200kg paddy! Agri bug bites Mangaluru students

Mangaluru: Students are taught about nature and agriculture mostly in theory classes and rarely through spot visits. 

But here is a group of high school students who have practically learnt and understood everything about agriculture. They have engaged in every activity which a farmer does, right from planting paddy to manual threshing and as a result have now grown about 200 kg of paddy!

These 51 students of Subhodaya Vidyalaya of Moodushedde in the outskirts of Mangaluru now know how to grow their food and have experienced the happiness and the pain it brings. 

The project is a result of the initiative taken by School Principal Jayashree Pai, Farmsurge COO Vikram K and Arunya Foundation Managing Trustee Shrinivas Pejathaya. 

Both Arunya Foundation and Farmsurge are working to empower the rural and agricultural populace. 

There is an interesting story behind this initiative.  Jayashree Pai wanted to provide basic knowledge about farming and agriculture to her students through field visits. It was then Vikram K, whose child is a student of the school, agreed to provide his field for the students to study, and also suggested something more. He proposed an project where students would themselves participate in farming.  

In July,  51 students of 8th and 9th standards went to the paddy field of Vikram at Nuyi near Moodabidri and planted paddy. Two months later they arrived for harvesting and finally on November 6 it was time for the finale. The children  manually threshed the paddy and separated paddy from the straw!  Each student was given a packet of  paddy as a reward. 

"It was a great experience. I never knew it was so difficult. I used to waste it but on understanding the pain we faced, I decided not to waste it," said  student, Samarth.