Students' own rice brand to hit stores in Kerala

MALAPPURAM: The hard labour of 160 students of the KHM High School, Valakkulam, on two acres of barren land will be paid off on Friday in the form of a rice brand, the first from a school in the state. The student members of the National Green Corps (NGC) are all set to venture into the crowded market with their own organically produced rice brand named ‘Kathirmani’.

The launching of the brand and inauguration of its marketing will be held at the school on Friday by the agriculture minister V.S. Sunil Kumar. It was in October 2015, members of the NGC in five groups set out to learn to farm with an investment of nearly '50,000 drawn from the NGC fund. They embarked on a mission to produce organic rice while learning the trade which had almost gone to oblivion in this area where a majority were relying on the Gulf remittance.

They worked in groups from 8 am to 1 pm on Sundays and other holidays in the paddy fields. “Along with engaging in farming they also have picked up many out of syllabus lessons from the fields with the help of local farmers. They also trained the students,” says K.P. Shaniyas, the NGC coordinator at the school. “The students can earn while they learn," he said.

They used Jyothi and Uma varieties of paddy seeds for farming which was purchased with the help of the agriculture department. From sowing, cultivating and harvesting to packing and marketing, the students themselves did everything. The first batch of the Kathirmani branded organic rice priced at Rs 60 a kg is meant for the local market. The six tonnes of packaged rice will be sold to students, teachers and residents in the first phase. In the next phase, the students are all set to sow the seeds on seven acres of land for a better catch and expanded market.