EAST ELERI (Kasargod): Rani and Tomy Puthupally's plush bungalow is the only image at the end of a 70m dirt road from the hill highway connecting Chittarikkal and Cherupuzha. The green foliage on either side of the driveway and the lush lawn in the foreground forms the perfect frame for the white house.
Only when one drives up to the patio, one realises that it is not a bed of Mexican grass but the green shoots of paddy. "Both are grass. At least this grass will put rice on our table," said Tomy Puthupally, the Pongal ward member of East Eleri panchayat. Moreover, the upkeep of the lawn -- spread over seven cents -- was very expensive, says the farmer.
Rani, a nurse in Kuwait, is more poetic. "I love to see the blades of grass dancing in the breeze. The birds too swoop down to catch the pests. It is a sight I don't get to see in Kuwait," she said.
The couple gave up their lawn of eight years in response to a call given by the chief minister to the people of Kerala to cultivate more food crops, expecting a food shortage against the backdrop of the COVID-19 lockdown.
The government is planning to increase food production under the programme called 'Subiksha Keralam' or a 'Prosperous Kerala'. Tomy Puthupally said he felled rubber trees on 1.5 acres and planted tuber crops such as cassava, yam and colocasia, and plantain and ginger.
Rajesh K, assistant agriculture officer of East Eleri panchayat, said he procured 25kg of rice seed from Cheruvathur panchayat for Tomy. "But after seeing Tomy turning his lawn to a paddy field, the people in the Ariyuruthi neighbourhood too got inspired. As of now, two quintals of rice seeds were distributed in the area," he said.
He said that across the panchayat, 10 acres of fallow and barren land has been turned to paddy cultivation, and more than double of that for tuber crops. Next to Ariyurthi is Kollada, and central to the place is a dilapidated house that doubles up as a reading room-cum-library. The barely two cents of land in front of it has also been turned to a paddy field.
TV Chandran Nair, a retired employee of FACT, burned and cleared his land of 25 cents of land for paddy cultivation. "I have never done any farming in the plot before. We are scared there will be a food shortage in Kerala," he said.
Across the district, youth clubs, Kudumbashree women, and panchayats are identifying unused land and resorting to slash-and-burn agriculture.
K Damodharan, an electrician and CPM member, said he and his friends identified 1.25 acres of one Mahesh Echilamvayal, an assistant sub-inspector in Kerala Police at Kollada. "Seventy persons worked for three days to clear the land of overgrown bushes and shrubs, burned the weeds, and sowed paddy," he said. Shivadas NV, a construction worker, said they would distribute the rice to those who do not have money to buy food.
2,353 acres of new farmland
Kasaragod district's principal agriculture officer Veena Rani R said that around 2,353 acres of fallow land has been identified in the district for farming as part Subiksha Keralam.
As of now, she said, paddy has been cultivated on 222 acres, tuber crops on 568 acres, and vegetables on 470 acres. "Kuttikol, Bedadka, Pullur Periya, Pilicode, and Kinnaur-Karinthalam panchayats are at the forefront of the programme. We have set aside Rs 4.50 crore for Subiksha Keralam," she said.
In Pullur-Periya panchayat, agriculture officer Pramod Kumar used camera-fitted drones to identify fallow and barren lands. "We have identified 31 acres of barren land near the Central University of Kerala for farming. We have sowed paddy, tuber crops, vegetables, and millets on the land," said Veena Rani.
Panchayat such as Kodom-Bellur has diverted Rs 2 crore from its people's planning programme to Subiksha Keralam, she said. The panchayat is giving away kits of fruit plants to 5,000 houses. "People are turning farmers. Drive on any road -- highway or panchayat roads-- and you will see cassavas and yams planted on the roadside. This year it is an experiment. Next year, it will be a trend," said Tomy Puthupally.