The fifth edition of the community seed festival, being organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in association with NABARD, Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Seed Care, and Wayanad Tribal Development Action Council, is drawing crowds.
The three-day programme on the foundation premises envisages to raise agro-biodiversity conservation as a local development agenda through grama panchayats. The programme is also a continuous process of learning from the farming community and a platform for facilitating local- and higher-level policy dialogues.
As many as 40 stalls have been put up at the venue, including the stalls of 23 grama panchayats and two municipalities in the district; two each stalls of Kannur and Kasaragod districts; and those of the Kudumbashree mission and individual farmers from various parts of Malabar.
A splendid collection of millets from Kolli Hills in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu is a major highlight of the festival.
Highly nutritious
Seven varieties of finger millets; five varieties of Italian millets; and seven varieties of little millets have been displayed at the stall, among others. Proso millet, kodo millet, fox-tail millet, and Kuthiraivali millet are the other varieties showcased. All these are different in colour, taste, and aroma, K. Matheswaran, a farmer-conservator, said. Millets were highly nutritious and climate- resilient, and had high resistance to pest and disease attacks, he said.
More than 10,000 farmers have been engaged in millet cultivation on Kolli Hills, S. Chinna Thambi, another farmer-conservator, said. However, the area under cultivation of millets is declining owing to various factors, he said, adding that proper conservation measures were the need of the hour.
P.J. Manuel of Edavaka grama panchayat has exhibited 28 varieties of yam (Dioscorea species), 24 varieties of taro, 12 varieties turmeric, four varieties of arrowroot, and 22 varieties of rice. As many as 35 different varieties of cow pea exhibited by the Peralassery grama panchayat in Kannur district and seven banana varieties by Padinharethara grama panchayat also attract crowds.
The programme will conclude on Saturday.
