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Honey bee publish details |
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written by- James Abraham & Regi Thomas |
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Ten Times Harvest:Seed Selection and Crop Management in Kerala |
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Diversity over time and space: fish/paddy rotation
Agricultural land in Kerala can be divided into two categories, ‘nilam’ and ‘parampu’. The former consists of wet paddy fields, where depending on water availability,one to three crops paddy can be raised. The latter comprises dry garden land where tree crops are generally grown. A crop of rainfed grain cultivation was prevalent here in the past and food grains were also cultivated in the small clearances in the forests. There were around twenty-five varieties of paddy cultivated on different land types. These were different from each other in size, colour, taste and also in yields with maturity period ranging from 80 to 280 days. Some of these were even cultivated as medicinal varities. (‘njavara’ and ‘chennellu’ varieties).
One of the fascinating varieties, found in the coastal areas called ‘pockali’, is a salt tolerant paddy with a maturity of 150 days, and it grows to a height of six to seven feet. This variety is cultivated in rotation with aquaculture-‘pockali’(rice)-‘chemmeen kettu’ (aquaculture of prawns) rotation. This is probably the highest yielding (economically) and almost no-input paddy cultivation in India. Here the first crop of paddy serves as an input for the coming fish crop which in turn gives the input for the next paddy crop.
Apart from various varieties of rice, Kerala has somewhere around 100 varieties of banana of which sixteen varieties have been conserved by the local people. Apart from these, four varieties of Colocassia (taro), ten varieties of mango, six varieties of cassava (tapioca), and four varieties of pumpkin have also been conserved. These are maintained for different nutritional qualities, productivity and tastes.
Varieties developed by the farmers
Most of the plant varieties found here have been in use for generations. However, two varieties in the neighbouring areas, one in cassava and the other in cardamom were identified recently.
a) Ambakkadan variety of cassava was identified and developed by Ambakkadan Thommy. It has now spread all over Kerala. He has distributed the planting material free of cost.
b) Njallani variety of cardamom: This variety was located and developed by Shri Njallani Varkey. This variety is widely accepted as a high yielding and disease resistant one.
Pest control in paddy
Paddy fields are fast disappearing from Kerala. It is no more an ‘economic’ proposition to grow paddy when compared to the yields of other lucrative cash crops. Most of the paddy fields are converted for other purposes. The few who are still continuing to cultivate paddy are doing so mostly because of their interest in ‘soil’. The general feedback from the existing paddy farmers was that they were doing it only because they loved to do it.
They practise indigenous methods for control of pests. Aphids which is a common pest for the paddy crop is treated with a mixture of asaphoetida and cattle urine. Another similar prescription is to spray a mixture of garlic, chilli, and asaphoetida in water over the paddy crop. Then there is the most common tobacco concoction, which is a mixture of dissolved tobacco and washing soap (as a wetting agent) and human urine (if possible-otherwise cattle urine) sprayed against a number of insects.
Rats and rodents are a major threat to paddy crop. Number of techniques are employed to catch/kill rats. The easiest and simple trap is the Elikumbham- as it is called locally -which means a rat pot. This is slightly narrow necked mud pot which is filled three quarters with water, and immersed in paddy field. The rats fall in this pot and cannot come out because of the smooth walls, which are generally curved inwards.
Sometimes they leave a dead snake to decompose on the border of the paddy field. People believe it is a good deterrent of rats. Ducks are welcomed into the paddy field, immediately after the harvest to clean up the paddy field from insects. The farmers get a small revenue by permitting the ducks to feed on their land.
Keeping rats away from tubers
Tapioca/Cassava (Manihot utilisma) used to be a staple food crop of the people of Kerala. A major threat to this as well as to other tubers like Yams, Taros etc. are rodents. Innumerable techniques have been employed locally to prevent rodents from destroying the crops. One interesting way to deter them is to plant few rows of bitter tapioca varieties on the boundary lines, and the sweet ones within. These practices fairly minimise rodent attack. ‘Nayadi’ a nomadic tribe of Kerala, earn their living by catching rats. They catch the rats by smoking them out of their burrows. Sometimes they add dried chillies in the fire to smoke them out. Some farmers use tapioca as a catch crop to protect other valuable crops. Especially those who practice pineapple cultivation find it easy to keep a couple of tapioca plants to divert the rats, and save their principal crop.
Seed selection
There is a saying in Malayalam-
‘vithu gunam pathu gunam’ which means
your harvest will be ten times better
if you use a quality seed. This
knowledge is embedded in their cultural practices.
Paddy : The most common practice is to retain the best performing block of paddy as the seed lot. The performance is judged on the basis of weed and insect resistance and productivity. Some innovative farmers even hand pick seeds from the best of all the plants. Once the harvest is done again the bigger seeds are further separated by winnowing. These are dried thoroughly in sunshine for a stipulated period generally to get rid of the probable pests. Then at night, these seeds are exposed to dew to compensate the loss of moisture due to drying. The standard practice in this area is to keep the seeds exposed, day and night, for seven days. Dried leaves of some herbs with insecticidal properties are also kept in the containers with seeds to protect them from pest attacks.
Germination test
To check the strength of seeds before sowing, a handful of seeds are put in a coconut shell filled with water and are allowed to germinate. From this sample one can roughtly estimate the ‘potency’ of seeds and the total quantity of seeds required for sowing. To ensure maximum germination, seeds are sprouted before sowing. The seed bag is immersed in water for a day and then taken out and kept under some pressure. By the second or third day, the seeds sprout uniformly. The sprouted seeds are then broadcast.
Coconut: Utmost care is taken in selecting seed from coconuts. It is ensured that the parent plant is
between fifteen to twenty years old and has at least twenty four leaves and each bunch contains at least twenty four nuts. The mature nuts are not permitted to
fall down. They are carried down the tree.
Banana : The seedlings which appear before blossoming are destroyed. Only those which come after the sufficent maturation of the banana bunch are permitted to grow.
In the case of rhizomes like ginger and yam, the seed material is pasted with cowdung, sun dried, smoked and kept. This way the seed can retain its moisture for a year. In traditional houses there is a ventilated underground cellar, exclusively for keeping the seed material. Vegetable seeds are preserved by treating them in smoke, and covering them with ash. Meticulous care is taken in selecting vegetable seeds, generally in selecting the pod, plant etc. to be used as the seed material. Brinjal, lady finger, a number of beans varieties, gourds etc., are widely cultivated in Kerala.
Agricultural almanac
Different moon phases are observed for all the planting and harvesting operations. The phase (just before the full moon) is considered good for agricultural operations while the early phase of the new moon is deemed unfit. Agricultural almanac also gives detailed information on planting seasons, and quite a few people still follow these almanacs, called “panchangam”. |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 8(1):12-13, 1997 |
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article |
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