Organic farmer reclaims traditional paddy strains

With over five lakh varieties of paddy, India has long been a leader on the paddy front. But, thanks to the introduction of high-yield varieties, traditional paddy strains gradually disappeared. But, there is still hope, thanks to farmers like Gangadhar. As part of the ‘Save our Rice’ campaign, Sahaja Samrudha, an organic farmers’ group identified some paddy growers and transferred the responsibility to conserve medicinal paddy to them.

Each variety of paddy has its speciality. Aromatic Ambe More and Kari Gajivili, Kari kala bhatta are used for new mothers. While Kari Bhatta is used to control herpes, Dodda baira nellu is good to control acidity. Sannakki, Navara of Kerala, Atikaraya of coastal areas, Maapille samba of Tamilnadu, Madali of Maharashtra have also been grown on his land.

“Scientists are talking about GM varieties. With these efforts, companies are capturing the seed market. If the corporates take over, the situation of farmers will worsen,” explains G Krishna Prasad, convenor of ‘Save our Rice’ campaign.