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.
