A Food Security Army swings into action
Shree Padre Thrissur (Kerala)

Dr U Jaikumaran is breathless with excitement over the phone. “The next five days will be hectic and crucial in our war against hunger. We have to transplant rice on 300 acres in just five days.”

Dr Jaikumaran, a professor at the Kerala Agriculture University (KAU), has been building a Food Security Army (FSA) – men and women in green uniforms organised into nine regiments and 24 battalions – who are equipped to bring mechanisation to paddy cultivation in Kerala.

Now in ‘Operation Ponnamutha 300/5’ 200 soldiers of the FSA are going to achieve what has never been done before. Normally 200 farm labourers would take 30 days to transplant paddy on 300 acres. But the FSA wants to prove the same work can be completed in just five days with mechanisation and planning.

The terrain at Ponnamutha in Thrissur district is tough. The approach to the area is difficult. The paddy fields are slushy. But the FSA knows this is a crucial battle.

The soldiers go all out and cover the 300 acres in six days – taking one day longer than their own impossible deadline. This too is a record.

“Self-esteem is crucial in this mission,” says Dr Jaikumaran. “You can’t solve the food crisis if this force feels alienated. They are fighting a war on the food security front. Hence they are like an army.”

Paddy yields have been declining in India. This year rice production dropped by 18 per cent. The reason cited was drought. For the first time in 20 years there was talk of importing rice, a suggestion which sent rice prices soaring in world commodity markets. The Union government backtracked and said there was enough rice in stock for now.

The reasons for the decline in paddy are many and vary from region to region.

Take Kerala, a state that depends on rice and vegetables. It is facing a severe paddy crisis caused by large-scale reclamation of agricultural land for construction and an acute shortage of farm workers. According to the State Planning Board, Kerala lost over 500,000 hectares of paddy fields between 1980 and 2007. The harvest almost halved to 630,000 tonnes during this period, severely threatening Kerala’s food security.

Legislation prohibiting indiscriminate reclamation of paddy fields has proved ineffective. Of late the state government is offering incentives for group farming of paddy. Under the scheme, committees of paddy farmers (padasekhara samitis) formed under each panchayat are provided subsidised inputs and machinery.

To increase paddy yields the obvious solution is to encourage mechanised paddy farming and overcome shortages of labour. This can give farmers the option of a second sowing season which would increase yield and the incomes of farmers.

Due to an acute shortage of labour, farmers had discontinued cultivating a second crop a few decades ago. Transplanting, too, had stopped.

THE BUILD-UP

Dr Jaikumaran, with his wide experience in mechanised paddy farming, was always confident that rapid and large-scale transplanting was possible.

His strategy was to advance the first crop from December to September through mechanisation and thereby accommodate a second crop. This would increase the total production in Ponnamutha and three adjoining padavus (padavu is the short form of padasekhara) by at least 50 per cent.

Any delay in the first crop, delays the second one too. If the second crop gets delayed, there is a risk of pre-monsoon showers spoiling the crop. Hence the urgency.

This year, Ponnamutha and the three padavus came forward to experiment with mechanised transplantation on 1,000 acres. Most padasekhara samiti members were initially sceptical. However, the Ponnamutha samiti was willing to give it a try. The others chose to wait and watch.

“Let us do it in Ponnamutha this time. We’ll see how it fares and then we will decide,” they said. Dr Jaikumaran, after consulting his soldiers, took up the challenge. Operation Ponnamutha 300/5 was conceived.

There were serious doubts if 300 acres could be covered in only five days.

These paddy fields are in kole lands (kole is local slang for jackpot) that are below sea level. Such fields are situated between two rivers. During the monsoon, along with run-off, a lot of organic material gets deposited here. Thanks to this, the productivity of kole lands, about three tonnes an acre, is the highest in the state. “The kole land’s production of paddy is 2,500 to 3,000 kg per acre,” says Kurian Baby, Thrissur’s district collector.

KAU has done consistent groundwork for nearly a decade. The Agricultural Research Station (ARS), Mannuthy, under the directorship of Dr Jaikumaran, has been researching various aspects of mechanical transplantation. Once standardised, all new knowledge is included in KAU’s package of practices.

Hit by shortages of labour, panchayats have been approaching the university to train their people. The ARS has designed a 22-day training module on running and repairing transplanting machines. The module has only 20 hours of classroom lectures. The remaining 155 hours are spent in the field learning practical lessons. Apart from machinery operations, the trainees are taught how to raise mat nurseries and master the intricacies of methodical paddy cultivation.

After training, these people get local contracts and are paid by farmers for transplanting paddy using machines. Indira Lawrence’s Kodakara batch, trained in 2003, got a contract of 70 acres the same year. The Parappur group under Latha Raveendran got an assignment for 48 acres. The farmers’ cooperative banks and block panchayats began buying transplanting machines for renting out to these workforces.

Mechanised transplanting is attracting more and more farmers. The Thrissur district panchayat has sponsored 60 people for the ARS training programme. The fee of Rs 3,000 charged for a trainee covers the cost of uniform, food and other expenditure. In recent years, all the trainees put together must have transplanted paddy on more than 1,000 acres per annum.

To make this workforce sustainable and systematic, they were encouraged to form societies called Agro Machinery Operation Service Centres (AMOSC). Each trainee is called an Agro Machinery Operation Service Executive (AMOSE). To speed up capacity building, training was started outside the KAU campus. An Agro Machinery Mobile Training Unit (AMMTU) was formed for this purpose and helped expedite the process.

“Around 250 persons were trained so this gave me the confidence to make the 300/5 claim,” says Dr Jaikumaran. Before making any commitment, he convened a meeting of all AMOSEs. They agreed to take up this mission as a test case and complete it in five days.

THE CRUCIAL WAR

The decision to launch ‘Operation Ponnamutha 300/5’ was taken in August this year. The dates fixed were September 14 to 18. The first prerequisite was draining out water from the fields. Two 50 HP pumps were used continuously. Traditional nursery plants cannot be transplanted by machines. They have to be planted in the form of a mat of a specified size. For this, the nursery has to be raised on plastic sheets. This type of nursery is called ‘mat nursery.’ Once grown, the bunch of plants can be rolled and cut like mats. They are then inserted into the transplanting machines slots. The machine plants in rows of eight.

Generally two-week paddy plants are used for transplanting. Nursery sowing has to be done that much in advance. The initial plan was to raise the nursery in a decentralised way – one nursery for each five acres – to minimise the need for transportation. But this couldn’t be done as water could not be drained out from all the fields on day one. The soil in Ponnamutha is alluvial and slushy and readying it for transplantation was a big challenge.

Full-fledged action began at 9 am. The soldiers were pressed into action. Each battalion had a transplanting machine driver, two people to cut the mat nursery, two to transport that to the machine and four to five ground level staff to do the gap-filling and other related support work. Twenty-five acres in five days was the target for each battalion.

Twenty-four transplanting machines were used simultaneously. Six more were on standby. The machines came from padasekhara samitis, where they were lying idle since the villages could not find skilled operators. These machines were acquired by various panchayats under official paddy cultivation schemes. “Putting machines worth Rs 70 lakhs to use and showcasing their potential is another achievement of ours,” a commandant said.

The arrangement in this mission was that farmers or padasekhara samitis would prepare the land. Nursery raising and transplantation was to be done by the FSA. The payment for this work was Rs 3,000 per acre. A good team can transplant paddy across three acres in a day.

The FSA members were not locals. They had to come from 10 to 40 kilometres away. A small number of them were accommodated in a community hall in the village. Indira Lawrence, 46, and her regiment had come from Kodakara, a village 42 km away. Indira was trained six years ago. The regiment under her leadership gets smaller assignments in the vicinity. But this was the first time they were taking part in a multi-team operation.

AGAINST ALL ODDS

The 300 acres here belong to 250 farmers. Their houses are at a fair distance. Most of them continue to live here after leasing out their fields. Many are old. Their children work in faraway places. This explains why amid the festive mood generated by this mission, the main stakeholders, the farmers, were almost totally absent.

Kole land gets soft and slushy after tilling. So carrying head-loads is almost impossible here. The army adopts an easy method of transporting the paddy plant mats. The cutout mats are kept on a long plastic sheet, which is then pulled from the other side.

“This way they are able to transport more than double of what they can carry on the head. Moreover, it reduces drudgery. It is their own innovation – if this method is ever patented, it has to be in their names,” says Vivency, a local agriculture officer.

The FSA grapples with other problems as well. The Ring Road that circles this vast area is very narrow. Two vehicles can pass each other with great difficulty. Small transport vehicles like tempos are therefore engaged to carry the plant mats from the nurseries to the planting sites.

The open fields that stretch for kilometres offer no privacy. For the benefit of the ladies, temporary urinals are erected using plastic sheets. Food is cooked on one side of the pump shed. The local Kudumbashree group is given the responsibility of providing food.

A roadside space, where three to four university and department vehicles are parked, serves as the headquarters. At the back of a jeep, spare parts are kept handy. The six-member engineering corps is ready on the spot to repair the machines if and when there is a breakdown.

The FSA arrived here on a tractor for nursery-raising activities a fortnight ago. No other vehicle was able to ply on this road. “Walking is easier,” says Dr Jaikumaran. Keeping his sandals on one side, he starts his regular rounds. He doesn’t mind climbing the back of a tractor or walking barefoot all day. “Yes, this way I do at least six kilometres every day,” he smiles.

By 8.30 am every day, this commander-in-chief of the FSA is on the spot. He is the last to return home after sunset along with the engineering team and the village officer. When the day’s work ends, a lot of coordination is needed for the following day. Every night, the day’s progress is analysed and the next day’s strategies are drawn up.

His mobile phone rings constantly. One regiment is waiting for plant mats. Another requires diesel the very next morning. The Thankam regiment wants to know where they should go next now that they have wrapped up their work here. The food sent for the Cherpu regiment has fallen short, so can he rush a jeep there? Can he provide an additional load of mats to the Wadakanchery regiment? The commander-in-chief has to shoulder responsibilities that agricultural scientists rarely have to: crisis management, on-thespot decisions, quick problem solving.

MACRO-LEVEL TESTING

Says Dr Jaikumaran: “We agricultural scientists shouldn’t stop at imparting training and publishing papers. Do our papers really benefit the farming community? The technology we advocate has to be translated effectively on the fields and the necessary service force has to be built. We have been content with making micro-level trials. We should go in for macro- level exercises. Only then can we understand field level problems.”

Since the last 12 years, AP Madhavan’s Thankam Agro Machinery Service Centre (TAMSC) has been living on earnings from transplanting contracts. His wife Girija too works in the team. Madhavan’s Cherpu-based 15-member team travels to most districts in Kerala and to Tamil Nadu to do mechanised transplanting. “Nine months in a year, we pursue this profession,” says Madhavan, who is president of TAMSC.

From the service charges Rs 500 is paid to the transplanting machine operator, Rs 300 to men and Rs 225 to women as basic remuneration. Whatever money is left over is distributed equally. Some of the army members make around Rs 800 a day.

Omana, another operator, has two sons who work in the police department. While the regular work brings her Rs 300 a day, this assignment fetches Rs 500. “I have interest in farming. That’s why I have come here. I’m happy with this,” she says.

Women’s participation is high. Of the personnel trained so far, 25 per cent are women. The commandants of Parappur, Kodakara and Mullassery regiments are Latha Raveendran, Indira Lawrence and KS Kalikutty respectively.Kalikutty has an all-women regiment led by Mallika Sasi. There are lady captains in Cherpu, Kolazhy and Karalam regiments. Besides this, Indira Lawrence also gives tuition to school children. “I earn about Rs 30,000 in a year,” she says. “This has helped us construct our house.”

This is probably the first time in the country that such a vast area is being transplanted with a battery of machines. “The largest area we know where such a feat was done is Dharapur in Tamil Nadu. Seven machines were put into service there,” says Keshavamurthy, senior engineer of Bangalore-based VST Tillers & Tractors whose Yanji Shakti transplanting machines imported from China were used in the Ponnamutha operation.

For harvesting, these rice belts of Kerala commission combined harvesters from Tamil Nadu that finish off the job rapidly. Says Vivency: “Farmers are positive about mechanisation of harvesting and tilling. But though mechanical transplanting is nothing new, they have their own apprehensions. This experiment would go a long way in convincing them about the advantages of mechanical transplanting.”

Thanks to Kerala’s high literacy rate and levels of awareness, everyone knows about the food crisis. Adding to this, Jaikumaran and his team have been successful in strategically developing a national spirit behind the mission of increasing paddy production.

Saleesh, 30, captain of a battalion, has passed school. He is a plumber cum electrician. “Farmlands are dwindling. Rice production is coming down alarmingly. I love rice farming. The training has helped,” he says.

Shaji, an auto-driver, has also studied up to SSLC. He suffered a severe loss in banana cultivation on his land but that hasn’t diminished his interest in farming. He brings along four other FSA members in his auto-rickshaw from their native place, Cherpu, 25 km away. Parking his vehicle in a corner, he sets off to work in the fields. “No problem, I get passengers up and down and an assured amount of money. What’s more, I have the satisfaction of lending a hand to the mission to improve food production.”

SECOND CROP POSSIBILITY

Because of the rains and slushy, inaccessible roads, Operation Ponnamutha took one extra day. Since it was the first experiment of its kind spread over a large area, there were some shortcomings too. There was a shortage of nursery mats for 25 acres. As the nursery was located at a distance, transporting the mats took time and delayed the work.

Yet the biggest gain of this ‘rapid action’ will be the possibility of a second crop. KA George Master, chairman of four padavus, including Ponnamutha, says he is going to plant a second crop. “We have already decided to cultivate a second crop on 1,000 acres. Farmers need not be present all the time. We have booked the FSA for the second crop during the first fortnight of January.”

The committee is searching for seeds of short duration crops such as Red Thriveni or Annapoorna that can be harvested in 90 to 100 days. According to George Master, these varieties bring better returns for farmers because this paddy is in demand for the seeds it yields. The government also gives subsidy for growing these seeds.

The productivity of a second crop is very low, complain the farmers. But the university agronomists argue that this is due to improper management. According to them, productivity can be improved by adding necessary fertilisers to the soil. The Krishi Bhavan has taken soil samples for analysis before starting the first crop. They will be analysing soil samples after the harvest too. Before and after pH levels will be measured. Explains Vivency: “These tests would give us a clear idea. We will then take corrective measures.”

Operation Ponnamutha has been successful. But what are the prospects of scaling up? Vivency feels that it’s very difficult. “A lot of planning, coordination and convincing farmers is required. To make this a success, we had to keep all our other responsibilities on hold and work very hard for one month.” Dr Jaikumaran agrees that it was a very painstaking process, but he is hopeful it can be spread wider. “This task required a lot of patience. In the beginning, there were many negative responses and arguments by farmers. I have advised the FSA personnel not to get upset, react or get angry. If there are any problems, I have assured them that we will sit down together later and sort them out.”

Thrissur has the highest extent of kole lands – 13,500 hectares. Only 10,000 hectares of this is cultivated now. The Kole Development Agency (KDA), under the chairmanship of district collector Kurian Baby, is striving hard to augment rice production along with Kerala University and the Department of Agriculture.

Kurian sees every possibility of Operation Ponnamutha being scaled up “because there is a very strong need”. Mechanised farming is the only possibility for Kerala, he asserts.

Recently when sown seeds were damaged by excessive rain, Kurian recalls how 350 tonnes of paddy seeds were arranged in three days.

“More than money, what farmers need is caring and confidence that the state and departments are with them. If this confidence is built through timely action, they will play their role well,” he says.

According to the district collector, 4,000 acres have already been brought under a second crop in his area. Last year, the district’s total paddy production was 75,000 to 80,000 metric tonnes. This year it has risen to 100,000 tonnes. “Our target for the next year is 1.25 metric tonnes,” he says.

There were many apprehensions and negative reactions during the planning and initial stages of ‘Operation Ponnamutha’. Farmers wanted to know whether mechanised farming would give yields comparable to manual transplanting. But such doubts have melted away.

Observes Vivency, “Not only farming communities from near and far, the whole of Kerala has set its eyes on this experiment. Already 99 per cent of farmers, politicians and departments have been convinced about this possibility. When the second crop is harvested in April, more and more people will be attracted towards such ventures.” A section of the FSA has already moved over to a nearby area to transplant 1,200 acres in 20 days.

According to sources at VST Tillers and Tractors, demand for transplanting machines is growing. Already 1,500 are in operation. Last year, they sold 460. This year, till now, the sales figure has touched 450, Punjab alone buying 200.

KAU has responded to the crisis ahead of all other southern Indian states by adopting mechanised farming. On an invitation from Agro Industries Corporation, KAU has conducted 21 demonstrations in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh. A Karnataka team has gone back after taking training at Thrissur. Similar training is being given in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tamil Nadu. A Goan team would be reaching Thrissur soon for a concerted training programme.

“This is only a beginning,” says TR Viswambharan, Vice-Chancellor, KAU, “Kerala has 999 panchayats. Our 700 scientists will go to each panchayat, study the local problems in farming and try to address it with interventions like mechanised farming.”

A team of KAU students had visited the site of Operation Ponnamutha. “We prefer such field studies to classroom lectures,” says a class representative. “This 250-strong army will grow to 2500 in a few years, then 25,000. We are going on giving training, they in turn will train many more,” says Jaikumaran, “That will provide a big impetus to mechanised paddy cultivation in the state. This is the only way to attain food security.”

George Master’s observation is noteworthy. Says he: “We are getting good support from the government. If the state starts treating farmers with respect, more youngsters will remain in farming.”

Indeed, Operation Ponnamutha has shown the way.

You can contact Dr Jaikumaran at 094475 30673 E-mail: jinjith@dataone.in

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