NAGAPATTINAM: When hybrid varieties of crops are much sought after in the market, this couple from Nagapattinam has been growing traditional paddy varieties for the past three years. Driven not by motive of making profit, by of contentment of maintaining genetic purity of crops and spreading awareness about the importance of traditional crops, the couple — 37-year-old P Saravanakumaran, a Siddha practitioner, and his wife S Sivaranjani — has been carrying out this venture with the support of their family members. They started cultivating around 130 crops in 2016, and now, they have over 1,000 traditional varieties of paddy in their 1.5 acres in Kuravapulam village near Vedaranyam.
Interestingly, Saravanakumaran suggests traditional rice varieties as medicine for his patients. He cultivates Tamil-based traditional crops such as Thoorankuruvai, Maappilai Samba, Kaattuanam, Poongar and Neelan Samba, 40 square foot each, in his farm and most of them are drought-resistant. After this was a success, they have now added crop varieties grown in other states. “ We cultivate all the crops by seed plantation method. Some crops mature in 60 days while some mature in 180 days,” said S Sivaranjani, who has completed BE in Electrical Engineering. They said that they used to buy native crops from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and the Northeast when they attend events there. Their efforts were lauded by agricultural department officials, who visited their field. Joint Director of Agriculture S Panneerselvam said that they have recommended the couple for cash prize and award on Republic Day.