Traditional agriculture was organic farming 'by default', claims UAHS researcher in Shivamogga

Explaining farming techniques, a young research associate, Ullas MY from University of Agriculture and Horticulture Sciences (UAHS) in Shivamogga said that traditional farming and organic farming are same "by default".

Talking to ANI, he said, "Our traditional agriculture itself was organic farming by default. If you advise farmers to go for organic farming, they will ask for improved or high-yielding varieties of seed which does not respond to organic farming. Hence we have to give them the traditional varieties of seed for climate-resilient agriculture".

UAHS located in Navule village in Shivamogga is a premier institute for organic paddy farming. Due to climate change in the Western Ghats and heavy downpour, farmers face difficulties in paddy plantation.

Taking a cue from the problems faced by farmers, the young researcher from UAHS has come up with his climate-resilient agriculture technique.

He focussed upon the traditional varieties of paddy which are draught-resistant, submergence-resistant and are not destroyed by rain, flood or water-logging.

"We have preserved and conserved 248 varieties of paddy. Four of these traditional paddy's - Madras Sanna, Kari Jaddu, Bili Jaddu, and Yedi Kuni are draught as well as submergence resistant. These paddy seeds have been grown in the university's paddy fields," said Ullas.

During the Green Revolution, the government introduced different varieties of paddy to boost production, now these paddy crops are not able to resist current weather conditions.

In order to mitigate the problem, Ullas MY collected extinct breeds traveling across the region. He requested the farmers to collect the seeds from the university.