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Agriculture | Farmers' collective in Bengal village grow indigenous paddy on dry land and make a seed bank -Jayashree Nandi

Farmers' collective in Bengal village grow indigenous paddy on dry land and make a seed bank -Jayashree Nandi

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published Published on Oct 21, 2014   modified Modified on Oct 21, 2014
-The Times of India

PRATAPPUR: Paddy grows in a dry patch on this farm. No fertilizers are used, the farm is not irrigated either. It is an experiment by seven farming enthusiasts who are trying to revive indigenous varieties and make them commercially viable in their villages. The dry paddy patch is small but the farm of about 4.8 ha grows more than 250 indigenous, organically grown varieties of paddy, pulses and vegetables.

Abhra Chakraborty, a Fisheries Extension Officer in Abhirampur, a village nearby has been working on a personal project of reviving indigenous varieties for several years now. But those were on smaller plots. When two of his friends-an agriculture department official and a bank employee also expressed interest in developing a large "conservation plot," they invested in this project together. This farm however is very different from urban organic farms which are associated with expensive produce often meant for gourmet food, claims Chakraborty. "This is not a kitchen garden.

We are trying to see if this can feed people, if this can be made commercially viable," he says. To make it market oriented, the team has also focused on certain commercially important indigenous varieties such as 'Bohurupi' and 'Kerala Sundori' in paddy, there are 30 varieties of eggplant, a high yielding traditional variety of okra and much more. "We wanted farmers to take interest and learn from us. So we have planted a variety of aromatic rice which can become very popular. Usually Basmati is associated with its aroma. But we have a non-Basmati variety which is more aromatic than any other. Its called Kala Jeera. Some of these aromatic varieties like Konokchur can also be used to make aromatic puffed rice, a popular snack in Bengal," adds Abhra sitting in a mud hut on the farm. The hut has a portrait of R H Riccharia, a rice expert and breeder who passed away in 1996. Abhra explained that he and his friends were concerned about the increasing input dependence among farmers in West Bengal's villages.

They were also inspired by Debal Deb, another rice conservationist who has helped preserve about 920 indigenous rice varieties in Odisha. "Farmers here use all kinds of pesticides including Diammonium Phospate (DAP) and urea. But they often end up killing natural predators of these pests. Our idea is to ensure that the natural predators do their job. Honestly, I have also seen that some pests like some stem borers or majra in Bengali do not have a very serious impact. One can ignore them," said Abhra. The other interesting indigenous varieties to be seen at this farm is an okra variety that has about 30 okras growing on each branch and putaparti pumpkin.

Abhra and friends are hopeful that the farm will be able to prove the potential of indigenous varieties and alternative farming vis a vis highly input dependent contemporary farming methods used in villages like Pratappur.

The Times of India, 20 October, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Environment/Develo
pmental-Issues/Farmers-collective-in-Bengal-village-grow-i
ndigenous-paddy-on-dry-land-and-make-a-seed-bank/articlesh
ow/44891955.cms


The Times of India, 20 October, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Environment/Developmental-Issues/Farmers-collective-in-Bengal-village-grow-indigenous-paddy-on-dry-land-and-make-a-seed-ba


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