Agrobiodiversity Conservation
Thanal is conserving 300+ indigenous rice seeds in its diversity block in Wayanad. Varieties suitable to different geographical conditions such as upland varieties, flood-tolerant varieties, saline tolerant varieties, deep water varieties, etc, and varieties having special qualities such as scented varieties, medicinal varieties, etc are conserved here.
Apart from indigenous rice, AEC also cultivates diverse kinds of crops. We maintain 35 species of trees on our campus. These are generally Timber, medicinal trees, shade trees, and local trees of Wayanad. TAEC also has a collection of tubers, spices, and bananas and vegetables mostly collected from Wayanad. In the changing climatic situation, it is important to focus on local tubers and bananas which does not need much water and can withstand stress. In TAEC we are primarily trying to conserve varieties that are suited to the Western Ghats / malnad region. More exploration is needed to collect such varieties before it gets lost.
AEC also hosts different kinds of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, spiders and we have documented the same. During the rice field week visitors are shown this diversity to make them understand the importance of Agroecology. We follow and propagate agroecological farming methods at AEC which can improve food security and strengthen food sovereignty, while providing better adaptation to climate change and reducing harmful environmental impacts.