Housewives to take paddy farming

Housewives at Kulashekarapuram near Kollam harvestingpaddy from a field, which they themselves had cultivated.

Housewives have joined hands to bring about a green revolution of sorts at Kulashekarapuram near here. With dedication, they have transformed a portion of the Peruvayal paddy fields in the area, into a rich paddy farm which they have already started harvesting.

Peruvayal used to be a famous paddy field of the area. But for thelast twenty years it had been lying idle. Some portion of it had even been reclaimed for real estate. In fact, the women had cultivated paddy on a five acre spread, that had been reclaimed for coconut cultivation.

The Agriculture Officer of the Kulashekarapuram Krishi Bhavan, Mr. V.R. Binesh, said that 4 tonnes of paddy is expected on harvest. He said, there are sixty women behind the endeavour and they belong to four Kudumbashree Groups. The effort was inaugurated by the Agriculture Minister Mr. Mullakara Ratnakaran on August 23 in the presence of the FoodMinister Mr. C. Divakaran who is the local MLA.

Mr. Binesh said that none of the women had any paddy farming experience when they came forward to respond to the Krishi Bhavan’s call for people’s contribution towards the Food Security Mission of the State. Sadanandan Pillai, an elderly farmer of the area, taught them the farming lessons.

In fact the women themselves rendered the fallow land, sowed the seeds, tended to the crops and the harvesting is also being done by them. Mr. Pillai said, with the experience all the women now have green fingers. The upland farming technique was used. One of the women said that instead of whiling away time, watching TV serials, they are now at the paddy field and the change is even making them feel healthy.

In addition to providing seeds and fertilizers free of cost, the group was also provided with financial support of Rs. 9000 by the Krishi Bhavan. The land on which they cultivated paddy is now owned by the Matha Amritanandamayi Math. Mr. Binesh said that Math authorities were only too happy to see the women use the land for a productive purpose.

The success harvested by these women has made them more confident. Mr. Binesh said that they are looking forward to bring more land under paddy cultivation. In fact during the early 1970s, Kulashekarapuram had 170 hectares under paddy cultivation. It dwindled to just 5 hectares in 2007. The Krishi Bhavan aims at bringing 40 hectares in the area back to paddy farming this year, Mr. Binesh said.