This man protects Indias paddy variants

MYSORE: He did not lose heart at missing out on a government job twice. Instead, it prodded him to take up farming and protect indigenous variants of paddy.Today, Srinivasamurthy, a farmer from Siddanahundi in T Narasipur taluk, supplies 200 varieties of indigenous paddy grown in his one acre plot through organic farming. He tells Express he was inspired to take up farming after he read books on agriculture, and the problems being faced by agrarians due to seasonal vagaries. He says, “Once, I came across a book written by Dr Richarya which stated that India had at one time more than 4 lakh varieties of paddy. This inspired me to search for paddy varieties following which I toured Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Kerala and Orissa.”He then started growing the paddy in his land, which he irrigates with water from river Cauvery, and till date has grown more than 200 variants of rice, including Athi Karaya, Sannakki, Ratna Choodi, Ambe Mohara and Navara, which can be harvested between two to four-and-a-half months. This farming enthusiast says that his mission earns him a profit of Rs 80-90,000. He details on the expenditure involved: “I spend Rs 6,000 annually for sowing, plucking weeds, harvesting and other works. Interested farmers — from all over the nation — deposit money in my bank account to whom I courier the paddy seeds,” he explained.