddy, the school transformed a portion of its playground into a field with the help of a digger machine. The seeds were collected from Cheruvayal Raman, a traditional farmer from Wayanad. Organic farming methods were adopted and only bio-fertilizers were used. A bio-fence was created around the field using marigold plants.
“Most of the students in the school are from agricultural families or with farming backgrounds. Through the venture we have inculcated in students the skill and knowledge of agriculture. Beyond this, our children can have pesticide-free meals at least a day,” says Thomas Mathew, a teacher at the school.
Star of the initiative
Mr. Mathew says that the focus was on the cultivation of ‘Rakthashali’. “The majority of the farmers in Kuttanad are cultivating Uma rice variety. Rakthashali with red husk and grain is considered uneconomical compared to high-yielding rice varieties. But, we are expecting a good harvest. Upon seeing Rakthashali at the school, a lot of farmers in the region are evincing interest in cultivating the variety. We are also planning to extend the area of paddy cultivation in the school in the coming season,” he says.