It’s a dream come true for a group of organic farming enthusiasts in Qatar hailing from the southern Indian state of Kerala. The first rice cultivation in Qatar is ready for harvest in a small plot of land at the famous Al Dosari Park in Shahaniya.
Through hard work and a passion for farming, the group has proved that even a semi aquatic crop like rice traditionally grown in water-rich soil can be successfully cultivated in a desert environment.
The harvest is planned on May 1 and the is expected to be attended by the Kerala Agriculture Minister K Mohanan, who sowed the first rice seedlings about six months ago. Along with rice, the team successfully grew about 30 varieties of organic vegetables.
“The whole idea originated in a meeting of some community members interested in organic farming at the Al Dosari Park in April last year,” Ambhara Pavithran, co-founder of the Facebook group called “Nammude Adukkalathottam” (Our Kitchen Garden) told this daily yesterday.
The purpose of the meeting was to form the Doha branch of the Facebook group which was later named Adukkalathottam–Doha (Kitchen Garden Doha).
Realising the passion of the team for organic farming, the Al Dosari Park owner Mohammed Al Dosary, himself a farming enthusiast offered them a plot of land, free water and organic manures to grow vegetables, grains and pulses.
“Our Facebook group in Qatar has more than 1,000 members and all of them are growing vegetables in their homes. But none had tried rice before. We asked ourselves, why don’t we do it here,” said Ambhara.
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It was a laborious task in which she was assisted by three other women in the group’s administration panel, Binu Mathew, Jisha Krishna and Meena Philip and several members.
“While preparing the land we found the place can be used for rice cultivation as there was water available. From the 70 cents of land we just selected six small plots for paddy cultivation. We chose winter season for this experiment as Qatar has got extreme climatic conditions,” said Ambhara.
A Ph value (acidity) of 7 is ideal for soil to cultivate rice as well as other vegetables. “We mixed the soil with lot of water and organic fertilizers to get this ph level. It was a painstaking experience, but we enjoyed it” said Ambhara.
Rice can be cultivated by different methods based on the type of the region. The team chose summer rice crop, which is a short duration crop and has two variety yield life of 90 days and 120 days.
“In cultivation we adopted the traditional method by using organic manure. The fields are initially ploughed and then manure is applied which typically consists of goat/camel dung. Then we levelled the fields and kept low mud walls for retaining water in it during the last week of September. In October 2014 we started sowing the seeds,” said Ambhara.
She had brought three types conventional rice seeds from Kerala but the team couldn’t get enough seedlings from them. They then turned to another variety which proved successful. In rice cultivation, the seedlings are grown outside and then planted in the prepared soil.
“The follow up-was the most difficult part. Every day we had to go all the way from Doha to Shahania to check the water, fill it to the adequate levels and provide manures. The recurring dust winds and adverse weather conditions were major challenges,” she added.
The rice was grown in an open area with no shading and the plants and crop have been exposed to heat and dust.
“It would be much more effective if rice is grown using greenhouse, as vegetables are grown in some farms in Qatar. We are ready to support anyone who can provide the facilities for cultivation,” said Ambhara.
“We started it just as an experiment and proved successful. We have plans to do it in a bigger way and are looking for support from all interested people,” she added.
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