The ‘Rise’ of ‘Rice’! Krishnappa grows Paddy on his 1200 Sq Ft Terrace

The ‘Rise’ of ‘Rice’! Krishnappa grows Paddy on his 1200 Sq Ft Terrace

The ‘Rise’ of ‘Rice’! From Fruits/Veg Plants, Krishnappa Gowda Paddambail of Maroli-Mangaluru also grows Paddy on his 1200 Sq Ft Terrace

Mangaluru: The trend of terrace gardening/farming in urban areas has been steadily catching up across the state, of late. But, not many have opted to grow paddy on their terrace mainly because of space constraints and complicated cultivation methods. However, a government employee Krishnappa Gowda Paddambail residing at Maroli-Mangaluru and employed at Government College of Teacher Education Office -Mangaluru had decided to buck the trend and the results are there for everyone to see. He has successfully grown paddy in over 50 plastic bags/pots on his 1200 sq ft house “Meenakshi Kripa “he had built 10 years ago on five cents land. Despite the limited space, more and more people living in urban areas continue to take to farming. Take Krishnappa Gowda for instance.

Childhood memories of paddy cultivation at his family’s ancestral farmland near Sullia, and the memory of waiting for hours at a place of worship to procure stalks of paddy for a ritual, made him plant paddy in ten grow bags in 2014. The number of bags increased as his home-made bio-manure gave him bountiful harvests, free from paddy blast fungus and other diseases, and also boosted the growth of the plants. Now he has paddy grown in more than 50 bags. Unlike traditional cultivation, Paddambail uses water minimally, and his bags of soil mixture, sand and cow dung with careful maintenance. He turns coconut husk into hanging planters. Coconut shells, after being de-husked and filled with soil, and hang around the house, serving as hanging planters. He has three grow bags of sugar cane, which he has stopped purchasing for the Ganesha festival.

How does he manage a bountiful harvest on a terrace? A combination of hard work and 200 ‘grow bags’. A grow bag is a large plastic bag filled with a growing medium and used for growing plants, usually tomatoes or other salad crops. The growing medium is a soil less organic material such as peat, coir, composted green waste, composted bark or composted wood chips, or a mixture of these. Growing up, Krishnappa helped his family cultivate their farmland in Sullia. Memories of work on the farm also prompted him to take up the then pet-project.

The terrace farm has rice, radish, pomegranate, drumstick, yam, Brinjal, long beans, Chillies, papaya, and guavas, and turmeric a variety of other fruits and vegetables. There are also medicinal plants. The 120-day paddy cultivation cycle begins in April-June, and he grows only one crop, distributing the harvest among friends and relatives. The produce is not for commercial purposes. With all these fruits and vegetables grown on his terrace, lately Krishnappa and his wife Meenakshi have stopped buying produce from the market. Their terrace itself is a Veg and fruit Market? They don’t have to bargain with the vendor- just climb up to the terrace, and pick/pluck whichever fruit or vegetable they want-how cool it is?

Speaking to Team Mangalorean Krishnappa Gowda said, ” I had developed interest in gardening from a very young age. The idea was to make ourselves self-sufficient using the limited space available and nurture one’s own interest. Using a simple technique, I have created wonders in my home terrace garden which now give us brinjal (three varieties), okra (ladies finger), long beans, tomato, ginger, coriander, bottle gourd, pumpkin, ridge gourd, basale (two varieties green and red),’ ‘harive’ (two varieties green and red), ivy gourd, sambar cucumber, tapioca, cauliflower, water melon, bitter gourd, lemon etc etc. We eat fresh and fertiliser-free vegetables grown on my own terrace. It is a pleasure to nurture a garden on the terrace which every one should experience”.

Krishnappa finds his garden rejuvenating after a hectic schedule at Zilla Panchayat. He is also helped by his wife Meenkashi K Gowda- a nurse at Govt. Health Department; and his two children- Amodh Kumar who is doing his 1 yr BSc in Microbiology at Canara College; and Gahana Kumari, doing her Final Year Computer Science at Canara College-Mangaluru. “Watching the plants grow and flower, watering them is a good experience. Even our children enjoy nature’s company and spend their time fruitfully. Terrace gardens also keep the environment cool” said Meenakshi.

He said that he used to grow vegetables when he was residing in quarters at Kottara and used to give it to his neighbours. “I have never sold the vegetables that I have harvested in my terrace.” There is a tradition of tying then (ear of paddy corn) in the house. So he grows paddy in a pot for the needs of the house. In fact, one of his friends has taken ear of paddy corn grown by him to tie in his house in Madikeri. Krishnappa has interest in grafting hibiscus plants. As a result, there are colourful flowers in his garden. “Having a terrace garden is environmentally friendly, you can enjoy nature right in front of you, it will be fun watering the plants and see them grow, you can breathe fresh air by walking in the garden and sit on a swing enjoying the beauty of it. Sometimes you can also witness the birds come looking for their food. I didn’t started a garden for business, instead for fun and as a hobby- and the yield for personal use. If I can start a garden like this on the terrace, anyone having a terrace can also do it” signs off Krishnappa Gowda Paddambail.

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