A farmer and rice breeder from Siddanahundi in T. Narsipura taluk will represent Mysuru district at a national-level exhibition that will showcase different varieties of rice conserved by farmers from across the country.
Mr. Srinivas, who won the Gene Saviour award for 2016-17 in recognition of his work, has over 250 varieties of rice in his collection and has created a ‘gene bank’. This includes about 240 varieties from different parts of India and 10 varieties from other countries.
Some of the exotic varieties which Mr. Srinivas has conserved and grows exclusively include Rajamudi, Ratnachudi, Jeerige Sanna, Gandhasale, Sidda Sanna etc. from Karnataka; Burma Black from Myanmar, Jasmine from Thailand, Lanka 1 and Lanka 2 from Sri Lanka from other countries.
Among his exotic collection of rice varieties from other States are Jugal from West Bengal and JP 11 developed by a farmer from Varanasi.
Mr. Srinivas said that he toured different parts of the country including Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, etc., and met like-minded farmers who too were conserving indigenous varieties of rice. This interaction helped him to procure small quantities of different varieties of rice which he cultivated – not for consumption – but to sell it to fellow farmers who were keen to preserve and propagate the rare varieties by cultivating it on a large scale.
‘’Most of the rice varieties are on the verge of extinction and are not cultivated as the market prefers the polished and hybrid white rice. If the indigenous varieties are not conserved they will become extinct and with it we will lose a slice of our agricultural heritage,” said Mr. Srinivas.
Though he had a large swathe of land till recently, the agricultural plot had to be divided among his brothers and so Mr. Srinivas is now left with just 1 acre. But this has not dissuaded him from taking up rice conservation. ‘’I cultivate on a portion of the land and grow crops and vegetables for domestic consumption and the rest is meant to grow different varieties of rice for distribution to other farmers,” he said.
All 250 varieties cannot be cultivated at one go given the small size of plot. So Mr. Srinivas takes about 30 varieties each year and cultivates them on a rotation basis. ‘’There is great demand for different varieties from like-minded farmers and hence income is also assured,” he added.
