THANJAVUR: Nearly 30 years ago in the Granary of South India, G Sither’s restless gaze fell on stalk after stalk of brittle, hollowed-out paddy crop. The barefooted farmer hurried across the 25-acre agricultural field only to find the leaves stripped entirely and the soil littered with ruined stalks. Sither lost his entire crop to a pest attack. In just 20 more days, he would have reaped the fruits of his months-long labour. Like many other farmers in the region, he too was told to cultivate hybrid paddy varieties and was promised a greater yield. After the pest attack, he could not even salvage the seeds.
Sither pointed to those grim days as the turning point of his life. The event catalysed him into taking up organic farming and a life-long pursuit to preserve and cultivate traditional paddy varieties. The year following the pest attack, he cultivated traditional paddy varieties that are resilient to pests, floods, and drought. “I did not experiment on a small field to switch to traditional varieties. I cultivated the traditional paddy varieties in the entire 25-acre farm,” he said.
Decades later, the farm, located near Punnainallur Mariamman Koil village, seven kilometres from Thanjavur, now holds eons of history, as Sither has gone on to cultivate and preserve 121 traditional paddy varieties. The 67-year-old paddy conservationist has travelled the length and breadth of the state, collecting the seeds of rare and traditional varieties.
“I got paddy seeds from Saradha Ashram in Ulundurpettai, from the farms of Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS), among others,” Sither said. Initially, he started with a few varieties like madu muzhungi (can withstand flooding and grow even when fully submerged in water), kullakkar (red paddy with extreme resilience and potent medicinal benefits), varappukkodanchan (climate resilient, high-energy content), and seeraga samba (contains selenium, fibre, and phytonutrients).
However, over the last few years, the number of varieties he could cultivate has come down due to unfavourable weather conditions. Last year, he cultivated 85 varieties. Now, during this thaladi season, Sither raised nurseries of three varieties — thooya malli, kichadi samba, and seeraga samba. “These three will be raised in the majority portion of the farm. Besides, to maintain the seed bank, I will broadcast (mixing and spreading) 60 varieties in one acre of land,” Sither added.
Besides cultivating several traditional paddy varieties himself, Sither has been distributing the seeds to interested farmers since 2000. “I give one kilogramme of the paddy variety free of cost to a farmer with an assurance of getting back two kg of the produce after harvest,” Sither said. As many could not travel again to hand over the paddy back, he asked the farmers to distribute one kg each of the produce to two other farmers and forward their addresses to him. So far, Sither has distributed seeds to a few thousand farmers. “This year so far, seeds have been given to 25 farmers”, he added.
To honour Sither’s life-long efforts in preservation, the state government conferred on him the inaugural Nammazhvar Award for excellence in organic farming for the year 2023-24.
R Chidambaram (64), a farmer from Kodikkalur, said, “I first met Sither 15 years ago to consult about dietary practices for my varicose veins. From then on, I started eating food made from traditional paddy varieties and began cultivating them in my field.” On his seven-acre field, Chidambaram has been cultivating karunguruvai, seeraga samba, kullakkar, mappillai samba, and thangasamba through organic farming methods.
P Thamaraiselvan of Kannanthangudi Keezhaiyur, who has been cultivating traditional paddy varieties for the past 18 years, reiterates that he turns to Sither even now if he faces a problem in organic farming.
Speaking to TNIE, Sither said, “Seed exchange practices among farmers have nearly vanished in the delta districts. Today, they rely heavily on government depots to secure their seeds”. Besides paddy seed distribution, Sither has also been conducting awareness events on organic farming. “We organise monthly meetings for people from all walks of life, including students,” he said.
Sither had already started diversifying his farm with three fish ponds. This year, he started cultivating vegetables on a raised bed farm. “Typically, vegetables are grown only in rainfed fields, as riverine irrigation is prone to the risk of flooding. Hence, I am experimenting with raised bed vegetable cultivation,” he added. He has already planted 800 teak saplings in his farm and is planning to plant jackfruit on the bunds of the fish ponds.
At a time when modern agriculture is driven by pace and high yields, Sither’s 25-acre farm has become a seed sanctuary, overhauling the practice of cultivation and encouraging every farmer to also be a self-reliant conservationist.
(Edited by Thamizhamudhan Sekar)