Market potential of traditional paddy varieties was presented to a group of farmers who have assembled at a field in Rishiyur hamlet near Needamangalam when the harvesting of traditional paddy varieties had commenced.
The seeds of traditional paddy varieties such as ‘karunkuruvai’, ‘karuppu kavuni’, ‘sigappu kavuni’ and ‘seeraga samba’ were sown on 5 acres during July-August last year at the RKM farm in Rishiyur. As a section of the field where the traditional paddy varieties were sown was ready for harvest by the end of December, farm managers decided to use the harvesting exercise to create awareness of the market potential of these varieties.
RKM Organic Farm, Rishiyur, which had forayed into traditional paddy variety cultivation with the support of the Nel Jayaraman Traditional Paddy Variety Protection Centre, Adhirangam near Thiruthuraipoondi, organised a meeting in memory of late Nammazhvar, organic farming proponent, and the reviver of traditional paddy varieties, Nel Jayaram, on their premises on January 4.
The Krishi Vigyan Kendra coordinator, M.Ramasubramanian, chairman and managing director, Karikalan Pulses Farmers Producers Company, K.Raja, Vivasaya Mandram, Tiruvarur district, J.Varadharajan, and MAS Farm owner and environmentalist, M.A.S. Mohammed Rafiq presented a brief note about the traditional paddy varieties and the advantages in cultivating the same.
The coordinator, Nel Jayaraman Traditional Paddy Variety Protection Centre, CMA Rajiv, stressed the need to achieve self-reliance in agriculture operations and protect traditional varieties for posterity.
The founder RKM farm and The Healthy Kids, Chennai, RKM Umaiyarasi Senthil, narrated the success story of the farm and its marketing arm in cultivation and marketing traditional paddy varieties.
