PERAMBALUR: Marking the ninth death anniversary of organic farming crusader Nammalvar, a graduate of agricultural engineering at Krishnapuram village in the district drew Nammalvar's portrait using 50,700 words in the Tamil vocabulary.
The student has also applied to get the feat into the Kalams World Records. K Mathiyazhagan (22), hailing from Krishnapuram village in Veppanthattai block, completed his BE in agricultural engineering in 2022. His mother Kalaiselvi cultivates maize, cotton, paddy and groundnut on 7 acres.
Mathiyazhagan was acquainted with the methods of Nammalvar during his years in college, spurring his interest in organic farming. He also paid a visit to Nammalvar Vanagam in Karur and trained in organic farming for a month. Speaking to TNIE, Mathiyazhagan said, "Even though we are farming, we have to save the crop by adding chemicals according to the current times.
Later, I followed Nammalvar and learned about organic farming and decided to do it. Organic farming is ecological farming. Artificial farming can destroy everything we do. So this year I am going to do organic farming. I was also surprised to know Nammalvar referred to the farmer as a mother."
"Apart from agriculture I am also interested in drawing. I drew a portrait of Nammalvar to commemorate him and to spread awareness about organic farming, using words from his book "Bhoomi Thaye". I finished this in four days and used 195 words per line. I was selected for Kalams World Records and am waiting for their announcement." he added. Mathiyazhagan also added that organic farming enables everyone to live healthy without disease.