The road to Shivalli village in Mandya taluk of Karnataka is desolate. We stop by several shops and ask for Bhattada Bore Gowda. The name does not ring a bell. Finally, a shopkeeper says, “Are you asking for the museum man? Nobody knows him by his name. We all know him by his rice museum. It has put this tiny village on the map,” he says smiling and pointing towards the house. In a few seconds, we arrive at Gowda’s home eager to see this rare museum for ourselves.
It is located on the first floor and has 210 varieties of indigenous rice on display. All of them have been preserved by the agriculturist. “I have been farming since 1989 and took up organic farming in 2004. I have always been mindful of indigenous varieties and my association with Sahaja Samrudha (an NGO and organic farmers collective) strengthened my resolve in preserving indigenous varieties. It is also the sustainable way forward,” says Gowda.
The walls of this small museum have paintings that depict the process of paddy cultivation, right from preparation of the soil to sowing, to transplanting the seedlings, ploughing them, harvesting and finally, showcasing the post-harvest process.
Apart from paddy varieties, the museum also has varieties of ragi (finger millet), which is extensively cultivated in Karnataka. Farming tools of the yesteryears, including wooden ploughs, sickles, cane baskets, and metal vessels to store grains, help visitors learn about paddy cultivation.
“Hybrid varieties have taken over in a quest for increasing yield. Native varieties will soon be a thing of the past,” believes Gowda. During his course of farming, Gowda discovered an indigenous variety of rice, which he has christened as Siddasanna after his parents (father Siddappa and mother Sannamma). It is resistant to a variety of pests and is suitable for cultivation in summer and winter.
Gowda cultivates about 30 quintals of native paddy each year on his four-acre farm with the objective of distributing the seeds to 250 farmers each year. He also uses his own organic manure called jeevamrutha prepared from cow dung and other ingredients.