MANGALURU: Can you grow your own rice at home? That too without tilling? And how nice it would be if you only had to go up to your terrace and pick up some paddy whenever you needed it! A Mangaluru couple has shown that it is possible to do so.Krishnappa Gowda Paddambailu, 58, a clerk at the Government College of Teacher Education, and his wife Meenakshi have turned their 1,200 sqft terrace of their two-storied house at Padil into a tiny paddy field. About 20 kg of his 70 kg harvest is distributed among their friends and relatives during festivals while the rest is milled into rice for their consumption.
It all started 14 years ago when Krishnappa went in search of paddy sheaves for Ganesha Chaturthi. A man who had promised it made him wait for long hours and in the end gave him only two sheaves which were not enough for the puja. Krishnappa, a religious person who had gone to fetch the sheaves without eating anything, felt deeply hurt by this incident. It was then that he and his wife Meenakshi (who works with the health department), decided to give paddy cultivation a shot. They chose their terrace as they had no other space in the city house. By October end, they will reap the 14th yield.
Every year, they plant the paddy seedlings in May-June just before the start of the rainy season. The terrace has been made water- proof where paddy is planted in 300 grow bags.How does he reap a bountiful harvest on a terrace? He says it is a combination of hard work, minimal water and grow bags. First, he mixes paddy seeds with cow dung and keeps the mixture tied in a cloth for a few days. Then he pours it on a bed of a mixture of soil, sand and ash. Then seedlings are planted in grow bags that have coir at the bottom and 15-20 kg of soil mixed with organic manure. Three saplings are planted in one grow bag. After harvest, half of the soil in the grow bag is replaced with a fresh one. He doesn’t use chemical fertilisers.
Krishnappa says his intention is to show that when he can grow paddy on a terrace, it can even be grown in fallow land. Despite growing paddy on the terrace which is directly exposed to sun, the crop is dependent only on rainwater and the yield is also more when compared to what is grown in irrigated fields, he says. The water consumption is less because of the substantial quantity of coir used in the grow bags which maintains the moisture for a long time.
“If the same technique is used by the paddy cultivators of Mandya and Raichur, then they can grow with 50 per cent less water. It’s a misconception that paddy requires lot of water. I have been propagating this at many events,” says Krishnappa who is invited to deliver talks on progressive farming.He grows only one crop a year, and every year he changes the paddy variety which is carefully chosen after consultation with experts. This time, he has gone for ‘Gandasale’ variety which has good aroma.
“So far, I have tried paddy varieties like Bhadra, Vijay, Ganga-Kaveri, IR-18 etc. A seer from Ballari has said that he has a good variety. Next time, I will try it,” he says.Krishnappa has also grown over 70 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbal plants at his home. These include jackfruit, drumstick, papaya, sapota, pomela, lemon, fig, cherry and dragon fruits. These grow into trees but are planted in pots on the terrace. He says nothing will happen to his house as he has selected those that don’t grow into huge trees and yield fruits within a few years.
The vegetables meet the kitchen demand of his four-member family. The couple has two college-going children.Krishnappa’s hard work has been recognised by various associations and organisations. Many educational institutions, government agencies and others invite him to give lectures on terrace gardening.
“People from foreign countries, including Germany and Russia, researchers and agriculture enthusiasts from Infosys and other corporate companies have visited our house,” says Meenakshi.Krishnappa gifts seeds and plants to visitors. “Inspired by us, many people have created a garden on their terrace but no one has gone for paddy so far,” says Krishnappa.
GROWTH TECHNIQUE
Krishnappa’s cultivation methods are not traditional. He uses minimal water. First, he mixes paddy seeds with cow dung and keeps the mixture tied in a cloth for a few days. Then he pours it on a bed of a mixture of soil, sand and ash. Then seedlings are planted in grow bags that have coir at the bottom and 15-20 kg of soil mixed with organic manure. Three saplings are planted in a grow bag.
PLANTS GROWN IN HELMETS!
Every piece of vacant space on Krishnappa’s premises is occupied by plants in pots and grow bags. He has even grown plants in discarded helmets, water bottles and pots made of coconut husk. Krishnappa and Meenakshi toil for at least four hours in the garden every day. Though they have a television set at their home, they hardly watch any programme; they spend most of their leisure time tending to their plants.