I am happy to share the success story of reviving and propagating local cow pea varieties cultivated by the Tribal groups in Kerala with their participation for their nutritional security. The efforts were supported by ITPGRFA, FAO through its benefit sharing fund,
We have documented four different varieties of cowpea ( Vigna sp -local name Njanda, Peenius , Karimpayaru, Thatathi ) cultivated by ‘Uraly’ Tribal group in Kerala, These cow pea varieties were major item in their traditional food habits , but these varieties have vanished from their area due to several season and we found only a few old women were cultivating these varieties . Though the tribal groups , especially women were nostalgic about the recipes based on these crops and their leaves , enough material is not available.
With the support of ITPGRFA , we have supported these identified women to propagate and raise more seeds and we purchased these seeds from them and supplied to other women members and also constituted a revolving fund for cultivating these varieties for giving loans for cultivating these local variety . The response was very interesting and more and more women started showing interest in the cultivation and at present more than 40 women are actively cultivating these varieties and also they started preparing local recipes based on these varieties.
The importance of providing incentives for persuading the women to revive local varieties is one of the key lessons in our intervention
regards
James
James TJ