Hands-on training for school students in traditional paddy

TIRUCHY: In an effort to create awareness about the traditional paddy cultivation methods, students were invited to plant traditional variety seeds during a festival organised in Thanjavur on Friday to mark the birth anniversary of organic scientist G Nammalvar.

The festival was held to promote the cultivation of traditional paddy and sensitise students to the paddy varieties. With the slogan “Vithaiyal Ayutham Seivom,” students from Karuppampatti Panchayat Union Primary School and from the adjacent government and private schools were taught how to cultivate paddy and revive the traditional varieties.

Students, who assembled on the school premises, went in a procession to the agricultural land owned by a farmer, Dhava Selvan and planted traditional paddy variety ‘Thanga Samba’. Each student was given Thanga Samba sapling and were taught how to plant them.

Subsequently, students were trained how to remove the weeds and maintain the irrigation system in the field. They were also instructed about the duration of the cultivation of Thanga Samba and various other traditional paddy varieties.

Later, the students took an oath against wasting food and creating awareness of traditional paddy cultivation besides educating the people about the nutrient values of the traditional paddy and revival of these traditional varieties.