With an aim to restore the traditional rice varieties, Isha’s Save Soil Movement will organise a grand ‘Traditional Indian Paddy Festival’ on 30th July in Trichy.
A press meet was held regarding this, at Trichy Press Club, yesterday (July 28th). Explaining details about the festival, the field coordinator of the Save Soil Movement, Shri. Muthukumar said, “More than a thousand farmers from all over Tamil Nadu are expected to participate in this festival that is going to be held in the SRM Medical College campus in Trichy. Pioneer organic farmers and agronomists from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana will be advising the farmers. The program is designed to transform farmers into entrepreneurs and not just producers.”
The list of pioneer farmers joining the festival includes- Smt. Bhuvaneswari, the woman farmer from Kerala who has won various awards for traditional rice farming; Shri. Srikanth, the Telangana farmer who recovered 120 rice varieties and Shri. B.K. Devarao, the farmer who cultivated 160 varieties of rice in 5 acres of land in Karnataka. Noted entomologist Shri. Poochi Selvam among others are going to teach the farmers the techniques of making profit from paddy-cultivation.
Apart from them, medical dietitian, Shri. Healer Sakthivel Yuvraj is going to talk about the medicinal benefits of eating traditional varieties of rice. Additionally, Smt. Maneka, the woman entrepreneur who manufactures and sells 214 value added products made from traditional rice, and Mr. Dinesh Mani, Founder and CEO of Dhaanyas, will delve into the scope of multiplying one’s income through value added products.
Pioneer farmers Mr. Periya Samy (Karur), Mr. Senthil Kumar (Thiruvarur), Mr. Vijay Mahesh (Thanjavur), Mrs. Mahalakshmi (Kanchipuram) and others are going to share their successful field experiences with the farmers. It will also feature an exhibition of simple agricultural tools created by farmers themselves that are used by them in their agricultural practices. Paddy seeds will be provided free of cost to the farmers participating in the festival.
Farmers who want to participate in this festival can contact 83000 93777 and register themselves.
Mr. Periyasamy, a pioneer farmer from Karur, also participated in this press conference.
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