Kasaragod: The Union government has honoured Sathyanarayana Beleri, a one-man genebank conserving 650 varieties of traditional rice varieties, with Padma Shri.

Sathyanarayana, a farmer from Kasaragod's Nettenige village in Belloor grama panchayat, is among the 34 recipients of the Padma Shri announced on the eve of the Republic Day.

Kannur's Theyyam artiste E P Narayanan and Kathakali guru Balakrishnan Sadanam Puthiya Veetil are the other two Keralites who have been chosen for the fourth-highest civilian award in India.

Sathyanarayana's achievement of conserving 650 varieties of traditional paddy varieties stands apart because he does it on land that is not conducive for paddy cultivation. He has created a 25-cent artificial paddy field using tarpaulin to grow the rice varieties.

"Of the 25 cents, I grow one variety on 10 cents just for the birds and the rats," Sathyanarayana had told this reporter. He grows the rest of the varieties in paper cups and grow bags, and protects them with nets.

Sathyanarayana has varieties from Japan and the Philippines, and from faraway Assam and Manipur to next-door Karnataka and Tamil Nadu; he has paddies that grow as tall as 13 feet; he has rice varieties in different hues such as black, purple, white, and red and light green; he has varieties which give good yield in saline soil, and also in water-scarce fields.

Sathyanarayana's juggad
He sows around 20 grains in a paper cup with a potting mixture. After 10 days he shifts seedlings to the grow bags. Once the paddy blossoms, he shifts the grow bags to the 30-sq-metre tarpaulin-laid paddy field. The tarpaulin helps him save water and maintains optimum moisture in the grow bags.

Every year, he repeats these steps for all 650 varieties of rice because seeds do not survive if not sown within a year.

Impressed by the technique, the National Gene Bank in Delhi gave Sathyanarayana 30 varieties of rice to conserve.

The Kerala Agricultural University in Thrissur and the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences in Shivamogga have used paddy varieties from him in their breeding programmes.

In November 2021, the Union Ministry of Agriculture honoured him with the 'Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Reward' in Delhi for his efforts in conserving traditional varieties of rice.

Love of the grain
As an 18-year-old, Sathyanarayana used to glean paddy fields and pathways after harvest. He was in love with the Rajakayame grains.

In 2006, he came across a news report that said Ramachandra Rao, a Gandhian and organic farmer at Cherkady in Udupi, was giving away seeds of the Rajakayame rice variety. "The news report took me back to my younger days. Back then there was no phone in our house. So I wrote a letter to him asking for Rajakayame seeds," he said. Rao couriered him 100g of Rajakayame rice.

He became a rice conservationist when he visited the father-son duo B K Devaraya and B K Parameshwara Rao in Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada in 2009.

They had 150 varieties of rice. They gave Sathyanarayana 100 varieties.

He had travelled to Shivamogga, Davanagere, Mandya, Mysuru, Wayanad, Pattambi, Kuttanand, and Rajasthan in search of rice. He grew his genebank by bartering and collecting.

The Kagga variety grows in saline water; Edikkuni rice does not rot even if it is submerged in water for 20 days; Vellathovan from Kerala and Puttabatta varieties do well in water-scarce fields; Karigajavali from Belgaum is known as the black basmati for his strong aroma and colour. It is rich in iron and gruel from Karigajavali and is served to pregnant women and new mothers.

He has paddies that are harvested in 60 days and those in 180 days.

His days as a gleaner taught him the importance of each grain. "One grain when sowed gives us 100 grains. A hundred grains give 500g of rice and when 500g of grains is sowed we get 10kg and 10kg gives us one quintal of rice. All this within two years," he said.