1964-2018: A champion of organic farming, he helped redeem 174 native varieties of rice seeds
'Nel' Jayaraman, who redeemed 174 native varieties of traditional paddy seeds in Tamil Nadu, passed away on Thursday at a city hospital where he was undergoing treatment for cancer.
His life-long crusade to protect native paddy made him a celebrity among the farmers in the Cauvery delta districts — better known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu.
Born in a nondescript village, Adirangam, Jayaraman was a Class 8 dropout, who followed the footsteps of his late mentor, Nammalvar and promoted organic farming. His experiments and observations made him realise that native paddy varieties are best suited for coastal districts, which are otherwise prone to climate variations. His untiring efforts earned him the nickname — 'Nel' — paddy seed in Tamil.
In 2006, Jayaraman started 'Nel Thiruvizha', a one-of-its-kind paddy seed festival in his native village, where he distributed 2 kg seeds of the native varieties free of cost to the farmers in the state. He had inducted over 40,000 farmers into organic farming and increased paddy production.
In 2011, Jayaraman received the Tamil Nadu government's award for the best organic farmer for his contribution to organic farming. In 2015, he bagged the National Award for best Genome Saviour. He had also authored several books regarding protection of native paddy varieties.
Since 2016, Jayaraman organised the Paddy Seed Festival, one of the largest seed festivals in Tamil Nadu.
A couple of weeks ago, 51 rice varieties from Jayaraman's collection were handed over to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to be preserved in a vault of the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami condoled his death and deputed ministers R Kamaraj and OS Maniam paid homage on behalf of the government.
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