Rooted in success: Ten Kerala women script history growing forgotten tubers

The women formed Noorang, a heritage tuber conservation centre to conserve, produce seeds, and distribute tubers, including rare varieties.

Eyeing to identify and conserve 300 varieties of tubers, these women so far have documented and cultivated 180 varieties.

Thanks to these women’s unwavering dedication and entrepreneurial spirit, the once-modest Noorang is garnering the attention and admiration of enthusiasts and experts alike from within and outside Kerala.

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The question

It was the Covid-19 period. Sai Krishnan, the coordinator of the Thirunelly Tribal Special Intervention Programme, recalled.

The Noorang collective. (Sourced)

“We launched a bridge course for school-going children in tribal hamlets. The aim was to check school dropouts. In one such interaction, we asked them about tubers. They were clueless,” he told South First.

The children’s ignorance of tubers, which had a permanent place in the food resources of the tribal groups, bewildered them. It was then that the idea of taking up tuber cultivation sprouted.

“We approached the Kudumbashree farming groups. Three such groups operating in the Irumbupalam tribal hamlet came forward to execute the idea. We chose 10 women among them and provided them with training on identifying tubers including indigenous varieties,” Krishnan added.

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Women power

The group, comprising Saranya Sumesh, Kamala Vineesh, Rani Rajan, Santha Narayanan, Lakshmi Karunakaran, Santha Manoharan, Sarada Ramachandran, Sunitha Raju, Sarasu Gopi, and Bindu Raju, has so far cultivated 180 varieties of tubers in the 75 cents allotted for farming at the Irumbupalam tribal hamlet in Begur ward.

“These women not only engage in farming but also preserve the tuber varieties, spread awareness on them, and distribute seeds so that the next generation would know that such varieties are available for consumption,” Sathyabhama, a tribal animator told South First.

The Noorang team has cultivated a variety of tubers that many people have not even heard of. Narakizhang, Noora, Thun Kachil, Sugandha Kachil, Payasa Kachil, Makkaleppotti, Karinthal, Velunthal, and Karimanjal are some of the rare varieties.

“These women are from the Vetta Kurumans tribal community (a community who were traditionally food gatherers and hunters). They already knew some varieties. To help them identify more, the help of a potato conservationist, PJ Manuel, was also sought,” Satyabhama, who works closely with the Noorang team, said.

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Initiative’s relevance

When it comes to malnutrition among tribal communities, public health experts point out that though there is food available it does not have enough nutrients. It was also highlighted that though tribal people had eaten various types of millets and tubers earlier, their food habits changed drastically, leading to health issues.

Taking note of the malnutrition issue, the Noorang team has started to provide kits containing various tubers to select families in various tribal hamlets.

Recognitions

The initiative that receives support from the Kudumbasree Wayand District Mission, Thirunelli Grama Panchayath, and Thirunelli Tribal Comprehensive Development Project, was launched in 2022. Within two years, it grabbed attention and recognition.

The women received the Kerala Government’s award for conserving heritage seeds and an award instituted by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.

Satyabhama said inquiries keep coming in and people from within and outside the state show interest in cultivating tubers and are purchasing seeds.

“A few months ago, we organised a farm visit. It had an overwhelming response. Even some foreigners visited Noorang,” she said.