A chance meeting of six graduates during the jallikattu protest on the Marina and later at Neduvasal is bringing in a slow and steady revolution on the paddy fields of the Union Territory.
Last year, a six-member team, most of them engineering graduates, took upon a mission to encourage farmers in Athingapattu at Seliamedu village to shift to organic farming with the assurance to procure the paddy produced. The Agriculture department had supported this initiative.
Nineteen farmers in the village in October last year came together to raise paddy on 32 acres of land using organic manure, and five months down the line and after realising decent profit, they are upbeat about continuing the same next season. The harvest of first crop was done last month in the presence of Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy and Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy.
Fears allayed
“We were a bit apprehensive in the beginning. But the good yield made us confident to move ahead. I am going to raise Poongar variety,” V. Sivamurugan, a farmer of Athingapattu, told The Hindu .
His first crop of KichiliSamba , a fine grained variety of 140 duration, raised on three acres of land was harvested last month. “I have made a profit of ₹22,000 per acre,” he added.
It was early last year that the group of youth Vasanth, Varun (both from Chennai), Parvatha, Nandhini (from Puducherry), Ganesamoorthy (Pattukottai) and Priyan (Dindugal) fresh after the Neduvasal agitation got together and decided to take up “worthwhile innovative project” to change the concept of farming.
Mr. Ganesamoorthy, who gave up his engineering career to promote organic farming, said the Union Territory was chosen for the pilot project because of its easy accessibility.
A big support
The group approached the Agriculture department and offered to help farmers raise organic paddy.
“We promised to supply traditional variety of paddy seed for sowing, manure and promised to procure the harvested paddy. It took considerable time to convince the farmers,” he said.
After the farmers showed interest, the paddy fields were divided into different zones so that water from nearby fields where pesticides are used for cultivation did not enter the area where organic paddy was raised, he said.
Ms. Nandhini said after the sowing, the next task was to get a good market for the products.
“We sought suggestions with our group of friends in social media. Around 1,000 people showed keen interest in purchasing the rice if it was pesticide free. This encouraged us. Following the social media response, we promised to procure the paddy for ₹3,000 a quintal,” she said.
The rice was sold in gunny bags with the tag “Seliamedu Rice” locally and in Tamil Nadu, she added.
From 32 acres, the group of youth, with the support of Agriculture department, plans to extend the project to Karaikal and other villages in Puducherry.
K. Peramanadane, Agricultural Officer, Selimamedu Uzhavar Udhaviyagam, said last month paddy raised on six acres of land was harvested. From one acre, the farmer could get 1,575-1,650 kg of paddy, he added.
