Njaattu pattu to echo in paddy fields of Rani Kayal

ALAPPUZHA: The  Kuttanadan paddy fields will echo to the rhythms of traditional njaattu pattu when Agriculture Minister V.S. Sivakumar will launch the puncha paddy cultivation in the historic Rani Kayal on Thursday. The farming is being taken up by the district administration in the kayal after  two-and-a-half decades. The administration  has been doing groundwork for the crop in almost 82 hectares of  paddyfields, one of the remotest in Kuttanad,  for the last one year.

These Kayal areas  were cultivated  seven  decades ago by  Joseph Murikan, known as Kayal King,  based on the orders of the  then Travancore king, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma. The king wanted to  ensure food security for the people in the wake of two  world wars. Later, the fields remained uncultivated  and the  ownership  of 139 hectares  now remains with 570 people.  Only 82 hectares  are with the revenue department.

The district administration built outer bunds for this area under the Kuttanad project spending Rs 24 lakh and electricity was made available spending Rs 90 lakh.   The administration was planning to cultivate puncha crops in Rani Kayal last year, but the plan was dropped due to technical issues.  Kuttanad was hit by  climate change and there was  widespread pest attack on the acres of ripe paddy crops recently. Last year, the administration and the agriculture department had cultivated puncha crops in at least 715 acres of Chithira, the   paddy polders adjoining  Rani. About 20 tonnes of hybrid ‘Uma’ seeds was sown in the Chitira Kayal, and there was an yield of 500-600 tonnes.