National Paddy Festival accords thrust on traditional varieties

Farmers received two kilograms each of traditional paddy varieties on the second and final day of National Paddy Festival at Thiruthuraipoondi in Tiruvarur district on Sunday, signifying a tribute to late nature farmer and consumer activist Nel Jayaraman who was instrumental in preserving the paddy varieties for posterity.

The programme organiser, CREATE, has been carrying out the initiative over the years under an arrangement to get back twice or thrice the quantity in a year’s time, to bring about multiplication of seeds. A food festival showcasing dishes prepared with traditional paddy varieties was one of the main highlights of the two-day programme that also witnessed participants showering encomiums on late organic farming expert Nammalvar. Speakers recalled that Nel Jayaraman’s association with Nammalwar had significantly resulted in revival of 174 traditional paddy varieties.

Food Minister R. Kamaraj who took part said that the State Government had recognised the tireless efforts taken by Nel Jayaraman to propagate the traditional paddy varieties among the ryots and encourage them to take up paddy seed cultivation by including a chapter about his contributions in class XII text book. The State Government has taken cognisance of the consistent demand of ryots in the region to declare the delta region as a protected agricultural zone, the Minister said, seeking to assure that projects unacceptable to the public will not be implemented.

Addressing the gathering, General Manager of NABARD, Chennai, Padma pointed out that the efforts initiated by a small group of farmers a decade ago to revive the traditional paddy seed varieties cultivation had now acquired prominence at the national-level. Owing to the efforts of Nammalwar and Nel Jayaraman several old paddy varieties which had been ignored due to the introduction of high yielding hybrid paddy varieties by agricultural universities and research institutions have been revived, she said. The Director of Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur, C. Anandharamakrishnan and president of Federation of Thamizhaga Anaithu Vivasayigal Sangam, P. R. Pandian emphasised on value addition to old paddy varieties for better marketing and thereby ensuring good returns to the cultivators.

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