Dr.Richhariya In-situ Rice Seed Centre
At, Dr.Richhariya in-situ Rice Seed Centre(DRIRS), We Conserve Indigenous Paddy Seeds that are native to our Village, Komarlingam. These paddy varieties has been cultivated in these region for thousands of years. We Conserve these seeds in their natural habitat at our farm. These grains have been grown by our village community for many generations owing to its unique genetic characters.
Our Story
India had more than 2 lakh variety of Indigenous rice seeds in 1950s. But, now, we have less than 1% of Indigenous paddy seeds. Rest, 99% of these seeds has gone extinct. These indigenous seeds were developed for many centuries by Indian farmers is lost in just 60 years of Green Revolution. To dive deep into this click here to read our report on "Green Revolution".
Literally every Village in India had its own indigenous paddy seeds evolved for their own geographical and climatic conditions.
We started our research to find the indigenous paddy seeds of our village, Kolumam. Our region has been growing paddy for atleast before 2500 years. Archalogical excavation near our village, Porunthal suggests early paddy cultivation and trade with Greek and Roman Empires.
During the course of our search for Indigenous seeds of our village across India, we reached to Agri- Universities, Research scholars and Doctorates across India who worked in agriculture Universities for decades. No one had any clue about indigenous seeds that are native to our village.
After months, we meet a very old farmer in our village working in the agricultural fields. The man was in his late 80s. We started talking to him and explained about our search for the local seeds of our village.
"Pallu" is a ancient Tamil literature, that talks about the people and farmers of lowlands where paddy is cultivated. This Pallu has mentioned the names of hundreds of Indigenous paddy seeds grown in Tamil nadu that were grown hundreds of years ago. When we cross checked these names in the Tamil Literature, we were mesmerized to find the names, that the old man uttered was there in the ancient Literature. We understood that indigenous knowledge is not there in Agri-universities but with the indigenous local communities and its people. This changed our understanding and perspective.
Finally, we came to a conclusion about the Indigenous paddy varieties of our village. We, then searched for those varieties across Tamil Nadu and found some of indigenous paddy seeds that the ancient Tamil literature and old man told. We found 2 indigenous paddy that were grown in our village. We are still searching for some more indigenous paddy varieties of our village hoping we would find them soon.
"The old man stood for sometime silently and uttered the names of some indigenous paddy seeds that were cultivated in our village when he was young probably before Green revolution. We thought, how could this man be right as the educated scientist couldn't help us in finding the seeds of our village. Yet, we noted down those names."
We also organized an event, where youth from different streams participated in harvesting the paddy. We used traditional hand harvesting methods that was used in harvesting paddy for thousands of years. Click here to know more about the our traditional hand harvest event.
We then harvested these paddy and stored them in gunny bags made of jute fibre.
Finally, We, grew these seeds at our farm with the time tested indigenous organic farming practices.
We observed that the paddy that were native to our village grew well in our soil comapred to other paddy varieties. We understood the age old wisdom of our farmers.
Milling is the processing to covert paddy into edible rice. Traditionally, village women process rice using mortar and pestle. But, now a days, this is replaced by modern rice mills. When we did nutritional analysis of rice processed traditionally we found amazing results.
Advantages of Traditionally processed Rice include,
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Maximum Nutrient Retention
The wooden mortar-and-pestle method removes only the husk, keeping fiber, B-vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants intact. -
Indigenous Processing
Hand pounding replicates centuries-old village practice, ensuring each grain retains its natural aroma and earthy taste. -
Low Heat, High Quality
Minimal friction prevents nutrient loss and preserves the rice’s delicate oils and nutrients. -
Digestive & Glycemic Benefits
The intact bran softens during cooking, aiding digestion and promoting slow-release energy for balanced blood sugar. -
Rich, Nutty Flavor
A firmer, chewy texture and robust taste that elevates pilafs, salads, porridge, and everyday rice dishes.
These advantages are lost in modern milling process. After this, we understood that indigenous farmers not only had vast knowledge about seeds and breeding but also precisely knew how to process the food such for its maximum nutritional retention for the health and well being of a human body. We, still couldn't figure how ancient farmers knew about nutritions without any laboratory analysis.
Yet, We processed rice with the outer layer intact in traditional manner and started to sell it to people to ensure nutritional needs of people are meet.
India is now facing a acute nutritional crisis. Click to know more
When, we processed the indigenous paddy grown by traditional processing, We got a red rice. This red rice had low glycemic index and is very good for diabetic and pre- diabetics patients. Another indigenous rice of our village has high vitamin D2 which is rare nutrition.
This was the story of two Indigenous rice of our village, Kolumam. If we analyze, India's 2 lakh indigenous paddy, we are sure, we will be amazed by its unique properties. Yet, we have less than 2 % of indigenous paddy seeds with the farmers. Rest all are extinct. These seeds are planned and made extinct such that its is unavailable to the public.
How India's indigenous seeds were precisely planned and destroyed? Click here to read