In a novel attempt to spread awareness on organic farming, a farmer of Malaiappanallur near Kumbakonam has raised paddy on his field in a pattern that reflects the image of Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar.
P.G. Elangovan, 62, a staunch advocate of organic farming, had begun the work of raising seedlings on Kuzhithattu (hole plates), specifically sourced about three months ago, for the purpose. Thiruvalluvar, who dedicated a separate ‘adhigaram’ to agriculture in Thirukkural, was presented in the image with the colour-variation of ‘Chinnar’ variety of paddy (brown) and ‘Mysore Malli’ (green).
With the support of K. Vilvanathan of Arts College in Kumbakonam, the farmer drew a picture of Thiruvalluvar on about half acre of the field. He then meticulously planted the paddy seedlings on the lines, 65 days ago. Normally, it takes four to five hours to complete paddy transplanting on half an acre. But, it took five days for Elangovan to complete the task.
