Key deliverables:
- 10 seed villages of medicinal and aromatic rice varieties
- Pure line selection of 5 specialty rice varieties (Navara, Chennellu,Gandhakasala, Jeerakasala & Mullanchanna) for developing nodal seed plot at the Centre & 10 community seed plots.
- On farm Demo plots for conservation for 5 varieties in10 villages.
- Training 400 farmers (approx 100 farmers/year).
- Training and communication materials on various aspects of the 5 varieties;
- Cultivate 5 traditional Rice varieties in more area
- Increased number of consumers of 5 rice varieties
Highlights from Core area 3:
Medicinal & Aromatic Rice Initiative
This initiative is majorly to conserve and value add the indigenous rice germplasm.
- A Baseline survey on cultivation of rice in Wayanad with special focus on specialty rice varieties, details of farmers cultivating them and area under each of the varieties.
- Seed purification (by pure line panicle selection) of selected 10 varieties (Adukkan, Thondi, Gandhakasala, Jeerakasala, Choma la, Veliyan, Chennellu, Kaima, Chenthadi and Kalladiaryan). 5934 Kg of purified seeds given to the Seed Villages for multiplication.
- Ten seed villages meant for conserving traditional rice varieties with a network of 105 HHs (73 adivasi HHs, one adivasi women group).
- Facilitation of informal seed exchange between farmers (10 rice varieties, 3070 kg seeds reached to 121 Farmers, cultivated in a total area of 102 Acres.
- Promising results for System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in indigenous varieties.
- Facilitation of linkages between farmers and seed villages for marketing of seeds (4000 kg).
- Facilitation for the primary processing and marketing of 2884 Kg paddy from seed villages.
- A study to assess the effective pricing and value chain for specialty rice varieties & red rice varieties.
- Package of practices for traditional rice varieties integrating scientific and traditional Knowledge (on-farm).
- Facilitation of the Plant Genome Savior Community Award (of rupees 10 Lakhs) by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India) to Kurichya and Kuruma communities of Wayanad for their efforts in the conservation of traditional rice cultivars.
- Facilitation of Farmer Variety registrations (16 rice varieties ) by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority
Potential Enterprising Activity Identified and Promoted
- Branding and marketing of specialty rice varieties which as recently linked to the Farmer Producer Organization programme of NABARD
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