A rice bowl that had been lying almost fallow for over a decade has now been revived fully to produce some 1,500 metric tonnes of paddy in a joint effort by the Ernakulam district administration, Agriculture Department, paddy field collectives, and local bodies.

The rejuvenated Thottara Puncha, where 652 acres of paddy land were brought under cultivation last year, will now be a brand, with the rice produced here hitting the market in that name in the first week of June. The effort to breathe life back into the Puncha, trapped amid some nine hills, was spearheaded by District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla.

The plan is to market some 20 tonnes of rice initially, followed by another batch of 20 tonnes. Keecheri Service Cooperative Bank has completed collection of paddy, threshing, packing, and branding, said a release issued here.

Mr. Safirulla sought the support of Amballoor and Edakkattuvayal panchayats to cultivate some 350 acres of the 990 acres of the Puncha in Ernakulam district (the remaining 1,082 acres are in Kottayam) in 2016-17, and the results were stunning. “Preparation of fields itself was a challenge, but paddy field collectives worked in tandem to make it happen. This time around, we were able to bring under cultivation the maximum cultivable area — around 700 acres over nine paddy land collectives barring areas acquired for various projects, canals, farm roads, and irrigation channels,” said C.K. Prakash, general coordinator of the project.

Several departments, including irrigation, Land Development Corporation, and the State Electricity Board, supported the initiative. The canals were cleaned, and pumping facility was added to the sluices at Olippuram and Pulimukham (as a chunk of the Puncha being in low-lying areas will get heavily inundated during the monsoon).

“It posed some challenges, as not every area could be cultivated in October, which delayed harvesting too. We have now set up 12 high-power submersible pumps along the Puncha for de-watering, which will help us harvest the entire field by March next. This is going to drastically reduce the harvesting cost as well. And, the idea is to incorporate Kudumbasree in threshing paddy at our own mill and brand it,” said Mr. Prakash.

A Thottara Puncha Development Council will soon be formed, and a mill will be set up at a cost of ₹40 lakh. Terming it his pet project, Mr. Safirulla said all agencies and stakeholders had chipped in with verve to script the success story.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / May 25th, 2018