Many endemic crop varieties and vegetables on the verge of extinction have a saviour in Lenu Peter, a young farmer from Peerumade.
He has brought back to menu a yam species ‘Adathappu’ and many traditional varieties of brinjal, chilly, and beans.
Adathappu was the main yam variety cultivated by the tribes and traditional agriculture families. It requires eight months of growth and the tuber grows on vines and underneath the soil.
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With low sugar content and high calories, it is advisable for diabetics too. It can be kept for a year and its taste appeals to children, says Peter. “A single plant yielded 12 kg adathappu last year,” he says, pointing to a sapling in front of his house.
Like many endemic tuber species, adathappu too was on the path of oblivion. Peter then started cultivating them with other traditional vegetable varieties that too faced extinction.
Among them were native brinjal, ladies’ finger, chilly and tomato varieties.
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It was his interest in conserving native plant varieties and animals that led Peter, an instructor at an engineering college, to take up farming as a vocation.
He liberally shares the seeds of crops and vegetables with farmers. “Only if other farmers too grow them can our vast traditional species be protected,” he says.
Pest-resistant
The traditional species may not be highly profitable for farmers but they score on pest resistance and adaptability to climatic changes when compared to hybrid varieties, he says.
Peter collected his plant and animal wealth over a decade of search, most of them from tribal settlements.
“Some tribes and traditional agriculture families still protect their seed wealth, which is the only reason for their survival. With the change in food habits, many vegetable varieties have disappeared from the culinary table,” Peter says. One can spot native varieties of cattle such as High Range Dwarf, Vechur Cow, goat species of Malabar, and nadan kapri and karinkozhy chicken species at his farm.
“An important feature of our animal wealth was its adaptability to the topographical condition of a particular area like the High Range Dwarf. However, it is confined to some pockets and needs protection,” he says.