Share
We all love our rice! Nothing can be as sumptuous as a cup of steamed rice with our favourite dhal curry (Sambar) or dish of special occasions - the royal Biriyani. It could also take forms of idly, Dosa, idiyappam, Akki roti and assortment of sweets & savouries (Murukku, Athirasam, Paniyaaram, Payasam.). Some of us like it in its fermented form too (Pazhaya soru!)
The Indian subcontinent had around 1,10,000 varieties of this wonder grain before the advent of hybrid rice in the name of green revolution. This led to loss of country's indigenous rice diversity. Right now, we just have a small percentage of these left and they exist in the hands of seed collectors who have dedicated their lifetime for this cause.
As consumers we could stick to hybrid rice which we are so much used to.
The Indian subcontinent had around 1,10,000 varieties of this wonder grain before the advent of hybrid rice in the name of green revolution. This led to loss of country's indigenous rice diversity. Right now, we just have a small percentage of these left and they exist in the hands of seed collectors who have dedicated their lifetime for this cause.
As consumers we could stick to hybrid rice which we are so much used to.
Why should we bother?
The answer lies in 2 major aspects.
1) Intrinsic qualities of our heirlooms are far superior - from the aroma that trickles our taste buds to the superior nutritional & medicinal value of each rice variety.
2) The indigenous rice plants are naturally sturdy and do not need fertilizers or pesticides. Hence the cost of cultivation is much lesser for farmers and therefore enables them to earn more profit.
Our quest for these varieties led us to a superhuman who has devoted his lifetime for conserving our crop diversity with specific focus on our staple crop - Rice. In his farm named Basudha located in Rayagada District of Odisha - at the foothills of niyamagiri, Debal Deb (Debal Da as we fondly call him) has been conserving more than 1400 varieties of our native Paddy varieties. The astonishing element here is that he plants all these rice varieties every year, harvests seeds and conserves them in earthen pots to ensure they remain viable. All this in a parcel of land around 1.5 acres. He also freely distributes the seeds to the farmer who are keen in going back to roots. He strongly believes seeds should never be sold as they are commons. (For more details, refer http://cintdis.org/basudha/)
When Tsunami hit several parts of costal tamilnadu, due to ingression of salt water in costal farmlands, the farmers could not grow their regular rice crop due. Debal da helped these farmers by providing them seeds of salt tolerant rice varieties. This saved their livelihood from the damage caused by tsunami.
We (Thondaimandalam foundation) are associated with him for more than 2 years now and in our pursuit of replicating his efforts in Tamil Nadu we realized the humongous effort that has gone into collecting and conserving these many varieties of Paddy heirlooms
Apart from Basudha (The farm), being a scientist by profession, he also does scientific research on these rice varieties in his lab located in Kolkata. This lab has been instrumental in finding and documenting various nutritional and medicinal properties of the rice varieties he has been conserving.
All these years, he has been running his farm and the research centre using funds collected from friends, individuals and organizations in known circle who have been donating for this cause.
Due to the current economic slump, his sources of funds have dried up and if this continues, he will be forced to close the lab. The overall monthly operational cost for this lab is around INR 52000 per month which covers salary of research scholars and other operational expenses such as housekeeping & electricity.
We are trying to help him raise funds to keep the lab operational. We request your help in this regard.
The answer lies in 2 major aspects.
1) Intrinsic qualities of our heirlooms are far superior - from the aroma that trickles our taste buds to the superior nutritional & medicinal value of each rice variety.
2) The indigenous rice plants are naturally sturdy and do not need fertilizers or pesticides. Hence the cost of cultivation is much lesser for farmers and therefore enables them to earn more profit.
Our quest for these varieties led us to a superhuman who has devoted his lifetime for conserving our crop diversity with specific focus on our staple crop - Rice. In his farm named Basudha located in Rayagada District of Odisha - at the foothills of niyamagiri, Debal Deb (Debal Da as we fondly call him) has been conserving more than 1400 varieties of our native Paddy varieties. The astonishing element here is that he plants all these rice varieties every year, harvests seeds and conserves them in earthen pots to ensure they remain viable. All this in a parcel of land around 1.5 acres. He also freely distributes the seeds to the farmer who are keen in going back to roots. He strongly believes seeds should never be sold as they are commons. (For more details, refer http://cintdis.org/basudha/)
When Tsunami hit several parts of costal tamilnadu, due to ingression of salt water in costal farmlands, the farmers could not grow their regular rice crop due. Debal da helped these farmers by providing them seeds of salt tolerant rice varieties. This saved their livelihood from the damage caused by tsunami.
We (Thondaimandalam foundation) are associated with him for more than 2 years now and in our pursuit of replicating his efforts in Tamil Nadu we realized the humongous effort that has gone into collecting and conserving these many varieties of Paddy heirlooms
Apart from Basudha (The farm), being a scientist by profession, he also does scientific research on these rice varieties in his lab located in Kolkata. This lab has been instrumental in finding and documenting various nutritional and medicinal properties of the rice varieties he has been conserving.
All these years, he has been running his farm and the research centre using funds collected from friends, individuals and organizations in known circle who have been donating for this cause.
Due to the current economic slump, his sources of funds have dried up and if this continues, he will be forced to close the lab. The overall monthly operational cost for this lab is around INR 52000 per month which covers salary of research scholars and other operational expenses such as housekeeping & electricity.
We are trying to help him raise funds to keep the lab operational. We request your help in this regard.
