A flock of egrets descends on S Bhuvaneswari’s farm and she runs, clapping her hands, to shoo the birds away. “The arrival of birds means that the soil in my farm is teaming with earthworms and hatchlings, but I can’t let them eat away the nutrients that my plants need,” she says. As the Periyar irrigation channel winds along the picturesque farm in Poolankulam village near Madurai and the newly-planted paddy saplings sway gently in the breeze, Bhuvaneswari gets knee-deep into the slushy field with a plough in hand to give the soil a fresh round of tilling. Two of her helpers follow behind, spraying neem oil and turmeric mixture on to the saplings. “Nature has remedies for all kinds of insects and pests and the best fertilizer is cow dung,” says Bhuvaneswari, who has been raising native paddy varieties organically, in the 10-acre patch of her sprawling farm for the past six years.
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 07/01/2019. S Bhuvaneswari of PKM Family, Madurai, has achieved good yield in organic farming of native paddy varieties. Here, at her farm near Madurai.Photo, G. Moorthy / The Hindu
Today, anyone who visits Bhuvaneswari is ritualistically served a filling bowl of karuppu kavuni vendhaya kanji (porridge made of black rice and fenugreek) or a refreshing glass of thulasi thippilikatralai juice (basil and long pepper extract with a hint of aloe vera) instead of coffee or tea. But Bhuvaneswari, hailing from the tail end of the Cauvery Delta, has been witness to different agriculture methods.
The shift
“I have seen how gradually people shifted from natural farming to fertilizers and pesticides. First came the hybrid seeds and then the chemicals. Earlier, crops needing less water — like groundnuts — were sown during droughts and summers. But ever since paddy became the perennial crop, the demand for water also rose. The hybrid varieties were water-intensive too, prone to pest attacks. Chemical pest repellents were used to save standing crops,” she recalls. “I always felt the need to revive the lost farming methods but there was little that I could do.”
Marrying into a family of industrialists and moving to Madurai opened a world of opportunities for Bhuvaneswari and she initiated the change from her home garden. She replaced the Korean grass lawns with native herbs and ornamental plants with fruiting trees, and started cultivating vegetables in her backyard. “This I started decades ago, when terrace gardening was not so popular. Luckily, I was successful and we have never had to buy vegetables from the market till date. But the one thing I couldn’t feel happy about was the rice we were eating. Though the rice too came in from our farms, I knew that it was farmed using urea and other chemicals.”
That’s when she got introduced to Vanagam Nammalvar Ecological Foundation in Karur and started to learn more about organic farming. “At Vanagam, I realised that organic farming is not just about what goes into the soil but a wholesome healthy way of living. I changed the way I cook and eat, right from turning to cold pressed oils and millets to adding more of traditional recipes on our plates.”
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 07/01/2019. S Bhuvaneswari of PKM Family, Madurai, has achieved good yield in organic farming of native paddy varieties. Here, at her farm near Madurai.Photo, G. Moorthy / The Hindu
Helping hand
“A farmer from Ariyalur introduced me to native seeds and gave me two varieties to try sowing in my farm, initially,” says Bhuvaneswari. “But when I started, I faced resistance even from family members. Though unsure of the result, I managed to convince them and it kicked off as a trial-and-error experiment,” says Bhuvaneswari. “I had to rejuvenate the soil with micro nutrients by giving a regular dose of the traditional panchakavya mixture. For about two years, I allowed the soil to regain its natural fertility, keeping off fertilizers and introducing nitrogen-fixing crops like azolla. Thankfully, my efforts bore results and I was able to get a yield of 65 sacks of paddy from two acres in the first season.”
Tasting success, Bhuvaneswari went on to increase the crop area and introduced more native varieties in the successive terms. “Yet, I was criticised by neighbouring farm owners for choosing long-term paddy varieties. Almost all of the samba types and karuppu kavuni took about five months to yield,” she says. “Then, I tried a couple of short-term paddies like kuzhi vedichan and arubatham kuruvai that yield in 60 days.”
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 07/01/2019. S Bhuvaneswari of PKM Family, Madurai, has achieved good yield in organic farming of native paddy varieties. Here, at her farm near Madurai.Photo, G. Moorthy / The Hindu
Bhuvaneswari’s journey as an organic farmer started in 2013, and so far, she has cultivated vadan samba, kichili samba, thulasi seeraga samba, sigappu kavuni (red rice), karunkuruvai and more. “Once my crops suffered a sudden pest attack and people suggested pesticides. But I was determined to find a natural solution. Again, Vanagam came to my rescue and they advised a mixture of garlic, ginger and neem oil. I sprayed about 100 grams of it per acre and the crops were saved,” says Bhuvaneswari. “For all the effort I take, I feel happy when I am able to provide a healthy meal to my family at home. I only supplied to a small group of known friends earlier, but now I have stabilised the yield and customers can directly procure the rice from my farm.”
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