National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD), in association with the Agriculture Department, Wayanad
District Cooperative Bank (DCB), Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit
Societies (PACS) development cell and Farmer Producer Organisations
(FPO), is gearing up to revive paddy cultivation in the district by
promoting pesticide-free cultivation of traditional rice varieties.
A
meeting of senior officials of the organisations held here recently
decided to explore avenues to propagate cultivation of indigenous
varieties of rice and to ensure a marketing network for the traditional
varieties.
Speaking after inaugurating the programme
N.S. Saji Kumar, Assistant General Manager, NABARD, stressed the need
for widespread cultivation of indigenous rice varieties such as Adukkan,
Thondi, Chomala and Gandhakasala and procuring them by providing a
premium price to the farmers. “Such produces have a huge potential in
the market but it was yet to be tapped properly. If it would be marketed
under a brand name with the assistance of PACS and FPOs after value
addition, it will help boost paddy cultivation,” Mr. Sajikumar added.
Dip in groundwater level
“Banana
cultivation was found to be the reason for falling of groundwater
level, which gradually led to the drought situation in Wayanad,” he
said. “Systematic efforts for reviving paddy at the level of PACS, which
are already providing loans to farmers for cultivation of short-term
crops, were needed and assurance of procurement and marketing was the
key factor,” he added.
The meeting also stressed the
need for materialising the concept like seed village and organic
certification over a period of time.
Mariyam Jacob, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, and P. Gopa Kumar, General Manager , WDCB spoke.
Source : The Hindu
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