With the father of the Green Revolution, M.S. Swaminathan, now honoured with India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, the unique backdrop of Kuttanad, acting as the stage for many of the late agricultural scientist’s initiatives, rightfully shares in the recognition.
Born into a family from Mankombu in Kuttanad, it was his love for the place, where paddy is cultivated at 1 to 2 metres below sea level, and concerns over its depleting ecosystem encouraged M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) led by Dr. Swaminathan to come up with a study report ‘Measures to Mitigate Agrarian Distress in Alappuzha and Kuttanad Wetland Ecosystem,’ in 2007.
Based on the recommendations of the agricultural scientist, the government announced the ₹1,840 crore Kuttanad Package. More than 15 years after, unfortunately, a good number of “prudent suggestions made by the visionary” remain on paper due to poor implementation and a lack of government oversight.
“Dr. Swaminathan always had a soft spot for Kuttanad. It is one of the few places in the world where below-sea-level farming is practised. He wanted to conserve the Kuttanad wetland ecosystem and protect paddy cultivation there. He came up with the Kuttanad Package with that goal in mind. Of the recommendations made by him, only around 20%-30% have been implemented so far. We hope the rest of his suggestions will be executed in the second Kuttanad Package, which is currently in the implementation phase, helping save the wetland system,” says M. Surendran, professor and head, M.S. Swaminathan Rice Research Station, Mankombu.
Among the recommendations made by Swaminathan included declaring Kuttanad a special agriculture zone and introducing short-duration rice varieties.
The report called to protect and restore the water spread area by evicting encroachments of lakes and canals.
Though it suggested the development of the Alappuzha-Changanassery (AC) canal, parallel to the AC road, to drain excess water from the Manimala and Pampa rivers to the Vembanad lake, it remains incomplete so does the modernisation of the Thottapally spillway.
Dr. Swaminathan, who was born in Kumbakonam in the then Madras Presidency, spent his childhood days at the family’s ancestral house in Mankombu. His ancestors arrived in Kuttanad from Tamil Nadu a couple of centuries ago at the invitation of the Chempakassery king and had large tracts of agricultural land.
K.G. Padmakumar, director, International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea Level Farming, Kuttanad, calls Dr. Swaminathan, who started 12 rice institutes in various parts of the world, including in Pakistan, a “global citizen who worked for a hunger-free world and India”.
“It (Bharat Ratna for Swaminathan) is a great honour for our State and the agriculture sector. Dr. Swaminathan should have been given the prize much earlier. India achieved independence in 1947. But the country was facing acute hunger back then. It was Dr. Swaminathan who pioneered the Green Revolution and helped the country achieve self-sufficiency in food production. I would say that the country achieved total independence around 1970 when the nation moved from a state of food scarcity to food self-sufficiency. We owe a lot to him,” says Mr. Padmakumar.
Apart from the Kuttanad Package, Dr. Swaminathan’s concern for the ecology of Kerala prompted the MSSRF to come up with a report ‘Measures to Mitigate Agrarian Distress in Idukki District of Kerala’ and its decision to establish the Community Agrobiodiversity Centre at Kalpetta in Wayanad.
