For S. Sultan Ahamed Kabir of Tirumalairayar Pattinam in Karaikal of the Union Territory of Puducherry, this is the third generation’s tryst with farming. But he has transformed agriculture from a vocation to feed people into a mission to conserve seeds of traditional paddy varieties for posterity. In the last 12 years, he has grown about 80 varieties of traditional paddy.
Inspired by the words of green crusader G. Nammalvar who said that the seed was a mighty weapon in the hands of the farmer, Mr. Kabir’s quest for traditional varieties began in 2006.
To sow 108 varieties
Wide travel, intense interaction with farmers and valuable inputs from farm scientists resulted in more than 10 varieties reaching him. He started raising them in his own farm at Tirumalairayar Pattinam and two other farms at Kulithalai and Chengalpattu. Today, the number has crossed 80. He plans to begin the ensuing sowing season in August with 108 varieties.
“I do not sell paddy. I convert only a portion of the harvest into rice for my livelihood. My focus is on the major portion which will supply seeds,” says Kabir, sitting in his hut on the banks of the Tirumalairayar river. His farm practices include non-use of fertilisers and pesticides, hand sowing and harvesting. He adopts green practices of Mr. Nammalvar to allow the soil to rejuvenate on its own and the crop to retain its quality. When it rains heavily, he also resorts to methods followed in boro rice cultivation in the north east and Bangladesh.
He takes care not to mix varieties when more than one is ready for harvest. “I want to ensure that purity of a particular variety is not compromised,” he says, He has two small storage facilities for ‘feed’ and ‘seed.’
The varieties raised by him include karuppu kavuni, karunkuruvai, vellai ponni, seeraga samba, mappillai samba, kaala namak, iluppaipoo samba, thooya malli and Attur kichadi sambapoonkar arupatham kuruvai . He claims that he had succeeded so far by adopting scientific farming methods in tune with the local climate. “Though these traditional varieties can be raised any time, the local climate determines the yield. The deciding factors for a good harvest are climate, soil health and water availability,” Another progressive farmer, G. Sither of Thanjavur, points out that only traditional paddy varieties display a characteristic to adapt to the micro climate.
Mr. Kabir says that there is a growing demand for traditional varieties, primarily for their medicinal properties. He usually barters seeds with fellow farmers from all over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Another way of popularising native varieties among farmers is through festivals and community gatherings. Each farmer is given two kg of seeds free on these occasions. Mr. Kabir also participates as resource person in lectures and workshops to popularise traditional varieties under the Agricultural Technology Management Agency of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
