Manavalakurichi residents don't go after riches, keep centuries-old paddy cultivation alive

DEFYING increasing pressure from real estate developers and the lure of cash crops, farmers in Manavalakurichi continue to uphold a centuries-old tradition of exclusive paddy cultivation across the Periyakulam Yela region.

- M ABDUL RABI @Kanniyakumari

Spread over 500 acres and irrigated by historic Periyankulam tank, the area remains one of the last strongholds of traditional rice farming region.

While large tracts of farmland across Tamil Nadu are being converted into housing plots or used to grow commercial crops like coconut and banana, the Periyakulam tank water users' association has maintained a strict policy of cultivating only paddy in the Yela.

The tank, fed by the Valliyar river, supports two annual paddy harvests-Kanni Poo and Kumba Poo- with pulses such as black gram and green gram grown after the second season.

No other crops are allowed.