CHENNAI: The State government, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, will be establishing an Agriculture Museum at Humayun Mahal at Chepauk in Chennai near the Marina, where traditional tools and implements, machinery, rare specimens of crops, traditional varieties of paddy, etc., will be showcased. The government has allocated Rs 2 crore for this purpose. Once the renovation work is over at Humayun Mahal, works to establish the museum would commence.
Asked about the importance and necessity of establishing such a museum in a metropolitan city, Agriculture Secretary C Samayamoorthy told TNIE:
“Most of the people living in cities do not know even an iota about agriculture. They move about without setting foot on soil even once. It is important for them to know about the ‘farming life’ and glory of agriculture. Only then will they know the importance of paddy grains and their preservation. Their tendency of wasting food will also be curbed.”
Different varieties of traditional paddy, ancient agricultural implements, pounder, milling machines, pictures of traditional cattle, sheep, goats, poultry birds and dogs, paintings depicting agriculture in literature, and traditional land classification types such as Kurinji, Mullai, Marutham, Neithal and Palai will be showcased in this museum, Samayamoorthy said.
The museum would also showcase local crop varieties which have high nutritional value. At the district level, Agriculture Department officials have collected various artefacts used in farm operations like land preparation, seed sowing, irrigation, plant protection, harvesting, tree climbing, seed storage techniques, etc.
“The displays at the museum will make it easier for the young generation to clearly understand our traditional agricultural heritage. Videos based on folk songs and transplantation songs will also be played in the museum,” Samayamoorthy said.
The government has constituted a committee comprising experts in conservation of farming systems and paddy, rearing of animals used for agriculture, a representative from Nammalvar Ecological Foundation for Farm Research and Global Food Security Trust etc., for making recommendations on the composition of the museum.
A separate section of the museum will deal with the evolution of agriculture. Based on archaeological evidence, the pictures of instruments used by human beings for thousands of years will be displayed.
Sections of the museum and their content
Horticulture
Traditional varieties of vegetables, nutritional importance of horticultural crops, rare crops grown by people in hilly tracts
Agri Engineering
Types of traditional ploughs, conventional methods of lifting groundwater, methods followed for harvesting and thrashing, and old machinery adopted from land preparation to post-harvesting
Agri Marketing
Traditional ways of storage of agricultural and horticultural products and methods adopted in marketing the products by ancestors, Geographical Indication obtained for special crops grown in specific areas in Tamil Nadu
Water Resources
Structures of water storage, lifting of water, and how irrigation water was shared economically among farmers in the olden days
Animal Husbandry
Native breeds of cows, bullocks, sheep, goat and poultry birds in different areas, methods for fodder cultivation, etc.
Khadi
Historical reference of palmyra and cotton, nutritional importance of palmyra, uses of different parts of palmyra, palmyra products, tools and equipment used by ancestors for palm jaggery, products made from palm leaves, etc.