Meet Kamachi Chellammal, Andaman's 'Nariyal Amma', chosen for Padma Shri for organic coconut farming

67-year-old Kamachi Chellammal from Andaman and Nicobar Islands receives Padma Shri for her outstanding contribution to organic coconut plantation.

Kamachi Chellammal, a 67-year-old woman of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was selected for the Padma Shri award for her outstanding contribution to organic coconut plantation.

Chellammal, popularly known as ‘Nariyal Amma’ hails from Rangachang in South Andaman.

She uses coconut leaves and husks as mulching on the plantation to preserve moisture in the soil during the post-rainy season.

Mulching is the act of covering the soil with mulches such as bark, wood chips, leaves, and other organic materials in order to preserve moisture and improve the condition of the soil.

Chellammal said her method not only helps in minimising moisture loss from the soil but also reduces the weed population which is extremely important for a healthy coconut plantation.

She also adopted Integrated Pest Management strategy, instead of harmful chemicals, in which she opted for ‘trap plants’ (which varies from one plantation to another) to attract insects to release pheromones (in the air) which disrupt the natural mating cycle of pests. This helped her control the pest population.

"I also did coconut-based multi species cropping by effectively utilising interspaces in my 10 acres of land. This integrated farming system helped me to overcome the challenges of the low market price of coconut (before the implementation of MSP). This also helped me in generating more revenue," Chellammal said.