PERAMBALUR: A farmer and his family cultivate traditional paddy on irrigated lands in Kurumbapalayam village in Perambalur district after 20 years. It meets their food and animal feed needs and leads a sustainable life, he said.
Farmers in Kurumbapalayam village in Perambalur district have been cultivating millets and traditional rice twenty years ago. Later in the day, they started cultivating maize and cotton as cash crops and cultivating them. Farmers do not cultivate traditional crops as the yield and profitability of these crops are high.
This year, a youth D Durai (34) and his family hails from Kurumbapalayam have been cultivating a traditional 'Puzhuthi Kar' paddy on 70 cents of his rainfed lands to reclaim the traditional crop. Apart from this, he cultivates cotton and maize on 4 acres. He also grows two dairy cows.
This traditional rice crop is a 120-days crop. This crop is not expensive and does not require pesticides and water. This crop grows well and gives good yields. In addition, this traditional variety is used not only as food for farmers but also for cattle.
He planted it four months ago and is currently harvesting it.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, D Durai said, "Twenty years ago, we shifted from traditional crops to cash crops. Then there was higher profit and yield in cash crops. So we stopped the traditional cultivation a little bit and started cultivating the cash crops completely."
"In the early days of cash crops, there was less work and higher yields. But now we use more than five pesticides. This affects the environment and increases our work. In addition, we do not have enough yield and no profit. So we took back the traditional crop this year. By cultivating this crop at a low cost we have got a good yield. In addition, our family also consumes the produce." he added.
Durai also said that I have two dairy cows. For it, I used to spend around Rs. 20,000 a year on fodder. But cultivating this crop I can cut on the cattle fodder expense.
Durai's mother Malarkodi said, "By cultivating this crop we can live a sustainable life. Twenty years ago we lived like this. After this, we are relying on others. In this situation, we are happy to reclaim the traditional crop and return to a sustainable life."
She added that by cultivating this crop we can cultivate another crop after harvesting it. This will give us enough profit. Many farmers have asked us for seeds of the traditional crop to plant next season. This makes us very happy.