Paddy warriors

A couple in Karnataka is preserving rare native paddy varieties through cultivation

- M RAGHURAM

"CONSERVATION OF indigenous crop varieties does not mean just collecting and storing seeds in a container. We need to cultivate and harvest the crop every year to ensure its conservation,” says Asma Aboobakar, a teacher from Murathangadi town in Karnataka.

For the past 13 years, Asma and her husband Aboobakar, a hotelier, have been working to conserve indigenous paddy varieties. The couple has so far documented 840 native varieties, including nagasampige, karingajavili, raktasali, jugul and rajamudi. Of these, almost 85 per cent have been successfully germinated. “We aim to collect 1,000 varieties or more in the coming years, with 100 per cent germination,” says Aboobakar. One variety, nagasampige, has also been revived for commercial use.