Anu Kuruvilla By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Armed with willpower, a group of youngsters from in and around Choornikkara panchayat, are proving the world can be a better place with the right dose of perseverance.

Through Adayalam, a collective started by them in 2015, the youngsters have now reaped a bounty - in rice.

The initiative was started on a trial basis. Today, it has grown into a 45-acre rice-abundant field.

“This year, we are planning to add another 100 acres,” said Ansar PM, a member of the collective. “The yield has been good. In the last season, we harvested around 90 tonnes of rice - the Uma variety - from 30 acres in Chavar Padam and 25 tonnes from 15 acres of paddy field taken on lease in Katte Padam,” he said.

According to him, the endeavour didn't happen overnight.

“The people in this panchayat were mainly farmers. However, over a period of time, with the prices for the produce going down and rapid urbanisation, the people discontinued farming and took up other jobs. This resulted in paddy fields slowly turning into a dumping ground for abattoir waste,” said Ansar.

The situation became so bad that people started avoiding the area surrounding Chavar Padam, he said.

“In fact, the present generation began considering the fields as a waste dump because of its name, though it was originally called so as the silt from the highlands accumulated here during the monsoon,” he said. The land used to be rich in nutrients and was very good for cultivation, he added.

However, continuous waste dumping deprived the fields of nutrients and polluted the groundwater. “People dumped poultry waste in plastic sacks. When we began cleaning up the land for cultivation after receiving training from the Agriculture Department, we found the water underneath was black,” he said.

To study the situation, the youngsters collected water samples from the wells in nearby holdings. “The results that we received were shocking. The number of E-coli bacteria was four times the normal level and also the acidity was way beyond comprehension,” he said.

However, once cultivation began, the water quality improved, he said. The members also learnt various novel methods by visiting other states. The collective received 85 per cent subsidy for their first crop.

“We decided to give it back to the people of the panchayat and packaged the rice in two kg packets which was then distributed through eight centres opened in different places in the panchayat. We sold the rice at Rs 35 per kilo and this was done using ration cards. For this, we even designed a new type of seal,” he said.

The collective is at present selling the rice for Rs 50 per kg.

Besides rice, the collective has also taken up fish farming. However, the threat of filling up paddy fields looms large over Choornikkara.

“We have been cultivating the paddy fields in an organic manner without any pesticides. Instead of pesticides, we began using marigolds brought in from Mysuru to lure the pests away from the paddy. This actually turned the area into a perfect tourist spot. But this might not last long if people are allowed to fill up the land for construction purposes,” said Shamsu, another member.