Wayanad Rice Festival
26-08-2023
10:52 AM
1 min read
Overview:
A Kerala-based organisation named Thanal has embarked on a unique conservation experiment, planting 300 climate-resilient varieties of traditional rice on 1.5 acres of land at its agroecology centre in Panavally in the Wayanad district.
About Wayanad Rice Festival:
- The initiative aims to sensitise people to the significance of conserving traditional crops that have the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions.
- Thanal has been organising annual “rice field weeks” since 2012.
- The festival also sets the stage for knowledge sharing and co-creation of knowledge between tribal farmers and experts.
- Thanal also launched the Rice Diversity Block (RDB) at Panavally under the Save Our Rice campaign in 2009, with a collection of 30 varieties of rice.
- Most of the varieties were collected from Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
- Many varieties are drought-resistant and flood-tolerant, while others have aromatic and medicinal properties.
- The Thondy variety, a traditional and popular rice among the people in Wayanad a few decades ago, could compete with any hybrid rice in terms of productivity.
- Black rice varieties are rich in minerals like zinc, iron and other nutrients.
- India had nearly 1.5 lakh varieties of rice, with about 3,000 varieties unique to Kerala.
Q1) What is Ikki Jathre?
It is a campaign launched by a Kerala-based organisation, Thanal that aims to raise awareness about the value of preserving indigenous crops that can resist extreme weather conditions.
Source: The Hindu
Download PDF
Share this article
