Kerala electrician opens India’s first rice park

January 22, 2020 Unknown Wizards Valli Sarvani No comments

As the interest of consumers on organic farming is growing in the country, so does the growth of organic farmers. This Kerala electrician is one who stepped forward and opened the country’s first rice park.

Jayakrishnan Thaazhathuveettil is a well-known organic paddy farmer. He is cultivating more than 118 varieties of traditional, rare and exotic varieties of paddy.

Jayakrishnan Thaazhathuveettil was an electrician once. His journey towards organic farming is quite interesting.

His son was suffering from a chronic sickness around thirteen years ago. The prescribed medicines could not relieve the boy from his problems. At that time, Jayakrishnan realized that chemical-laden food might be the reason for his son’s health issues.

He decided to start farming and grew paddy in his ancestral lands. Unlike others, he chose organic farming which was revolutionary at that time.

His son’s health issues were solved. His family completely stopped using any potential chemicals including toothpaste, soaps, refined sugar etc.

Instead of that, they are using natural ingredients. He then began cultivating various types of paddy varieties Mullan Kayama, Rakthashali etc. that have medicinal properties for the community.

He uses natural farming methods and follows his own methodology. Now, he cultivates more than 100 varieties; 50 varieties of traditional tubers and 20 varieties of native vegetables.

He travels across the country to collect various varieties of paddy. He even has some varieties of paddy collected from Pakistan and Thailand.

Mullan Kayama, one of the paddy varieties has medicinal values. This variety has a good aroma. It was once consumed by the royalty.

Rakhthashaali is red rice. It has anti-cancerous properties and antioxidants.

Partnering with his friends Leneesh K, Jayakrishnan opened a rice park, the Folk Rice Centre & Knowledge Centre.

This 13-acre rice farm is the first-of-its-kind in the country. The duo conducts awareness campaigns and workshops on organic farming among the public.