Nagapattinam family breaks record by retrieving 1030 traditional paddy varieties

Saravanakumaran, a Tamil Nadu resident has revived more than 1030 traditional paddy varieties that hold medicinal properties and nutritional values. On the day of Republic Day, the District administration will reward him for his five-year endeavour on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.

Tamil Nadu: Paranjothi a farmer from Kuravakuppam near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district has been farming for over 50 years.

His eldest son, Saravanakumaran is a Siddha doctor, owing to his love for nature and heritage.

Due to his conviction that the farmers' suicides are a direct result of barren paddy varieties that have been genetically altered to yield high, Saravanakumaran decided to retrieve the lost traditional rice varieties with its genetic susceptibility.

He had initially revived 130 paddy varieties not only in Tamil Nadu but throughout India and planted them in his farmland.

With a determination to retrieve as many extinct varieties as possible, he travelled to many states in India including Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Manipur, and was able to regenerate 1030 varieties.

There were more than 22,000 paddy varieties in India since ancient times but now only a countable number can be found, says Saravanakumaran with regret in his voice.

He has sowed them at a rate of forty square feet per variety in his two and a half acres of land and has made us wonderstruck by retrieving more than 1000 varieties of our traditional paddy.

"Farmers suicide prompted me to restore these traditional paddy varieties. These native varieties do not entail any expenditure on fertilizers, pesticides and can withstand natural calamities like floods, drought and insect infestation, " Saravanakumaran told ETV Bharat.

He also said that his aim is to take these ancient varieties to the traditional paddy cultivating farmers aiding them in 'sowing and reaping'.

All his family members, including his wife, enthusiastically and voluntarily participate in his mission.

So far, Saravanakumaran has retrieved varieties like Thangath Tampa, Sornamuki, Sornamalli, Wadden Samba, Puzhudhikkaar, Chengalpattu Sirumani, Sornavari which possess medicinal properties and nutritional values.

"There are thousands of traditional paddy varieties more to be retrieved," added Saravanakumaran who is seeking government's aid to expand his 'agriculture revival'.

District administration will reward him for his five-year endeavour on behalf of the Department of Agriculture on the day of the Republic Day celebration.